ANGELS
The subject of angels obviously fascinates us. An internet search engine churns out seventeen million hits. Billy Graham wrote a book about them. Hollywood has used angels in many fine films. 
Perhaps the most famous angel in movies is the wonderful Clarence, played with self-effacing grace by Henry Travers, in It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). This charming angel shows Jimmy Stewart what life in his town would have been without him, and redeems Stewart and the entire movie. 
Emma Thompson is the impressive angel in Angels In America (2003), an HBO mini-series with Al Pacino as the late unlamented Roy Cohn, and Meryl Streep as several characters, including Ethel Rosenberg. Most of the actors in this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama play multiple roles. It is six hours long and worth every minute.
Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and various and sundry other baseball angels wander out of the cornfield in the wonderful Field of Dreams (1989). Kevin Costner built it (the baseball field) and they indeed came. James Earl Jones and Amy Madigan add to a fine cast in a wonderful Hollywood fantasy. 
In Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit Rex Harrison uses wacky medium Margaret Rutherford to bring back the spirit of his late wife, which doesn’t turn out to be a great idea, but is certainly one filled with fun and laughter. This angel doesn’t think much of her successor, and lets everyone know it in a myriad of interesting ways. 
Wim Wenders’ offbeat Wings of Desire (1988) features a couple of melancholy angels hanging around Berlin and apparently seen only by American Peter Falk. One of 
the angels (Bernard Ganz) decides he’s tired of comforting mortals and wants to return to earth as a normal person. It’s not to all tastes, but is certainly entertaining. 
Cary Grant is the angel sent to help David Niven and Loretta Young raise the money for a new church in The Bishop’s Wife (1947), a charming movie that brings back the kids from It’s A Wonderful Life (Karolyn Grimes and Bobby Anderson)  as an added bonus. 
Angels in the Outfield has actually been made twice, and both are pretty good. I prefer the 1951 version with Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh and Keenan Wynn. The 1994 version has Danny Glover, Tony Danza and Brenda Fricker. The story involves angels answering the prayers of a child to assist a last-place baseball team. 
Heaven Can Wait (1978) is about an angel making a terrible mistake. When LA Rams quarterback Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) is seriously injured, a rookie angel (Buck Henry) prematurely snaps him up and carts him to heaven. Joe complains bitterly and sure enough, it turns out he had many years of life on earth left. Well, his body has been cremated so another body must be found. It is. Then it gets complicated but is loads of fun. 
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD and for streaming. Angels In America and Wings of Desire are for grown-ups; the rest are suitable for all ages.