We're No Angels

We're No Angels (1955) is a Christmas comedy from Paramount — watch online on iFILM. Directed by Michael Curtiz, the film stars Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray as three convicts who slip off Devil's Island and land at the shop of a struggling French colonial merchant just before the holidays. Their plan is straightforward: rob the place and move on.

The plan falls apart almost immediately. The Ducotels are in debt, their landlord is circling, and the three cons find themselves — against every instinct — sorting out the family's problems instead. Bogart, known for playing men who don't flinch, is genuinely funny here, playing it warm and slightly bewildered. Ustinov gets the sharpest lines and knows exactly what to do with them.

The film is adapted from a stage play by Albert Husson, and it keeps the theatrical rhythm — small cast, tight location, dialogue doing all the work. That economy is what holds up sixty years later. Watch We're No Angels (1955) online on iFILM.