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✗ SKIP — Not worth it
Heaven Only Knows poster

Heaven Only Knows

1947 · 1h 40m · Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Western

Skip it. This quirky 1940s oddity—a western with a guardian angel subplot—sounds like it's trying way too hard to be whimsical, and the premise of redeeming a tough gambler through angelic intervention feels more saccharine than charming. Unless you're specifically hunting for obscure B-movie curiosities, your time is better spent elsewhere.

Plot

Also released as Montana Mike, Heaven Only Knows is an offbeat western with fantasy overtones. Hard-bitten gambling boss Brian Donlevy rules his frontier community with brawn and bullets. To his dismay, Donlevy discovers that he has a guardian angel (Robert Cummings), who shows up in the guise of an Eastern tenderfoot. The angel has been sent from Above to save Donlevy's soul, and to that end encourages the one-time villain to squire a minister's daughter (Jorja Curtwright) rather than his usual dance-hall girls. Donlevy is also given tips on winning against his enemies without resorting to gunplay. The gambler finally redeems himself with Heaven by rescuing the angel from a lynch mob (how can you lynch an angel?) Heaven Only Knows deserves an "E" for Effort for bringing a fresh twist to the venerable western genre.

Director: Albert S. Rogell

Cast: Robert Cummings, Brian Donlevy, Marjorie Reynolds, Jorja Curtright, Bill Goodwin

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