Half Angel (1951)

Very best movie i ever watch

Awesome Movie

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Copyright 11 May 1951 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 15 June 1951. U.S. release: May 1951. U.K. release: 24 September 1951. Australian release: 2 November 1951. 6,819 feet. 76 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A reserved young nurse with a split personality pursues her subconscious love while sleep-walking.NOTES: Commenced shooting late July 1950 with director Jules Dassin at the helm. COMMENT: The only scene that may be Dassin's is the first in the hospital — a long take with some complex camera movements. True, there are other long takes in the film — indeed the direction is generally more stylish than Sale's norm — but nothing else that would indicate any mastery of the cinema. The script is too lightweight for Dassin anyway, so his exit comes as no surprise. It's a very slight bit of whimsy indeed, unusual for a Robert Riskin script in that it is such a trifle. All the same, Riskin has added some attractive conceits. These find their full expression in the amusement park sequence (photographed on location at Long Beach) in which Edwin Max as a delightfully disgruntled attendant is induced to ride the roller-coaster. The following courtroom episode continues the jest neatly.Why dress up this slight trifle with Technicolor? Well it needs color to give it a bit of substance. In fact it's the color photography more than the script and the acting that makes the story and its people reasonably interesting. Of course Technicolor also benefits the attractive Loretta Young no end and makes her costumes especially appealing. It also enhances both the real locations in downtown Los Angeles and the extensive back-lot filming.Mockridge's music score is suitably lively. Miss Young sings/breathes the Newman/Blane ballad with appropriate finesse.The support players are also very able. Max, as mentioned, is a stand-out, but even glum Cotten is quite watchable. And there's Backus, Ruysdael, Ryan, Kellaway (though Cecil does seem to be trying a bit too hard).

The plot to "Half Angel" is insane and impossible to believe. But should that stop you from watching it? Maybe not. After all, some of the best old rom-coms of the classic era of Hollywood had completely ridiculous plots...such as in "Bringing Up Baby" and "My Favorite Wife" as well as "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer".Nora (Loretta Young) is an extremely conventional and a bit straight-laced lady. She's going to be married soon, so you'd think she was very happy...and she is on the surface. However, subconsciously she is NOT happy and longs to be wild, carefree and in love. But she is not aware of this and this side of her only starts appearing when she goes to sleep at night. She begins sleepwalking as this other personality and soon completely captivates John (Joseph Cotten). However, John knows little about this mystery woman....she was in his life and then just disappeared! So he frantically looks all over town for her. Eventually, he finds Nora...and she has zero recollection of him. In fact, she even presses charges when she thinks he's taking liberties with her, a stranger! What's next? See this odd film.This movie works because of the actors...period. The plot is ridiculous but Joseph Cotten and Loretta Young were such wonderful professionals that they were able to bring it across and make it fun as well. Overall, fun and enjoyable...and silly.

Misshapen piece of fluff, a capricious bit of harmless whimsy that may go down easier at three in the morning when one is apt to be less demanding. Loretta Young is a starchy, spinsterish nurse, about to marry the cloddish man she's been putting off for five years, when suddenly her repressed desire to flirt with a strictly-business attorney takes over her body while she's sleepwalking, leading to a series of romantic confusions. Robert Riskin is responsible for the script, which he adapted from a story by George Carleton Brown; both men are strictly behind-the-times in terms of a saucy bedroom comedy (although Young is certainly attractive dressed in a very sheer negligee!). Joseph Cotten looks rather incredulous at being caught in such a juvenile scenario, and the tone of the picture is wobbly right from the start. Colorful supporting players (Jim Backus, Irene Ryan, and the always-reliable Cecil Kellaway) add some sparkle, however the movie hinges on Young's performance and she's much more annoying than seductive. ** from ****

Loretta Young is a "Half Angel" in this 1951 comedy starring Joseph Cotten, Cecil Kellaway, Jim Backus and Irene Ryan. The beautiful Miss Young plays Nora, who by day is a very professional-looking nurse and by night a glamorous seductress. Apparently she has a split personality, and when her conscious mind goes to sleep, Nora's other personality wakes up and drops in on an old school chum who is now an important attorney (Cotten). Her mystique, her allure, her seductiveness make him crazy. Every time he spots the daytime starched nurse Nora, he happily approaches her and throws his arms around her - only to get slapped in the face. Nora is engaged to be married to someone else and besides, she has no memory of these nighttime escapades.One of the reviewers on this site complained about the holes in the plot. This is the kind of film that doesn't hold up well under much - or any - scrutiny. It's a fantasy and has to be enjoyed as such. Nitpicking about how fast a trial is docketed and why someone receives a subpoena is like saying that tapping red rhinestone shoes together will never take you back home.At 38, Loretta Young is absolutely gorgeous, as she always was and remained for the rest of her life. Huge eyes, a face the shape of a cameo, beautiful hair, slim figure - as if any of it is really hidden by a nurse's cap and uniform. For Nora the wild one, she wears her hair down and a flashy seafoam-colored dress. Which brings me to the film's color. It's very reminiscent of a Better Homes and Garden book from the '50s that I used to look at as a child - very bright colors and lots of them. I found the use of color in the film quite unusual.A light comedy is strange casting for Joseph Cotten, but for my money, he pulls it off. This isn't a wildly funny movie, but it is an amusing one, and the psychiatric plot is in line with the post-war interest in the subconscious so prevalent in films of that era. This film takes the fluff approach, which movies like "The Snake Pit," "The Dark Past" and "Spellbound" did not. Loretta fans will love it.