Angel on My Shoulder

Eddie Kagle, a gangster, is killed soon after leaving prison by the partner who betrayed him, and he ends up in hell. There the devil's agent, Nick, offers him a way back to Earth: Eddie will occupy the body of a respected judge who happens to be his double, and in exchange he must follow Nick's instructions, which include wrecking the judge's reputation. Eddie initially intends to settle scores with the man who killed him, but life as the judge changes him, particularly once he becomes involved with Barbara Foster, the judge's fiancée, and begins to reconsider the life he led.

Archie Mayo directed the film, which followed Moontide (1942) and Black Legion (1937) in his filmography. Harry Segall and Roland Kibbee wrote the screenplay, and Charles R. Rogers produced it for Premier Productions. Paul Muni plays the dual role of Eddie and Judge Fredrick Parker, with Anne Baxter as Barbara, Claude Rains as Nick, and Onslow Stevens, George Cleveland and Erskine Sanford in supporting parts; fifty-four cast members are credited in all.

Released in September 1946, the film runs 100 minutes and mixes comedy with fantasy. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from roughly 3,400 votes, while on TMDB its rating is 6.5 from a much smaller base of 47 votes, so the two sites differ in the size of the audience they reflect rather than in their general assessment.