A charming & heartwarming tale set at Christmastime in the 1800's on Devil's Island. Three convicts, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov & Aldo Ray have escaped from the prison & are among the townpeople while they are plotting their escape. Well, they end up at the shop of a bit of a bumbling shopkeeper, played to perfection by Leo G. Carroll (he of the "Topper" series!), his wife, played by Joan Bennett (some may be familiar with her as the family matriarch of Dark Shadows) and their daughter. It IS in color & not that colorization done to some original black & white movies. This 1955 original movie is NOT the same movie as the 1989 "We're No Angels" with Robert Deniro & Sean Penn (0 stars; a dud). My family & I have been watching this for Christmas as long as I can remember, beginning with VHS & just finally upgraded to the DVD in time for viewing this Christmas.

All kinds of merriment ensues, as the "three wise men" (the convicts) become embroiled in the family's life, since the daughter is in love with a young man who is as arrogant & snide as his Uncle, Cousin Andre, who owns the shop & treats his cousin with contempt that he is not ruthless enough with customers to be making a profit for him. The convicts set about to fix the roof, sell customers items they don't need, or fit properly & insist on payment for such goods! They also prepare a glorious Christmas for the family Ducotel, complete with a sumptious turkey dinner (said turkey being stolen from the mayor's, as well as the Christmas Tree)!! They set tables outdoors & serenade the family. While this is occurring, Cousin Andre arrives & wants to go over the "books"/accounting, which sets Leo G. Carroll & the family in a tizzy. No problem for the convicts who each have their own set of skills, and a beloved poisonous pet snake...who so happens to escape & land in the guest quarters of Cousin Andre & his equally mean nephew.

When an officer from the navy comes to the shop, the convicts push he & the daughter together, tying up all loose ends!!! And, the three wise men, these three friends decide as they are looking out at the harbor & the ship they'd need to catch to escape, they realize their lives on Devil's Island really aren't so bad after all, since they've got each others' friendship & can escape the prison & do it again next Christmas!!! And, with that the closing scene is as memorable & ingrained in my memory as one of the most touching (& cute) of any I've ever seen!! A precious and heartwarming movie that's sure to please every family member, from age 5 to 95!!

So first let's start with the fact that this "Blu Ray" is in fact a burnt BD-R. That is not listed anywhere in the Amazon listing or description (as of my purchase anyways) and only in the finest of print on the case it self. The only way you'd know is once you open the package and look at the disc itself. Now to most people, that probably doesn't matter much. There is a chance BD-R disc may not last as long as a pressed disc though. Would have been nice to know before buying. Also, my case arrived with the plastic front damaged which had to be the way it shipped. Better quality control at Amazon should be going on.

Now for the movie. As far as I'm concerned this is a Christmas classic. I have been watching it since I was a kid. The movie itself is 5 stars. The video is the best it's ever looked. While certainly not "remastered" it blows away the DVD and HD streaming versions that were previously available. If you love this movie I highly recommended it. If you want a pressed copy instead of a BD-R then you may have to look somewhere besides Amazon.

I found this at my library, and thought this story so very original and Hillarous, that I decided to purchase and ad to my collection of classics!! Let's just say, justice prevails here! Not only is this comedic but wholesome, Moralistc entertainment! I love the way the actors play off each other, like a waltz, the music is also fantastic!! It's too bad Boguart didn't do much comedies, but really all the actors did an exquisite job on this!! Highly recommend to ad to your Christmas movie classics!! I love it!!

in advance please forgive my spelling Harvey destroyed my home all my computers are gone and all I have is my smartphone so please be patient with me this is a no relation any kind of modern movie this is a Humphrey Bogart movie just to put it in its class and place I ran across this movie on on Turner Classic Movies the first time I saw it there I decided that I needed to own it so I've been on the lookout for it ever since it popped up on Amazon about 3-4 months ago and I looked at it and I passed on it and I looked at it and I passed on it and when I noticed that it was an add-on for $4.95 I jumped on it it arrived on time i n t a c t along with one other title that I ordered I decided to watch this one the first please let me say what kept me from ordering We're No Angels was hoping that somebody would put it on Blu-ray. Blu-ray has a nasty habit of missing some of the best movies and putting nonsense in release like Ernest Goes to Camp and while I have nothing against that movie it's certainly not high enough caliber to consider a release on Blu-ray no offense if you're a fan, still waiting for War of the Worlds to show up on Blu-ray or this island Earth those sorts of Classics are certainly worth putting on Blu-ray enough about that this movie the picture quality first let me tell you is the best picture quality I've seen on a DVD it is just excellent detail color balance and Lighting perfectly done just take for instance there's a lot of canvas and burlap bags in this movie noticing on the edges you can see the individual threads fraying detail uncharacteristic of any DVD just very very very clean. The most devout of audio and video file will be very pleased with this movie no it is not stereo or surround sound at all but it is Dolby Digital and it is clean so very very clean no scratches no hissing or pops like it has been remastered but nowhere on the package does it say it has been but it must have but this is a very old movie some attention has been paid I guarantee it because it's just too clean to have been a simple film transfer someone did some cleanup secondly let me tell you this movie was produced in color it is Paramount production and so it was released in color Paramount didn't do much black and white they didn't release the kind of movie that they didn't expect to make money like Warner did so much I don't know how it did at the box office but I can tell you this movie will make you laugh touch your heart and just make you feel good it is so funny the set on Devil's Island using a lot of stage mats and they're not really all that well done but but please believe me you won't mind and it won't matter with the stars that are in this movie such as Humphrey Bogart Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray just for starts that's enough right there full stop,, and yet they're even more stars in this movie like the Sherlock Holmes character Basil Rathbone Rathbone in a role that he doesn't usually play a grasping scrooge-like character that well I could tell you but that would be a spoilers so I won't say anything else let's just say that you'll be satisfied with this movie from beginning to end if you're a Humphrey Bogart fan this is a must because you'll get to see bogey sing and he doesn't do too bad a job of it although I wouldn't ask him to quit his day job this is an excellent movie if you like Bogart and oh by the way it's set at Christmas time in the 1800's long before consumerism was a thing the way they treated Christmas is something we can all take a lesson from The Joy was pure and unadulterated but that doesn't mean this is strictly a Christmas movie you can watch it the the year round I do I've already seen it twice and I intend to see it again soon it's just that kind of movie a guilty pleasure has Robert Osborne used to say rest his soul thank you for taking the time to read the review I hope it helps one more thing I intend to enter a copy of a picture that I took directly from my television I certify and promise I make no edits to the picture whatsoever it is what I took off my television these transfers tend to be a little blue heavy but the movie is not so please don't judge it in that way strictly watch it on the luminance quality please color balance is a little off but only in my picture not on the transfer

Remember this movie from when I was a child. Even after MANY decades, I just LOVE it. The actors are all at the top of their game. Might be called a "black comedy", but even so, a child could watch this. NO guts or gore. But, the points are made. Without bullets or blood spraying everywhere... actually, NONE spraying anywhere.

Bogey, terrific... Aldo Ray, yummy... Ustinov, delightful. Leo G...aka "Topper", great as the gentle, humble storekeeper.
And, Rathbone. Whether it's Sherlock or the mean person he's playing in this flic, he gives his usual, excellent performance.

I really can't imagine anyone NOT liking this. I've shared it with many people since I found it on Amazon and not ONE negative response. Matter of fact, I know for a fact, it's now in the possession of folks who never thought they'd like it.... much less buy it.

This is a very cleverly written screenplay with familiar actors, and yet with a plot unlike most of their other work.

Some dangerous escapees from a poorly managed penitentiary in the Caribbean befriend an attractive family whom they intend to kill. But how will the murders take place, and when? The thugs intend to sail back to Europe — but how will they do that?

It a great story, but I cannot ruin it for you with more details! Enjoy the great acting and writing. This movie should be better known.

My favorite Christmas movie. If these gentle souls aren't angels, then what's a heaven for? A funny, deligful tale of three Devil's Island escapees doing their best to help a shop keeper on Christmas whose too honorable and honest for his own good being taken advantage of by his own family. Peter Ustinov, Aldo Rey, and Humphrey Bogart portray three would-be robbers-turned good guys who help the keeper from loosing everything to his unscrupulous by-the-book book-balancing accountant cousins by Christmas morning, as well as help the shop keeper's daughter find love. Halos abound in truly miraculous ways in this heartwarmer of a holiday tail (misspelling intentional) that you'll want to watch year after year.

What a wonderful movie! The plot revolves around three escaped convicts, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray, who in trying to escape from Devil's Island, end up aiding a hapless shop owner (Leo G. Carroll) and his family. If you thought Humphrey Bogart couldn't do comedy, then you should see this movie! The humor is in the form of dry wit presented by the three main characters. It reminds me in a way of the interaction seen on "Newhart;" great humor but quiet and oh so funny. As another reviewer posted, the humor has just enough of a dark edge so that it never falls into sappiness. This is a movie to relieve the sorry mess of newer presentations: there is no glitz, no computer graphics, just good solid acting and storyline. It has the look and feel of a stage presentation but that serves to make it all the better as it brings your focus into the story itself. The jury was out: my husband wasn't sure about this when we put it in the DVD player to watch yet he was the one who laughed the hardest! Five stars from both of us!