I finally got to see this film thanks to a bootleg DVD from ioffer.com. I had wanted to see it for many years as I am huge fan of Andy Griffith. Boy was Angel In My Pocket a disappointment. It is surprising to see all the praise in other reviewers comments. It starts off trying to be a comedy but never really delivers. Is Samuel wrestling his hungover brother-in-law around the living room and tearing pajama's owned by his father supposed to be funny. The town is seemingly full of angry and bitter people who lack any charm whatsoever. Think of Emma Brandt on the Andy Griffith Show and her comical uppity ways and drama over her "pills" or the curmudgeon Ben Weaver. The feuding characters in this movie lack any of that. The potential for a subplot involving the star-crossed lovers has potential but is brought into the film too late and wrapped up too quickly. Suddenly a mayor's race is tossed in at the film's conclusion. This film is a shaky mess of drama, attempted comedy and characters that are wooden as two by fours. There is also a burlesque show that that viewers get to view in its entirety for no good reason.
All the audience knows about Samuel Whitehead is that he was a marine who paid his way through seminary while working at a brickyard. Why not a scene telling us what gave the good minister his calling? Somehow Whitehead's enabling mother-in-law and completely worthless brother-in-law have mooched their way into his home. These characters were not comical and added little to the story. The kids seem mere ornamentation and serve only as part of the dilapidated school subplot which again wraps up too quickly and arrives too late.
With the great cast, great setting and a plot full of potential, this could have been a great family classic that launched Andy Griffith into a new level of stardom. Unfortunately, all these elements never gel as they should and what results is a lackluster film with only a few chuckles here and there and little else.
All the audience knows about Samuel Whitehead is that he was a marine who paid his way through seminary while working at a brickyard. Why not a scene telling us what gave the good minister his calling? Somehow Whitehead's enabling mother-in-law and completely worthless brother-in-law have mooched their way into his home. These characters were not comical and added little to the story. The kids seem mere ornamentation and serve only as part of the dilapidated school subplot which again wraps up too quickly and arrives too late.
With the great cast, great setting and a plot full of potential, this could have been a great family classic that launched Andy Griffith into a new level of stardom. Unfortunately, all these elements never gel as they should and what results is a lackluster film with only a few chuckles here and there and little else.