''The Angel Levine'' is a 1970 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Ján Kadár and starring Zero Mostel,

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

, Ida Kamińska,

Milo O'Shea Milo Donal O'Shea (2 June 1926 – 2 April 2013) was an Irish actor. He was twice nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in ''Staircase'' (1968) and '' Mass Appeal'' (1982). Early life O'Shea was born and ...

, and Gloria Foster. It is based on a short story by

Bernard Malamud Bernard Malamud (April 26, 1914 – March 18, 1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Norman Mailer and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish ...

about Morris Mishkin, an elderly, impoverished New York City tailor who becomes unable to work due to health problems. His wife has also been seriously ill for two years, and their situation is now desperate. The tailor's Jewish faith, or lack of it, is challenged when a man calling himself Alexander Levine enters his life, claiming to be his guardian angel. Levine says that he must make the tailor believe in his mission, or fail to earn his angelic wings.

Plot

Morris Mishkin is a poor Jewish tailor struggling through a difficult life. The pain in his back keeps him from holding down a job, his daughter has run away, and his wife, Fanny, suffers from heart disease. While still waiting on relief from a backlogged welfare system, Mishkin takes his last bit of savings to the grocery store for necessities. During his trek to the store he witnesses a robbery in which a black man steals a fur coat. Mishkin yells for the police, which alerts the thief, who then attempts a getaway but is struck and killed by a passing car while dashing across the street. When Mishkin gets back to his home he finds his wife growing continually worse, and he curses the Lord for his troubles. As Mishkin turns to his kitchen, he sees the black thief who was killed in the street, standing there. The mysterious man claims to be a Jewish angel in training going by the name of Alexander Levine. Levine says that he must perform a miracle within 24 hours to be promoted to accepted status as an angel. Mishkin does not believe Levine, but Fanny's health suddenly improves. Mishkin still disbelieves it is a miracle, or that God is showing mercy. When Levine's 24 hours have expired, he leaves the Mishkin household, only for Fanny's condition to revert and worsen. Mishkin has a change of heart, and rushes to the streets of Harlem in search of Levine. He finally enters a local synagogue, but finds only a single black feather.

Cast

* Zero Mostel as Morris Mishkin *

as Alexander Levine * Ida Kamińska as Fanny Mishkin *

as Dr. Arnold Berg * Gloria Foster as Sally * Barbara Ann Teer as Welfare Lady *

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach ( ; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. Known for his character actor roles, his entertainment career spanned over six decades. He received a British Aca ...

as Delicatessen Clerk *

Anne Jackson Anne Jackson (September 3, 1925 – April 12, 2016); retrieved April 16, 2016Archivedfrom the original on April 16, 2016. was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was the wife of actor Eli Wallach, with whom she often co-sta ...

as Woman in Delicatessen * Stephen Strimpell as Drugstore Clerk * Sam Raskyn as Druggist * Kathy Shawn as Woman in Drugstore

Production

''The Angel Levine'' was brought to the screen by Belafonte, who produced the film as his own return to movies after more than 10 years. The story was adapted by

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

-nominated writer Ronald Ribman and Bill Gunn, who had written the satire '' The Landlord'' (1970), "a well-received and complex examination of American race relations". Hal Erickson remarks that while "Bernard Malamud seldom saw his works faithfully transferred to the screen...he issued no complaints over the cinemazation of his Angel Levine."

Reception

''The Angel Levine'' was poorly received when it was first released, with Roger Greenspun of the ''New York Times'' stating that "given the reputations of the talents involved, he film isa failure of major proportions. I have seen worse movies. But I cannot remember having seen a movie so nervously at odds with itself, so timid in its impulses, and so mistaken in its choices." When the film was released on DVD in 2002, Glenn Erickson of ''DVD Talk'' commented: "''The Angel Levine'' is one of dozens of interesting movies in the

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

library that seem to have been created for the purpose of being obscure.” Tana Hobart considers the film poorly served by its writing but saved by the actors: "With a hackneyed plotline almost lifted intact from ''It's a Wonderful Life'', this is still a worthwhile movie due to the appeal and acting ability of the cast."

References

External links