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 | Uncle Nephew Relationship | Unlikely Hero

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)
• 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:

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

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of the plates that Albert has thrown haphazardly on the Christmas dinner table change positions in the next medium shot.

Quotes:

Andre Trochard:Out of my way, you lout!
Albert:[deadpan] You frighten me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010) (V)

Soundtrack:

Ma France Bien-Aimee

A Special Christmas For One Family

We're No Angels is adapted from a French play La Cuisine de Anges which was written by Albert Husson and ran a nice, respectable 344 performances on Broadway 1953-1954. In the roles of those unlikely angel/convicts on Broadway were Walter Slezak, Jerome Cowan, and Darren McGavin.

Our three in this film are Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray who escape from Devil's Island and are now among hundreds of other paroled convicts in the French West Indies at the turn of the last century. This was around the time Alfred Dreyfus was in Devil's Island so we know it was no fun place to be.

But these three seem to have a light hearted take life as it comes attitude. There's no whining from any of them about them being innocent of what got them there. But they want out and make it.

Fate puts them in the hands of a family they first would like to rob for some getaway loot. But hearing and seeing the sad plight they're in they can't bring themselves to do it. Then of course comes the Christmas visit of a tyrannical cousin played with relish by Basil Rathbone whom they work for and the convicts work becomes a pleasure.

They are aided of course by a pet coral snake named Adolph that Ray keeps in a straw basket. In many ways Adolph is almost divinely driven to do his duty.

Humphrey Bogart who was an unsuccessful embezzler in the film has a nice light touch for deadpan comedy. Too bad he didn't use it more often in films. This was a nice blend of comedy together with Bogey's gangster persona which we see more of in his films. On stage before he came to Hollywood, Bogart actually did a lot of light comedy.

This was also Bogart's final film with Director Michael Curtiz with whom he worked often and well back at Warner Brothers. Most particularly in Casablanca which was Curtiz's Oscar winning film for himself and for the film. A lot consider that film the one that firmly cemented Humphrey Bogart as a top box office draw.

Leo G. Carroll, Joan Bennett, and Gloria Talbott are the family who get some help on Christmas. The film itself is a great indication how the Deity or the fates do indeed move in mysterious ways.