Trouble With Angels

"The Trouble with Angels" is a very charming movie and it remains one of my favorites. The story is simple, but sweet. It takes place at the St. Francis Academy for Girls, where Mary Clancy (Hayley Mills) and Rachel Devery (June Harding) are enrolling as students. This is a parochial school run by nuns and is also the Mother House of their order. The school is run by the Mother Superior (Rosalind Russell). Mary and Rachel become fast friends on the train ride to the school and when they arrive they are inseparable. They love to pull pranks and just try to have a good time and get by for as long as they have to be at that school. Mother Superior tries to keep the girls in line and run the school as well as she can.

As the movie progresses, we get to see how Mary reacts to the school and how she grows. The film quickly covers several years of their education but it doesn't feel as if it is jumping around too much. We see the transformation of Mary Clancy and while the ending comes as a little bit of a surprise, it really shouldn't.

"The Trouble with Angels" is a wonderful, good-hearted movie that is perfect for the whole family. There are complaints that this DVD is in the pan and scan format rather than the widescreen OAR that it should be in, but knowing that that is the only format available we have to understand that this is likely the only opportunity to own "The Trouble with Angels" that we will have. The purist in me wants the widescreen, but the rest of my just loves this movie and is glad to have it available at all


Terrific movie, BUT...   February 1, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Why, oh why, did Columbia TriStar home video release this movie NON-letterboxed? At least half a dozen times on this DVD there's some little bit of action that's on or outside the edge of the screen (e.g., when Reverend Mother takes the $10 Rachel won for the dress she made--her hand with the bill in it is off-screen!!). VERY frustrating! Of course, like a jerk, I'll probably buy this DVD all over again when Sony TriStar finally decides to release this gem letterboxed. But, that's probably why they do it this way, eh? For now, however, they lose two stars for boneheadedness.


TROUBLE WITH ANGELS - Wide Screen   January 28, 2004
A Wilson (Canada)
It is great to have Trouble with Angels come out in DVD, but why did it not come out in it's original aspect ratio. It is not an inexpensive DVD. It was either filmed in 1.66 which is not much to worry about, but if it was filmed in 1.85 we have lost some of the feel and picture.
It definately was not filmed in 1.33, as when the movie starts it states "made to fit your t.v." , plus almost every movie after 1953 was letterboxes with exceptions.
I hope the movie is released again in letterbox, but it is doubtful since it has already been released.


Great movie, but why standard screen only?   January 23, 2004
G. Rosas (Castro Valley, CA)
This is one of my all time favorite guilty pleasure flicks. I'm not going to give a detailed review of the film because there are some very fine ones already here. I would just like to know, why, why, why, was this film and it's fun sequel, "Where Angels Go, Trouble follows," only produced in fullscreen format? I had been looking forward to the DVDs to see them restored, and in widescreen. I was so disappointed to find out they weren't. Were they shot with a fullscreen format? I'd sleep better knowing that was the case. If not, who dropped the ball on this one?