The Angel Levine (1970)

“These days, all of us need angels more than we admit.” – Dr. Arnold Berg

Number of Times Seen – 1 (6 Apr 2021)

Brief Synopsis – A down on his luck tailor is visited by a man who claims that he is an angel and has been sent to help him.

My Take on it – This is a film that I came across by accident and was pleasantly surprised at how interesting it was.

The combination of Zero Mostel and Harry Belefonte is great because they are so mismatched yet allow for the story to still work so well.

The story presents two men who have issues with their faith and their encounter with one another makes each of them question that faith over and over and they attempt to seek answers along the way.

They find ways to try and keep things quite light as there are some very heavy and deep themes that resonate throughout.

The film gives us a nice ambiguity as things progess which makes not only the characters question certain aspects of things but also makes the audience also wonder along similar lines.

Unfortunately, it isn’t as powerful as one might hope for even if it is able to hit some of the right chords along the way.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The script is based on a short story by Bernard Malamud, “Angel Levine,” which was first published in the December 1955 issue of Commentary. In the original story, Mishkin’s name was Manischewitz, and his wife’s first name was Leah. The story also had a much more upbeat ending. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (6/10)