99 reviews

Format: Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6

MPN: PARD054144D
ISBN: 1415713510
UPC: 097360541441
EAN: 9781415713518

Theatrical Release Date: 1955
Release Date: September 27, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Three convicts are plotting their escape from devils island. Fate intervenes when they hide out with the kindly but inept felix & his family. After resolving felixs problems the convicts return to prison convinced the world is much too wicked. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 09/27/2005 Starring: Humphrey Bogart Peter Ustinov Run time: 105 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Michael Curtiz

Amazon.com
Audiences have always loved the spectacle of tough guys going soft and gooey, and We're No Angels adds the extra sweetener of Yuletide to its mix. The action takes place on Devil's Island, the tropical backwater where the notorious French prison was located. Three convicts, played by Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, and Peter Ustinov, have escaped, and wait only for a ship to leave the next day. In the meantime, they become involved in the financial woes of an island shopkeeper (Leo G. Carroll) and his wife (Joan Bennett) and daughter, whose business is in danger from a rich, nasty relative (Basil Rathbone). Despite the threat of black comedy, especially in the form of a poisonous viper (which Ray carries around in a demure bamboo case), broad cuteness tends to rule the day. While it's not on the list of essential Bogart performances, Bogie does seem to be enjoying himself, and the puckish Ustinov savors his lines like a cow chewing grass. The stage origins of the scenario are all too obvious, and probably contribute to the pokey pacing (Michael Curtiz, who guided Bogart in Casablanca, was perhaps not the ideal choice for this kind of winsome comedy). This 1955 film looks good in comparison to the loose, labored 1989 remake with Robert De Niro and Sean Penn. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews: Read 94 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

3.5 stars November 20, 2008
D. K. Stokes
After watching the 1989 version, I decided I needed the original. Honestly, I have no idea why they kept the title for the newer movie, because the two are not related at all. I'm one of the minority, in that I didn't like this one as well.

Three convicts on Devil's Island escape from the prison and decide to steal some supplies from a local shop before stowing away on a ship. Instead, they end up falling for the family who owns the shop, and helping them out.

It's a very cute movie, with the three being constantly pulled between their desire for escape and their growing affection for the family. And I did enjoy it, but it was really pretty simple and light, not really something I could sink my teeth into, I guess.

I suppose I fell into the same trap as those who disliked We're No Angels (1989). I had the one I'd first seen in my mind, and expected something similar, so I was less than enthusiastic when I got something completely different. Whoever had the idea to give the second one the same title, I want to whack them over the head with my cluebat. It does both movies a disservice.

Something else that had me nonplussed: We're No Angels is based on the play My Three Angels, which I saw in a community theater nearly 20 years ago. I kept thinking I'd seen it--it was both familiar and not. Once my husband reminded me that we'd seen the play, the stage aspects were quite apparent--the movie was very nearly a filmed version of a play. A lot of the scenes were filmed from one angle on one set, and it was... tidy, the way plays are. One person talking at a time, for example.

And once I realized I'd seen the play, I also realized that I enjoyed the play more. The movie version didn't add anything for me. Sure, it was professional actors instead of amateurs, but I'm very fond of amateur theater. Making a movie from a play should be like making a movie from a book--there's no point unless you use the unique properties of film to add something to the adaptation.

2 out of 5 stars

The Devil's Island Comedy November 5, 2008
Acute Observer (Jersey Shore)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

This film begins in Devils's Island in 1895. Three prisoners have escaped. Are they hiding in plain sight? Can they escape on a boat back to France? Can they find passports and money? The convicts meet the shop owner, and we learn about them. Cayenne is hot and humid at Christmas, and the rest of the time. Will the daughter of the shopowner find true love and happiness? Will a letter bring shocking bad news? The story mixes comedy with drama. [Does this film seem dated?] Will unexpected visitors arrive to shake things up? Will the books be fixed for Christmas? Will the three convicts fix the problems for the family?

"Your opinion of me has no cash value." Will there be a disagreeable surprise for Uncle Andre? Would a new will solve the problems for the family? Will nephew Paul take advantage of the new situation? Will he too have a disagreeable surprise? Will there be a happy ending? Was this film worth watching? Was this light-weight story padded out?

This story and attitudes seem unusual for the 1950s. Was it a perverse parody of the "Three Wise Men"?

5 out of 5 stars

Unique, Wonderful Christmas Fun November 3, 2008
Ronald F. Cooney (Reno, NV)
I agree with all the other folks who give "We're
No Angels" five stars. With top to bottom great
performances by a stellar cast and a script that
is chock-a-block with witty lines, WNA is a
winner all the way. I too had trouble locating
it for a number of years but now own it on both
VHS and DVD. We watch it every Christmas (some-
times a couple of times) and revel it. It's one
of those movies that reveals more pleasures with
each viewing. Felix: [re: evil Cousin Andre]:
"My family's as good as his [pause] it's the same
family now that I think of it." A real joy to
watch this movie every Christmas season!

5 out of 5 stars

Bogart Does Comedy October 14, 2008
Michael B. Druxman (Los Angeles)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: From the Secret Files of Harry Pennypacker
Basil Rathbone: His life and his films
Shadow Watcher
Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake

Humphrey Bogart made very few comedies during his long career, but those that he did appear in were quite entertaining.

WE'RE NO ANGELS (1955) is a delicious black comedy, adapted by Ranald MacDougall from MY THREE ANGELS, a popular French play by Albert Husson, and directed by Michael Curtiz (CASABLANCA).

In it, Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray play three convicts who have escaped from the prison on Devil's Island on Christmas Eve.

While planning their departure from the island itself, they take refuge in a store run by a kind couple (Leo G. Carroll and Joan Bennett), who are being terrorized by Carroll's nasty uncle (Basil Rathbone), the store's actual owner. Bogart and his two companions, with the help of their poisonous pet snake, decide to improve the couple's lives by seeing that ol' Basil and his equally villainous nephew don't bother them any longer.

No serious attempt has been made to disguise this very funny film's stage origins.

Michael B. Druxman, author of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

5 out of 5 stars

We're no Angels August 30, 2008
Elfriede Rucker (Huntsville, Al USA)
This is one of my favorite movies. It is a family movie, good to watch around christmas. In this movie Bogart is different from his usual tough guy movies. Peter Ustinov is wonderful as always, so are Aldo Ray and Joan Bennett.
All around a great movie, lots of fun!