This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Taken by his performance in the superb 1934 Film Noir Crime Without Passion,I was excited to recently discover that the BBC had shown a rarely mentioned Claude Rains movie,which led to me looking at my shoulders.The plot:Freed from jail,gangster Eddie Kagle gets picked up by his old friend Smiley Williams. Barely driving a mile,Williams catches Kagle by surprise,by grabbing his gun and killing him. Waking up from the shots,Kagle discovers that he has ended up in hell! Spotting him,"Nick" goes up to Kagle and tells him that he resembles a saintly Judge called Frederick Parker,who has been causing Nick problems.Desperate to get rid of Parker,Nick offer Kagle the chance for his soul to be transferred into Parker,on the catch that Kagle must ruin Parker's run in the upcoming election. Returning to earth,Kagle soon begins to feel that he does not want to leave it in the hellish state he last left it.View on the film:Going to hell in a hand-basket within the first 5 minutes,director Archie Mayo (who argued with Paul Muni during production) kicks his final movie off with a blazing opening that covers the title in a devilish Film Noir atmosphere,as burning pits of fire and risqué clothes give the afterlife an ultra-stylised fetish gloss. Keeping the fire simmering on earth,Mayo and cinematographer James Van Trees keep the burning hell pulling Kagle back from his glimpses of heaven,with tightly threaded shots always keeping the devil in the corner,ready to push Kagle back in line.Changed from its original title Me and Satan over fears that no one would watch a flick with Satan in the title,the screenplay by Harry Segall & Roland Kibbee strike the fire of the Film Noir with the cooling down orders of The Hays Code. Firing things up by sending Kagle straight to hell,the writers do tame some of the flames by having Kagle discover some morals (boo!) but nicely undermine them with satirical "small town" punch-ups and a delightfully cynical Film Noir final smoke.Staying away from the screen for 8 years after making this, Paul Muni gives a terrific performance as Kagle and Parker,who are each given a strong contrast by Muni with Parker having a walking on water saintly manner which is burnt down by the chomping with fury, hellish off the cuff dialogue from Film Noir loner Kagle. Sliding along in the darkness, Claude Rains gives a devilish performance as Nick,thanks to Rains layering on the charm whilst keeping Nick's vicious intentions intact,as Kagle soon discovers that what is on his shoulder is not an angel.

Situated well within the tradition of Forties supernatural comedies such as HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1941) and BLITHE SPIRIT (1945), ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER - penned by Harry Segall, who also wrote MR. JORDAN - centers on Eddie (Paul Muni) a gangster shot to death by his presumed best friend and sent to Hell as a result. There he encounters the Devil (Claude Rains), also known as Nick; and the Devil offers a bargain whereby Eddie can return to Earth, so long as he inhabits the body of Judge Frederick Parker, one of Nick's deadliest enemies, and thereby contribute to Parker's demise. Eddie readily agrees, as it provides a chance for him to get revenge on his killer (Hardie Allbright) at the same time. The story proceeds in a series of comic misadventures, all carefully planned by Nick, but which go catastrophically wrong in their execution. As Judge Parker, Eddie gets involved in a fist-fight that enhances rather than destroys the judge's reputation; later on, he is about to take a bribe for a case when he discovers that the defendant is one of his ex-girlfriends (Marion Martin), prompting Eddie/ Judge Parker to send her to jail where she belongs.The script is full of sharp witticisms, especially for Rains; not normally associated with comedies, he is given the opportunity to indulge in a range of facial expressions as he discovers that the Devil no longer possesses the power he once thought he had. Muni gets the chance to parody his famous tough-guy role in I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (1932), with his rangy walk, head bent forward and his arms perpetually down by side, he looks like the typical heavy devoid of intelligence but with plenty of strength. He makes some delicious mispronunciations of the words "Mephistopheles" and "Beelzebub."In truth the film's message is a profoundly conservative one; follow the ways of God and you will be protected from corruption. Eddie learns this precept as the action unfolds, which inspires him to turn against Nick and make decisions for himself. Yet there remains something peculiarly attractive about Hell, even if it is only the wonderfully Gothic sets with smoke arising from them (by Bernard Herzbrun), through which Eddie wanders before encountering Nick.

. . . that everyone has an evil twin (unless they're evil, in which case they have an honest double) in his film, ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER. One of the most famous proofs of this notion came in the 1900s during World War II, when Doppelgangsters Adolf Hitler and Charles Chaplin dominated the Big Screen (as Hitler starred in TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, and Chaplin actually subbed for Hitler in THE GREAT DICTATOR, just as evil Paul Muni subs for honest Paul Muni in ANGEL). Of course, things do not always work out as neatly in Real Life as they do in ANGEL. In cases such as O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, or Mel Gibson, the Yang seems to permanently replace the Yin. On the other hand, there are opposite examples, such as the youth scout genocide participant from a distant land whose double got a Nobel Peace Prize as soon as he became the Leader of the Free World. Good or evil, Paul Muni looks particularly creepy in ANGEL, which may dissuade many viewers from looking into mirrors for awhile.

Archie Mayo's curio "Angel on my Shoulder" is virtually unknown despite a cast headed by Paul Muni, Claude Rains and Anne Baxter. It's a fantasy along the same lines as "Here Comes Mr Jordan" and "It's a Wonderful Life". It came out in the same year as "It's a Wonderful Life" which may be one reason it's gotten lost in that movie's grander shadow or perhaps it's simply because it's not really that good. Muni seems totally lost in the role of a dead gangster fuelling the fires of Hell before he's brought back to inhabit the body of a 'good' judge the Devil is trying to get his hands on, (watching this you would never think Muni was once considered a great actor). Rains, on the other hand, looks like he's enjoying this nonsense though it's hardly what you would call acting; more like smirking as he goes through the motions. The ridiculous plot has Muni and Rains returning from Hell so that Rains' Devil can get the righteous judge down below, (and give Muni's gangster the chance to get revenge on the guy who plugged him). Of course, considering he's the Devil, Rains seems singularly unprepared for Anne Baxter's sweetness-and-light fiancée whose goodness messes up his plans somewhat. Naturally, it's a comedy and it's not unamusing in a daft kind of way but it's hardly memorable. Par for the Archie Mayo course, in fact.