Angel On My Shoulder (1946)

After a gangster (Paul Muni) is killed by his partner (Hardie Albright),  he's sent to Hell. But the devil (Claude Rains) makes a deal with him to return to Earth and get revenge on his partner. But first,  he must destroy a respectable judge's reputation by inhabiting his body. Directed by Archie Mayo (THE PETRIFIED FOREST),  the plot of this movie fantasy should be familiar as it's been done several times. The most notable examples being HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1942),  A GUY NAMED JOE (1943) and their remakes HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1978) and ALWAYS (1989). Unfortunately,  this entry is totally without charm and its humor flat. When Muni takes over the judge's body and starts acting totally out of character,  no one seems overly concerned and just humor his "eccentricities". I could have done without the sloppy platitudes the film drips on us in the movie's final minutes. To Muni's credit,  he sets aside the ham and gives a restrained (for him) performance. This was Muni's last American film for 13 years (he did an Italian film in 1952). With Anne Baxter,  Erskine Sanford and Marion Martin.