The Angel Levine (1970)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Ján Kadár

Writers:

Bill Gunn (writer)
Bernard Malamud (story)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

If he's an angel, imagine what God is like.

Plot:

Morris Mishkin is a elderly religious Jew in New York. His wife Fanny is very ill. He's a tailor, but he can't work because his back has given out...

Plot Keywords:

Angel | Jewish

Cast

Zero Mostel	...	Morris Mishkin
Harry Belafonte	...	Alexander Levine
Ida Kaminska	...	Fanny Mishkin
Milo O'Shea	...	Dr. Arnold Berg
Gloria Foster	...	Sally
Barbara Ann Teer	...	Welfare lady
Eli Wallach	...	Delicatessen Clerk
Anne Jackson	...	Customer in Delicatessen
Stephen Strimpell	...	Drugstore clerk
Sam Raskyn	...	Druggist
Kathy Shawn	...	Woman in drugstore
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anna Stuart

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual references.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG-13

Company:

Belafonte Enterprises

Uneven fable(?)

Any film starring Zero Mostel is worth watching, and The Angel Levine is no exception. Sadly the film has aged rather poorly, with Harry Belafonte's hipster jive clearly belonging in the New York City of 30 years ago. Whether the film should be viewed literally, as a tale of personal redemption and healing, or as the fable most reviewers assume it to be, is uncertain. There's enough good acting here--especially from Mostel and Ida Kaminska as his dying wife--to recommend this strange little art piece.