Rhapsodies

In my continued search for Christmas movies I’ve never heard of the next obscure genre that I tried was crime comedies taking place in Christmas. 

The first of the year this was We’re No Angels starring Humphrey Bogart Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray.   

We’re No Angels tells the story of three escaped convicts on Devils Island they’re trying to sneak onto a boat heading back to Paris and to do it they have targeted a store owner (Leo G Carrol) to rip off in order to get everything they need. In the process, they find the poor man is fighting bankruptcy and is dominated by his cousin (Basil Rathbone) who owns the company and has a beautiful and sensitive daughter (Gloria Talbott) who wants to be married. 

The convicts take a liking to the family and decide to help them in the only  way they no how.

When I first heard about this film, the first thing I said was “you had me at Bogart and Ustinov together”. And it was… okay. It reminded me something I read about comparing Disney’s shorts featuring Mickey, Donald and Goofy with Chuck Jones “Hunting” trilogy. In the Disney shorts it’s mostly Mickey, Donald and Goofy doing their own thing, while in the “Hunting” trilogy all of the humor is in the way Bugs, Daffy and Elmer interact with each other. Generally most people like the “Hunting” trilogy better. 

This is definitely the case with our three lovable anti-heroes. All three of them are very funny indeed. But they only seem to truly function as a team occasionally, and not enough to make it work. 

Still there’s enough good bits (it is Bogart and Ustinov after all) to make it worth my time. 

Next on my list was Delbert Mann, Fitzwilly. Dick Van Dyke plays Claude “Fitzwilly” Fitzwilliams, the butler of Miss Victoria Woodworth (Edith Evans). Miss Vicki inherited next to nothing from her father and would be destitute if it weren’t for the fact that Fitzwilly and the rest of the staff are secretly supporting her by carrying out a series of scams and thefts. All of this is challenged when Miss Vicki hires a new secretary (Barbara Feldon) to help her with a book she is working on. Can the staff continue their crooked ways with the new level of scrutiny?

Once again this film was… Okay with Dick Van Dyke playing things with his usual charm. The chemistry with him and Feldon is pretty good as well, as is the rest of the cast.