CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Blucher One of the worst movies I've ever seen

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Benedito Dias Rodrigues This fabulous black comedy about three convicts who are planning steal and kill to escape of Devil's Island....but somehow they get involved with a good family and make everything to help them....fantastic christmas tale well adapted to the big screen,all casting is delightful colored,the three convicts are irretrievable from human nature,good when needs to be,and a little bad for a few seconds only,in every single scene is an exercise of full pleasure,a smart dialogues is like a flowers scent,funny jokes with a bit black irony...anyway a must to see...one the greatest and innovative comedy of all time!!!Great Boggie!!!!Resume:First watch: 1985 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 9.25

dougdoepke It's Hollywood's version of The Three Wise Men in this droll, slightly morbid comedy. Of course, the three escapees from Devil's Island prison don't start out as do-gooders. But once they encounter the struggling Ducotel family, their heartstrings are tugged. The chuckles come from how the three use their criminal skills to help the family's failing business, which is also about to be foreclosed by a hard-hearted cousin Andre (Rathbone) and his grasping son Paul (Baer).Now when thinking laughs, Bogart, Ray, and Ustinov don't come to mind. Wisely, each underplays his comedic role letting the unlikely situation they're in dominate; that way, none risk a broader type comedy that might burlesque their established personas. So Bogart's Joseph uses his shady leadership skills to benefit the family. Thus Bogart is still Bogart despite the droll format. At the same time, Ustinov's Jules cracks open about every lock in town, while Ray angles toward the fetching family daughter Isabelle (Talbot). All in all, It's a clever format for the three.Anyway, Talbott's charming, getting to wear about every colorful outfit in Paramount's wardrobe department. Carroll, on the other hand, looks unwell and too old to believably husband the lovely, much younger Bennett. On the other hand, I especially like the scenes where a fast-talking Bogart uses salesmanship on a reluctant over-weight woman (Penman), and an ill-fitting jacket on a paunchy man. As I recall, the movie got a lot of ballyhoo at the time, probably because of Bogart and this slight change of pace.Anyway, the 106-minutes may be a little overstretched for the material. But the results amount to an entertaining X-mas parable that was unfortunately Bogie's last film. But all in all, it's a pretty good one to go out on. One other thing, if someone offers you a little metal box with holes in it, don't take it. I repeat, don't take it.

grantss A rare Humphrey Bogart comedy, and it works perfectly! Seeing Bogart in the lead role, and the movie being about a jailbreak, I was expecting an adventure-drama. Instead I got a comedy, and a very good one at that.Incredibly sharp dialogue and some devilishly clever and funny sub-plots make this an hilarious movie. Add in the fact that it is set at Christmas, and there is a great amount of Christmas sentimentality and fun involved too.The other things that carry the movie are the performances of Bogart and, especially, Peter Ustinov. Bogart delivers his lines well and cannot be faulted, but Ustinov has a perfect sense of comedic timing. Plus his Englishness makes him seem so much funnier.Aldo Ray is a bit hit-and-miss as the third non-angel. Sometimes you feel he is just reciting his lines without any sense of timing or tone, but others then hit the mark well.Good support from Joan Bennett, Basil Rathbone, Leo Carroll and Gloria Talbott.A must-see, especially at Christmas.

irishm I had high hopes for this one… I guess they were TOO high. First of all, I've often had trouble with the concept of obviously filmed plays… "Noises Off" and "The Man Who Came to Dinner" were two of the worst offenders in my opinion. Static, motionless, tons of expositional dialogue crammed in as fast as they possibly could. And that was my experience with "We're No Angels". (I should note that I was unaware it had originally been a play when I started it… but I figured it out in about five minutes. How did "Arsenic and Old Lace" manage to be so entertaining, since it basically had the same limitations? I don't know, but 'static' is not a word I would apply to that film.) The first fifteen or twenty minutes of this one are basically filled with Bogart, Ustinov and Ray up on the roof watching and listening as the Ducotel family rolls out their long list of woes. How long can you watch someone looking in a window? What worked on the stage doesn't necessarily translate well to the screen. There was no action that I needed to see in order to follow the film, so about the time the daughter fainted for the second time, I went to work on a project in the kitchen and finished the film by listening only. It was so incessantly talky that it was like listening to a radio dramatization… perfect background for a little DIY puttering; not enough to keep me sitting and staring at the screen for the entire running time. I certainly had no trouble following it from the next room.That said, I thought Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray were both excellent; they both presented well-drawn characters and delivered their lines (including some real zingers) with appropriate gusto. Bogart was all right, but I've been much more impressed with him in other pictures. He didn't seem to be working as hard as the other two were.Dull, predictable, nothing special. Wanted to like it more; wish I had.