WE’RE NO ANGELS (1955)

Seventy years ago, Humphrey Bogart reunited with director Michael Curtiz for their sixth film together. After a trio of hard-hitting dramas, including the classic Casablanca (1942), it seemed only logical that they would end their association with a light-hearted holiday comedy. Of course, Bogart had recently scored a comic hit in Sabrina (1954), while Curtiz had just finished White Christmas (1954), so it wasn’t that much of a stretch. Bogie is the leader of a trio of Devil’s Island escapees (with Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray) offered hospitality by a pair of failing shopkeepers (Joan Bennett and Leo G. Carroll). To pay them back, the three convicts bring in new customers, pilfer the perfect Christmas dinner, and even take on the shop’s malicious owner (Basil Rathbone). The film was based on a French play that had recently been adapted for Broadway. Although some critics may have favored the stage version, audiences made WE’RE NO ANGELS one of the year’s top films.

d. Michael Curtiz, 106m, 8p/35mm VistaVision

8P/35mm VistaVision print courtesy of Paramount Pictures Archive.