Half Angel
Half Angel
NR | 05 May 1951 (USA)
Half Angel Trailers

Nurse Nora Gilpin plans are to marry building contractor Tim McCarey and settle down. But one night a sleepwalking Nora slips into a provocative dress and goes to the home of startled lawyer John Raymond, for whom she doesn't care much during the day. She does not reveal her name and he cannot figure out where they have met, but they spend several hours together until she gets away before John notices.

Reviews
Alicia

I love this movie so much

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Afouotos

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

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Siflutter

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

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Juana

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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JohnHowardReid

Copyright 11 May 1951 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 15 June 1951. U.S. release: May 1951. U.K. release: 24 September 1951. Australian release: 2 November 1951. 6,819 feet. 76 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A reserved young nurse with a split personality pursues her subconscious love while sleep-walking.NOTES: Commenced shooting late July 1950 with director Jules Dassin at the helm. COMMENT: The only scene that may be Dassin's is the first in the hospital — a long take with some complex camera movements. True, there are other long takes in the film — indeed the direction is generally more stylish than Sale's norm — but nothing else that would indicate any mastery of the cinema. The script is too lightweight for Dassin anyway, so his exit comes as no surprise. It's a very slight bit of whimsy indeed, unusual for a Robert Riskin script in that it is such a trifle. All the same, Riskin has added some attractive conceits. These find their full expression in the amusement park sequence (photographed on location at Long Beach) in which Edwin Max as a delightfully disgruntled attendant is induced to ride the roller-coaster. The following courtroom episode continues the jest neatly.Why dress up this slight trifle with Technicolor? Well it needs color to give it a bit of substance. In fact it's the color photography more than the script and the acting that makes the story and its people reasonably interesting. Of course Technicolor also benefits the attractive Loretta Young no end and makes her costumes especially appealing. It also enhances both the real locations in downtown Los Angeles and the extensive back-lot filming.Mockridge's music score is suitably lively. Miss Young sings/breathes the Newman/Blane ballad with appropriate finesse.The support players are also very able. Max, as mentioned, is a stand-out, but even glum Cotten is quite watchable. And there's Backus, Ruysdael, Ryan, Kellaway (though Cecil does seem to be trying a bit too hard).

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Michael_Elliott

Half Angel (1951) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Incredibly charming and sweet romantic comedy about a shy and ordinary girl (Loretta Young) who doesn't know it but is in love with a lawyer (Joseph Cotten). She's about to be married to another man but she also sleepwalks and this is when she's able to confess her love for the lawyer. When she's awake, she hates him. This film doesn't have the best reputation but I loved nearly every second of it. You've certainly gotta wonder how Young can walk and talk while "sleepwalking" but that minor quibble aside, this is a great little gem. Young and Cotten have great chemistry together and both are very light on their feet and give terrific comedic performances. I've never seen Cotten so funny, although I haven't seen him in too many comedies. Young is a charming as ever and the supporting cast offers nice laughs as well. This Technicolor film is yet another Young film in the vaults of Fox.

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blanche-2

Loretta Young is a "Half Angel" in this 1951 comedy starring Joseph Cotten, Cecil Kellaway, Jim Backus and Irene Ryan. The beautiful Miss Young plays Nora, who by day is a very professional-looking nurse and by night a glamorous seductress. Apparently she has a split personality, and when her conscious mind goes to sleep, Nora's other personality wakes up and drops in on an old school chum who is now an important attorney (Cotten). Her mystique, her allure, her seductiveness make him crazy. Every time he spots the daytime starched nurse Nora, he happily approaches her and throws his arms around her - only to get slapped in the face. Nora is engaged to be married to someone else and besides, she has no memory of these nighttime escapades.One of the reviewers on this site complained about the holes in the plot. This is the kind of film that doesn't hold up well under much - or any - scrutiny. It's a fantasy and has to be enjoyed as such. Nitpicking about how fast a trial is docketed and why someone receives a subpoena is like saying that tapping red rhinestone shoes together will never take you back home.At 38, Loretta Young is absolutely gorgeous, as she always was and remained for the rest of her life. Huge eyes, a face the shape of a cameo, beautiful hair, slim figure - as if any of it is really hidden by a nurse's cap and uniform. For Nora the wild one, she wears her hair down and a flashy seafoam-colored dress. Which brings me to the film's color. It's very reminiscent of a Better Homes and Garden book from the '50s that I used to look at as a child - very bright colors and lots of them. I found the use of color in the film quite unusual.A light comedy is strange casting for Joseph Cotten, but for my money, he pulls it off. This isn't a wildly funny movie, but it is an amusing one, and the psychiatric plot is in line with the post-war interest in the subconscious so prevalent in films of that era. This film takes the fluff approach, which movies like "The Snake Pit," "The Dark Past" and "Spellbound" did not. Loretta fans will love it.

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RozCraig

I really like Loretta Young films. I think she was a great actress in her time. I would like to see more of her films such as Paula, Half Angel, etc. I really hope that some of her rarely seemed films such as Paula and Half Angel...is available on video tapes.

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