Satan, posing as Nick, convinces Kagle to return to Earth and take over the body of Judge Parker, a look-alike for Kagle. The idea is that the powerful Parker will perform inverse justice, allowing the guilty to go free while the innocent are punished.
Because it is a movie, Parker has a hottie fiancée, Barbara (Anne Baxter). Barbara is confused by Parker's antics, now that he is occupied by Kagle. Also bewildered is Parker's servant Albert (George Cleveland). Parker's doctor (Onslow Stevens), a stereotypical know-it-all, suggests that Parker/Kagle be humored until he returns to his old self. As it turns out, he's correct.
Because it is a movie, things fail to work out as Satan planned. As in Becket, the protégé has a mind of his own. Kagle as Parker acts heroically, and soon Barbara loves him as he now is. Satan sets up a reunion between Parker/Kagle and Smiley, under the assumption that Kagle will murder Smiley and thus allow Satan to return his soul to Hell.
How others will see it. Angel on My Shoulder was meant as a comeback for Paul Muni, one of the most heralded actors of the 1930s. Muni's career had declined precipitously during the 1940s, but Angel on My Shoulder had potential. It was the last movie directed by Archie Mayo, and more importantly, the story and screenplay were by Harry Segall. Segall had a huge hit with Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), which featured Claude Rains as an angel.
However, Angel on My Shoulder failed to make much of an impact. It was a box office dud and ignored by the Oscars and Golden Globes. Today at imdb.com, the user rating of 7.0 is moderately higher than expected, as is the vote total of 1500. Women over 45 grade it highest at 7.3, more accepting of the silly plot and lame romance.
How I felt about it. Angel on My Shoulder could have been a parody of Segall's biggest success. Imagine Kagle as Parker causing legal chaos in the Big Apple. Some slapstick scenes have Parker pawing Barbara and stumbling around the room, and while they are funny, they are so in a manner different than what United Artists and Archie Mayo had intended.
Alas, it was not to be, and the movie slumps into a tepid romance halfway through, with little to encourage watching aside from Baxter's porcelain beauty and Muni's eccentric (yet charismatic) performance. Particularly silly is a party meeting where children act adorable and Parker has a fistfight with gangsters.
Rains is a disappointment, merely oily when he should be fuming, and cowardly ducking from any confrontation with minor religious figures such as priests and ministers. The depiction of Hell as a coal boiler room and waiting room sauna is entertaining, but occupies only a few minutes, early in the movie.