We're No Angels (1955)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Albert Husson (play)
Ranald MacDougall

Release Date:

8 September 1955 (Argentina)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

A strangler... A swindler... A safecracker... Yet you'll love them!

Plot:

Three Devil's Island escapees hide out in the home of a kindly merchant and repay his kindness by helping him and his family out of several crises.

Plot Keywords:

Devil's Island | Christmas | Port | Apostrophe In Title | Forgery

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Joseph
Aldo Ray	...	Albert
Peter Ustinov	...	Jules
Joan Bennett	...	Amelie Ducotel
Basil Rathbone	...	Andre Trochard
Leo G. Carroll	...	Felix Ducotel
John Baer	...	Paul Trochard
Gloria Talbott	...	Isabelle Ducotel
Lea Penman	...	Mme. Parole
John Smith	...	Medical Officer Arnaud
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Dee	...	Coachman (uncredited)
Jack Del Rio	...	Gendarme (uncredited)
Ross Gould	...	Foreman (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	Celeste (uncredited)
Torben Meyer	...	Butterfly Man (uncredited)
Paul Newlan	...	Port Captain (uncredited)
Joe Ploski	...	Customs Officer (uncredited)
Victor Romito	...	Gendarme (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Albert Husson		play "La cuisine des anges"
Ranald MacDougall

Produced by
Pat Duggan	....	producer

Original Music by
Friedrich Hollaender		(as Frederick Hollander)

Cinematography by
Loyal Griggs

Film Editing by
Arthur P. Schmidt		(as Arthur Schmidt)

Art Direction by
Roland Anderson
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Grace Gregory

Costume Design by
Mary Grant

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John R. Coonan	....	assistant director (as John Coonan)

Art Department
Dorothea Holt	....	illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Cope	....	sound recordist
Hugo Grenzbach	....	sound recordist
Norman Stuart	....	assistant dialogue editor

Visual Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Music Department
Van Cleave	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Richard Mueller	....	technicolor color consultant

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1964) (USA) (TV)
• Paramount Pictures (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• AFEX (1955) (Austria) (theatrical)
• CIC Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Paramount Pictures (198?) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:U | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The movie supposedly plays ON Devil's Island (it's superimposed in the establishing shot at the very beginning) and Ducotel's general store is located in Cayenne (it's mentioned several times), the capital of French Guiana. However, Devil's Island exclusively was a penal colony with no civilian settlement, and Cayenne lies on the mainland coast, approximately 50 miles east of Kourou, the closest mainland town to Devil's Island.

Quotes:

Joseph:I'm going to buy them their Christmas turkey.
Albert:"Buy"? Do you really mean "buy"?
Joseph:Yes, buy! In the Spirit of Christmas. The hard part's going to be stealing the money to pay for it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bogart: The Untold Story (1996) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Ma France Bien-Aimee

One of my all time favorite movies

The humor is understated and quite droll with some brilliant moments. Peter Ustinov's expressions and nuances are priceless and Humphrey Bogart is very funny because he plays it straight. The last half hour is hysterical.