James Gleason

[7] Cary Grant stars as an angel from Heaven who comes to Earth just before Christmas to help a Bishop (David Niven) and his wife (Loretta Young) raise money for construction of a new cathedral. But Grant has ulterior motives, trying to get the Bishop to realize that happiness lies in prioritizing his marriage over any construction project — and that the fundraising money is …

[5] Claude Rains is gold in all his scenes as the god-like Mr. Jordan, but I find the movie’s playfully fatalistic view of love and self-purpose too saccharine to swallow. Robert Montgomery is also good as the deceased boxer who, due to heavenly oversight, gets the opportunity to rejoin the living by possessing the bodies of freshly dead strangers. The film was nominated for several …

[10] Two small children run for their lives from a murderous preacher in the only film actor Charles Laughton ever directed. The Night of the Hunter is a unique blend — part fable and part thriller, both pastoral and horrific, a beguiling mixture of qualities that usually mark the work of an amateur… or a genius. Laughton is as precise and purposeful as Orson Wells …