Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Simply Perfect

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Even today, 70+ years after this film was made, with this reviewer (having seen it maybe a dozen time) now in his dotage, I will still occasionally bump into another cinephile, no matter male or female, who will recall this film for that one unforgettable scene where Montgomery's character, Joe Pendelton, finally gets a replacement body that suits him, and his angel (played by Claude Rains) gives him a merry sendoff by removing the memory of everything that happened in the film before that. To balance the cosmos, so to speak. Unfortunately, this also removed his memory of a girl he'd met in an earlier body (one that did not work out) so it seems that now, the course of true love is thwarted. But is it? In a long corridor inside the stadium where Montgomery's character, in his last (and final) body, has just finished a prize fight, as Montgomery passes by the girl he once was in love with (ie, in another body before his memory was diddled with); and the girl, convinced the man she'd loved (ie, Montgomery in an earlier body) was dead, passes him going the other way. Of course she does not recognize him (new body, new name); and he does not recognize her (aforesaid angelic diddling). But as they pass as strangers, the lights in the corridor momentarily go out. And when the lights come back on, each stops, aware that just for a moment, in the dark, they recognized something about the other that was not obvious to the eye. And then the girl suggests that maybe they should go have a coffee and talk about the experience. And I swear I get misty-eyed just writing about this scene, that's how powerful it is, and I promise you that none of the 700 remakes has captured it properly. In fact, the tears are welling up so fast I am going to have to go out and shoot a deer just to remind myself what a manly man I am. Oh, in case I forgot, superb film, superb performances, based on a brilliant stage play, Claude Rains riding shotgun, mesmerizing and unforgettable. There, I think I covered all the bases. Actually deserves a 20 and I mean to talk to the IMDb about making a special rating system for this film. They listen to me, they really do...

What's in a name? Well you might ask: In 1941 a minor play by Harry Seagall entitled Heaven Can Wait was adapted for the screen as Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Two years later, 1943, Ernst Lubitsch adapted a play entitled Birthday, by Hungarian playwright Leslie-Bush Fekete for the screen and called it Heaven Can Wait. Confused? You ain't heard nothing yet; 30 years later Warren Beatty remade Here Comes Mr. Jordan under its original title, Heaven Can Wait. Both plays/screenplays had one common element in that both protagonists - Robert Montgomery's Joe Pendleton in the former and Don Ameche's Henry Van Cleave in the latter - died in the opening reels of their respective films but their the resemblance ends. Ameche died of natural causes after a long and full life whilst Montgomery didn't technically die at all. In the prime of his life, whilst alone in and piloting his own private plane it went into a spin and seemed certain to crash; New-Boy-In-Heaven Edward Everett Horton assumed the worst and plucked Joe from the plane. Alas, Joe wasn't due to die for another fifty years and is rightly miffed to find himself in limbo. He demands to see Horton's supervisor, Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains) who soon ascertains that not only is Joe not supposed to die he is also destined to become world heavyweight boxing champion. In theory there's nothing to it; return Joe to earth and let him get on with his life. There's the rub; his manager, Max Corklle (James Gleason) has already had Joe cremated ergo there is no 'body' for him to inhabit. This, of course, is where purists/pedants will come into their own; presumably there would be only a split second between Joe dying in the crash (which, of course, he survived) and his 'soul' being shipped to Heaven, hardly time for Corkle to 1) locate the crashed plane and 2) complete the necessary paperwork for the cremation which would take at least two or three days and 2) if Mr. Jordan has the power to return Joe to earth then surely it is not beyond him to reverse Time the necessary few seconds. Cavilling of this nature apart, the film delivers solid entertainment as Joe - who has the power to choose - selects first the body of millionaire Richard Farnsworth, just as he has been drowned in his bath by his wife and his secretary, and then the boxer he had, as Joe Pendleton, been scheduled to fight, and who is subsequently killed in the ring. If you're not too fussy about plot lines and relish the likes of Claude Rains walking away with the picture you'll enjoy this one.

"Here Comes Mr. Jordan" made in 1941 and remade two more times, both with Warren Beatty in 1978 with "Heaven Can Wait" and the Chris Rock "Down to Earth" in 2005. This one is the best, although Warren Beatty's version is respectable. Robert Montgomery shines as Joe Pendleton, a tough-talking boxer who dies while piloting his own plane. But his death has been a "mistake" or so says "Mr. Jordan" (Claude Rains) who seems to rule over heaven and decide whose time it is or isn't. Well, Joe gets sent back to earth, with the able assistance of his heavenly/ghostly friend, but his old body is -- well, gone. It all gets quite complicated and hilarious, with Joe inhabiting the body of a rich man, and then a fighter. He falls big time for the lovely Evelyn Keyes (who could blame him). All Joe wants is a chance to compete in the big boxing match that was denied him with his death. This is, hands down, Robert Montgomery's best performance (although his performance in "Night Must Fall" in 1937 comes pretty close). He is spot-on as the tough boxer with a soft side, and his expressions and gestures are perfect, as is his New York accent. Montgomery had already been in Hollywood a long time by 1941, starting in the last days of silent films and transitioning to sound. Claude Rains is wonderful as Mr. Jordan, James Gleason plays his role to the hilt, as Joe's befuddled boxing manager. But these are supporting players, and this is Robert Montgomery's movie all the way -- and he does not disappoint.

This movie is on the periphery as it will be until time immemorial. The best writers lived back then, 'get him out of here...' yeah right, you say... I agree...the only reason we like to see this film over and over again is the Hollywood reincarnation of letters dropping again and again all over screenplays we know will probably work. The remake was kind of funny...if you like echolalia. I thought it worked though and did it. Like everything I comment on, this film skirts around the fabric of mental illness. This film isn't about heaven yet unconfirmed delusion. Heaven is important to me though and it probably is to the average over-American. The film overcomes all odds with nothing to say about 'the field of dreams.' It might attest to the amnesia of the dream-winner. I like that he wins her in the end. Its right for the pretty girl to go for the crazy guy....