Ein Engel auf Erden (1959) - film review

When his bride-to-be jilts him at the alter and runs off with a singer, racing driver Pierre Chaillot decides to drown his sorrows in alcohol and then kill himself.  Before he can commit the fatal act, his guardian angel suddenly appears, in the form of an air hostess named Line who, unbeknown to Pierre, is madly in love with him.  The angel’s mission is to bring Pierre and Line together, although to do so she must give the former a reason for living...

One of the lesser works from Hungarian filmmaker Géza von Radványi, Ein Engel auf Erden is an absurd fantasy comedy that is memorable only for its cast, which includes some of the best loved actors in French cinema – most of whom were at an early stage in their career.  At the time she made this film, Romy Schneider was known for just one role, that of the young Empress Elisabeth of Austria (a.k.a. Sissi), in a series of films that made her a star in her native Austria.  She would subsequently make an even bigger name for herself when she started appearing in French language films in the 1960s.  The actress had previously featured in Radványi’s Mädchen in Uniform (1958), one of the director’s best known films.

Appearing with Romy Schneider in this film are such familiar faces as Jean-Paul Belmondo (just before Jean-Luc Godard gave him his big break in A bout de souffle, 1959) and Michèle Mercier, the future star of the enormously popular Angélique films.   The film also features Henri Vidal, a major star of French cinema in the 1950s, in one of his last roles before his premature death.  The spirited contributions from such a talented cast help to make up for the film’s mediocre screenplay and completely uninspired direction. 

Whilst Ein Engel auf Erden clearly isn’t a masterpiece, it is mildly entertaining, and a treat for anyone who ever wanted to see Romy Schneider dressed as an air hostess.   Géza von Radványi would go on to direct several inconsequential French films, although his most bizarre credit is co-writer on the screenplay for the popular Louis de Funès film, L’Homme orchestre (1970).

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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