Silver-screen glamor oozes from this vestigially cloying but devilishly feel-good Hollywood fable about an angel, descending from heaven in the physical form of Cary Grant, is assigned by the Almighty to answer the prayer of an Episcopal bishop Henry Brougham (Niven), who is preoccupied with his imminent fund-raising of a cathedral which puts a strain on his family life.
The angel with the name Dudley, a choir-conducting, ice-skating, harp-thrumming omnipotent being, comes clean with a dubious Henry of his mission and poses as his new assistant, squires Henry’s neglected wife Julia (Young) to recollect her fondest memory, charms the entire household including the high-pitched housekeeper Matilda (Lanchester), Henry’s prim secretary Mildred (Haden), and the Brougham’s small daughter Debby (Grimes), also, convinces an atheist professor Wutheridge (Woolley) to finally knuckle down to write the history book he has been stalling ever since. Eventually, Dudley’s mission is not to build a cathedral, the fund can be wisely disbursed to a more exigent need of its time, but to set Henry’s derailed life back on track, right before the advert of Christmas.
But there is a hitch, predictably, Dudley develops a feeling for Julia, which raises the tension between him and Henry, who runs away with jealousy (no sagacious scribe to inject him with any scintilla of trust in his devoted wife), and it is all up to a virtuous Julia to pull the plug with a lachrymose face to adumbrate that Dudley’s feeling is not unrequited, but bound by a wife’s duty, however tempted, it is too sacrosanct for her to shuck that off, a moral lesson inculcated with a beguiling pretense of cinematic illusion.
While the three leads are deftly treading their designated paths with admirable expertise: Grant is particularly jaunty in Dudley’s backhanded magickal tricks with an understated poker-face, Young radiates incredible bonhomie and saintliness and Niven, taking everything with a pinch of salt, perfectly offsets Grant’s exuding charisma in his own sizzling pique, it is the witty special effects that mostly, gives the movie an endearing quality that weathers with the age and shifting ethos, a self-typing typewriter, a self-replenishing bottle of sherry and a fully-bedecked Christmas tree, it is indeed, small wonders that save the day in Henry Koster’s vintage heart-warmer ensconced as a go-to holiday classic with wholesome contentment.
referential entries: Henry Koster’s HARVEY (1950, 8.1/10); Alexander Hall’s HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1941, 7.4/10); Frank Capra’s IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946, 8.3/10).
Silver-screen glamor oozes from this vestigially cloying but devilishly feel-good Hollywood fable about an angel, descending from heaven in the physical form of Cary Grant, is assigned by the Almighty to answer the prayer of an Episcopal bishop Henry Brougham (Niven), who is preoccupied with his imminent fund-raising of a cathedral which puts a strain on his family life.
The angel with the name Dudley, a choir-conducting, ice-skating, harp-thrumming omnipotent being, comes clean with a dubious Henry of his mission and poses as his new assistant, squires Henry’s neglected wife Julia (Young) to recollect her fondest memory, charms the entire household including the high-pitched housekeeper Matilda (Lanchester), Henry’s prim secretary Mildred (Haden), and the Brougham’s small daughter Debby (Grimes), also, convinces an atheist professor Wutheridge (Woolley) to finally knuckle down to write the history book he has been stalling ever since. Eventually, Dudley’s mission is not to build a cathedral, the fund can be wisely disbursed to a more exigent need of its time, but to set Henry’s derailed life back on track, right before the advert of Christmas.
But there is a hitch, predictably, Dudley develops a feeling for Julia, which raises the tension between him and Henry, who runs away with jealousy (no sagacious scribe to inject him with any scintilla of trust in his devoted wife), and it is all up to a virtuous Julia to pull the plug with a lachrymose face to adumbrate that Dudley’s feeling is not unrequited, but bound by a wife’s duty, however tempted, it is too sacrosanct for her to shuck that off, a moral lesson inculcated with a beguiling pretense of cinematic illusion.
While the three leads are deftly treading their designated paths with admirable expertise: Grant is particularly jaunty in Dudley’s backhanded magickal tricks with an understated poker-face, Young radiates incredible bonhomie and saintliness and Niven, taking everything with a pinch of salt, perfectly offsets Grant’s exuding charisma in his own sizzling pique, it is the witty special effects that mostly, gives the movie an endearing quality that weathers with the age and shifting ethos, a self-typing typewriter, a self-replenishing bottle of sherry and a fully-bedecked Christmas tree, it is indeed, small wonders that save the day in Henry Koster’s vintage heart-warmer ensconced as a go-to holiday classic with wholesome contentment.
referential entries: Henry Koster’s HARVEY (1950, 8.1/10); Alexander Hall’s HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1941, 7.4/10); Frank Capra’s IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946, 8.3/10).
我们每个人都会在莫名的时候，突然感受到幸福满满。而这部电影我觉得导演编剧正是抓住了这一点人所共同的奇妙第六感。加里格兰特所饰演的天使，既如祈祷的那样帮助了主教在耶诞节前筹集善资，又帮助主教身边的爱人朋友得到内心的无比幸福。这是这部电影最打动我的地方，有点像《欢乐满人间》。主旨绝不是过节、孩子、礼物，天堂、天使等一系列慰足人心的暖光多少年没有找到过成年人奔碌的生活中，这是绝大多数人所真正需要和祈祷的。导演让格兰特这束光照射在宇宙中地球的这个城市。
诚然情商超纲一样的知根知底确实有点呛主教的行市，但直抵灵魂的力量如是善意，将是真正的伟大。从中期看，甚至觉得天使的到来并不是主教一人之愿，爱妻、教授、管家等人物的苦恼，同样希望有天使解厄。
作为当代人，电影让人会首先想到《冒牌天神》等一系列如有神助或天神降临的幽默电影。加里格兰特的形象也确实符合我们的口味，但他在本片中的出演，中规中矩，幽默也在“神界”的范围之内。所具备的神力，通过永远喝不完的酒、自己打字的打字机、一挥手布置完成耶诞树等等小神迹，为疲于忙碌的人带来福音。尤其滑冰和弹竖琴一段，镜头的衔接和头部双手的抠像，让观众看到以为老加真有两下子！
他离开了我们，当我们不需要他的时候，天使离开了。悄然无声，从未来过。在带给我们无以言表的幸福感后，突然离开了。就像题目所说的“降神”式的幸福。但当我们意识到将要离开我们时，绝大多数人问着天使，似乎等同于直面幸福，“还会再来么？”，答案是自己去二楼搂住自己的爱人吧。幸福是自己由心而发的感受，困扰是自身设立的荆棘。
很多人看完此片可能会以“小儿科”和“骗观众”的视角来评价，似乎自己的冷血是与生俱来的杰出血统一样。放下内心的戒备和高墙，让童话的阳光照射进来吧。
——最让我喜爱的是天使给孩子讲故事，急于生活的大人慢了下来，和孩子一样平静安详地听天使的故事，孩子也一问一答追着故事。这个桥段设计的太好了，加上祥和鲜灵的配乐，让人神往。