We're No Angels (1955).
Long before the studios of today patterned nearly every movie to be part of a a record-breaking blockbuster franchise, the old studio system would quite insistently pump out small modestly budgeted films for audiences in the hope of a healthy profit.
Along the way many have become have become classics and family favourites passed down from generation to generation, and 'We're No Angels' is the perfect example.
Screen legends Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray and Peter Ustinov light up the screen in this delightfully quirky and wonderfully whimsical black comedy of three Devil's Island prison escapees who hide out in the home of a kindly merchant and his family and repay his kindness by helping him and the family out of a severe crisis, with the aid of a pet snake called Adolph.
It is impossible to single out any one performance as the legendary Humphrey Bogart, the unforgettable Aldo Ray and magnificent Peter Ustinov are so perfectly cast and work so beautifully together, each in their own right in one of the best and most memorable roles of their respective careers.
Superbly adapted for the screen by Ranald MacDougall (The Naked Jungle, Mildred Pierce) from the stage play 'La cuisine des anges' by Albert Husson, 'We're No Angels' was directed great respect and sensitivity by the legendary Michael Curtiz (Casablanca, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Mildred Pierce, Yankee Doodle Dandy).
This is an unforgettable gem, beautifully filmed and presented in the spectacular Vista-Vision and three strip Technicolor processes, it is an enchantingly unforgettable off-kilter comedy with three lovable rogues who will more than just tickle the funny bone, warm the heart, and as a result will refuse let go for a long time after the credits have finished.
Don't be confused with the inferior, yet entertaining, remake from 1989 starring Robert De Niro and Sean Penn.
