Angel and Big Joe is a 1975 American short drama film directed by Bert Salzman and starring Paul Sorvino and Dadi Pinero. It tells the story of a friendship between a migrant boy and an electrician who has greater ambitions. The film won an Oscar at the 48th Academy Awards in 1976 for Best Short Subject.
“Joe” (Paul Servino) is a kind-hearted telephone engineer who is badgered by the young “Angel” (Dadi Pinero) to come and repair the public telephone near the home he shares with his family. He is expecting a call from his absentee dad. He duly obliges, but with that call slow in coming the young lad
... gets himself a job washing car windscreens, where he encounters “Joe” again. This time, it’s the older man who asks “Angel” to help him build a greenhouse so he can grow roses to sell. Over the course of the rest of this short film, it’s not just the flowers that grow and after their first sale, “Joe” suggests that he move in with him and that they develop the business. “Angel” has his family, and they are about to relocate, so what is he going to do? There’s a simple chemistry between both characters here that serves to illustrate that so often it is a sense of purpose that people need, if they are to be content. “Angel” is also pining for a father figure in his life and Servino’s characterisation of an amiable gent from a not dissimilar, working class, background gives the story an engaging sense of proportion whilst also suggesting that anything is possible if you’re prepared to put in the hard work. Thee’s nothing much to say about the adequate production, but the philosophy of the thing makes it worth ten minutes.
