Here Comes Mr. Jordan

source: Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Many of you are probably familiar with the story because you've seen the Warren Beaty movie, HEAVEN CAN WAIT--which is a remake of HERE COMES MR. JORDAN. While the stories are very similar, I give the edge to the original though they are both very watchable and fun films. Boxer Joe Pendleton is on an airplane that seems about to crash. So, an angel played by Edward Everett Horton snatches him up just before the inevitable and brings him to the great beyond. However, once there, the boss, Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains), informs them that Pendleton would have survived the crash and was brought to his eternal reward too soon. But, since the body was destroyed due to Horton's incompetence, they have a problem! Well, the only way around it is to stick Pendleton in the body of a person who really does die--sort of an even exchange. But, they don't want a body that's in bad shape, so they pick a guy that was poisoned. The guy whose life and body he takes is a rich guy whose scheming wife had JUST murdered him! To find out how it all works out, give the film a chance. The script is extremely cleaver and the acting exceptional as well. This is a delightful fantasy--the type they just don't write any more.

Based on Harry Segall's play, "Heaven Can Wait," Alexander Hall's 1941 original film adaptation boasts some fine performances, although the overall effort is pale in comparison to Warren Beatty's 1978 update. Boxer Joe Pendleton's soul is prematurely pulled from his body by an overeager angel, played by Edward Everett Horton, who wanted to save him from the pain of impending death in a plane crash. When Mr. Jordan, an angelic corporate manager, realizes the mistake, he tries to compensate with a comparable body to replace Pendleton's, which has been cremated. "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" falls in the supernatural genre that attempts to reassure viewers that the afterlife is comfortingly similar to the physical world. Robert Montgomery gives a fine performance as Pendleton, who is choosy about his replacement body, because he has aspirations to a boxing championship. When he tries out murdered millionaire Bruce Farnsworth's body, he becomes involved with a young woman in trouble, a scheming wife and secretary, and his incredulous boxing manager from the Pendleton days. Hall keeps the pacing brisk, and the film is a tight 94 minutes. Besides Montgomery, James Gleason is fine as the manager, and Horton plays the discretely coded gay character as well as ever. Claude Rains as Mr. Jordan is right for the role, although restrained. Unfortunately, for those familiar with "Heaven Can Wait," the Beatty remake, the roles of the wife and secretary are lackluster in comparison to the inspired turns by Dyan Cannon and Charles Grodin. Evelyn Keyes as Betty also suffers when compared to Julie Christie. The general tone of "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" is more serious than that of its remake, and viewers may prefer the hilarity of Grodin and Cannon to the straight performances by Rita Johnson and John Emery in the original. However, the film's mood shift may owe to the differing historical periods. Perhaps a world on the verge of World War II was looking for reassurance that lost loved ones would live on, while viewers in the late 1970's approached the same subject matter as escapist romantic fancy. Either way, the story remains durable and entertaining, and both versions were showered with Oscar nominations. Take your pick, or, better yet, watch them both and judge for yourself.

Boxer Joe Pendleton is days away from his championship bout when his private plane goes down and the agents of death take him away to heaven. Unfortunately for Joe, the agent acted too fast and, had he waited he would have seen Joe recover the crashing aircraft and make it away safely. Problem is in the time taken to sort this out (which has involved top agent Mr Jordan), Joe's earthly remains have been cremated with no chance of him just being returned to his body. So begins a search for another body for Joe, a search that ultimately leads to millionaire Farnsworth – who has just been murdered by his wife and her lover. Looking at the basic plot (and even the detail of the ending) it does strike me as rather amazing that this did get made as a studio picture because it does have a dark streak to it that could easily have undercut any comedy, whimsy or romance and alienated the audience. Watching it again recently it does still surprise me that it pulls it off but somehow it is light, funny and with plenty of charm and somehow even the rather ambiguous ending comes off as lifting and happy. A big part of this for me is the cast because they get the delivery just right – in particular Robert Montgomery. Some have said that Rains dominates his scenes but I totally disagree, Montgomery owns the film because the tough but kind nature of his character is the engine that drives it to success. He is note perfect and his performance kept me with the tone of the film. Rains is nearly as good but is more of a cool presence in each scene. Hall's direction holds it together and makes the tone so that we never lose the slight hint of darkness but prevents it ever getting in the way of the comedy and fantasy of the piece. Here Comes Mr Jordan has been remade several times recently and you can see why because this original is charming and fresh with solid comedy and whimsy held together by a couple of great performances.

Great movie. Much superior to the re-make "Heaven Can Wait" with Warren Beatty. A real charmer. Robert Montgomery plays it perfectly. It "works" with a boxer, it doesn't with a Superbowl quarterback. There is chemistry all around in this film. There is very little chemistry in the "loaded" cast of the re-make... See my comments on "Heaven Can Wait" for more detail......

Joe Pendleton dies prematurely when a heavenly messenger takes him before his time. This film examines how that messenger and his supervisor try and placate Mr. Pendleton with other bodies. This is a charming, fun, almost innocent film from a bygone era. Robert Montgomery is very good as the saxaphone-playing boxer who outwardly seems rough but inwardly has a heart of gold(okay, it gave me cliches too). The cast in this film excels. Montgomery is ably assisted by Claude Rains, James Gleason, Evelyn Keyes, and, my personal favourite, Edward Everett Horton. Rains plays the heavenly Mr. Jordan trying to fix Horton's heavenly blunder. Rains is as always very good, and his scenes in particular bring a warm glow to the screen. My favourite moments, however, are the scenes with rains and Horton talking "shop" and the ones with Horton and Montgomery bantering back and forth. Horton is a forgotten mine of comedic ability. Many reviewers seem obligated to make comparisons between this film and its most famous remake Heaven Can Wait. I like them both. Both films have qualities that exceed the other. Why we have to say one is better solely because it is older(or newer) is beyond me sometime.

"Here Comes Mr. Jordan" stars Robert Montgomery as Joe Pendleton, a prize fighter who, hurtling toward earth in his damaged plane, is taken to heaven prematurely by a new heavenly worker (Edward Everett Horton). Upon reaching the gates, it appears that the book states that Joe isn't scheduled to head skyward until 1991. An attempt to return his spirit to his body fails since Joe was cremated; Joe ends up in the body of a business tycoon, Farnsworth, just drowned by his wife and male secretary, except Farnsworth is suddenly not dead. Joe as Farnsworth meets Bette (Evelyn Keyes) and falls in love with her while wreaking havoc with the man's money and business and continuing to aggravate his wife and secretary. Then Mr. Jordan comes to him with some really bad news. This is a delightful movie, and though "Heaven Can Wait," its '70s remake, was very enjoyable, how could it be as good or better when Claude Rains and Robert Montgomery are in the original? Montgomery, who for years did light comedy as an elegant leading man, is wonderful as a streetwise prizefighter. James Gleason, as Joe's manager Corkle, has some great comic moments when he meets up with Farnsworth and Farnsworth claims to be the dead Joe. Evelyn Keyes is lovely in the ingénue role, and Rita Johnson makes an excellent murderous wife. Claude Rains played the devil in another film, and as Mr. Jordan apparently works with the Head Honcho on the other side. He exudes warmth and calmness and performs beautifully opposite the more volatile Montgomery characters. This film was released before Pearl Harbor, but everyone knew the U.S. would be entering the war. Thus began a spate of these films - "A Guy Named Joe," "Heaven Can Wait," "The Bishop's Wife," "Angel on my Shoulder," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Down to Earth," and others. The fascination with death, angels, destiny, and souls was understandably rampant as reflected by Hollywood from 1941-1948 as people sought to understand what happened to their loved ones. "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" is one of the really fine examples of this genre, with beautiful performances and story. I shed some tears at the end. Perhaps you will too.

This is another of those stories Hollywood has always loved to do: fun, "Heavan Can Wait"-type of films where people come back from the dead and are in other bodies or are friendly ghosts like "Topper" (or unfriendly). It almost helps to promote their reincarnation beliefs and other occult "theologies" that so many pagans love to promote. Unlike a number of the others, this film is non-offensive. There are no anti-Christian sentiments, although real Biblical theology is never told in here. Also in Hollywood, all people go to heaven. Anyway, everyone is fun to watch in here, particularly Claude Rains in the starring role. Also featured are two underrated actors of the day: Rita Johnson and James Gleason. The latter stole the film with his humor, as far as I was concerned. Bob Montgomery does a nice job at playing the dumb boxer. It's a charming story and good lightweight entertainment.

As wonderful as this original version is, it and all its remakes have one horrible, gaping plot hole. WARNING: NOT-SO-HEAVENLY SPOILER BELOW... Does it bother anyone else that in the end, Joe Pendleton is erased? I don't mean he dies and goes to Heaven like presumably every other soul in the movie's universe. I mean, because of Edward Everett Horton's foul-up (and Claude Rains's heavenly cover-up), Pendleton ends up in the body of K.O. Murdoch with no memory of his previous life as Pendleton. In fact, he is Murdoch, although he still looks like Robert Montgomery (no doubt "Quantum Leap" was inspired by this, four decades later). Sure, he has some faint residual feelings of Pendleton's that make him hire James Gleason to be his manager, and he and Evelyn Keyes will no doubt fall in love. But the Joe Pendleton who grew up and lived his life and knew both of them before his memory was erased...PERMANENTLY CEASES TO EXIST. Pendleton is the only guy in all Creation who never gets into Heaven, thanks to of a bureaucratic mistake. He'd have one helluva lawsuit, if only he had any memory of how badly he got ripped off.

During a flight in a personal airplane, a young boxer by the name of Joe Pendleton crashes into a wooded area - just within the first ten minutes of the beginning of Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Unfortunately, a heavenly escort prematurely plucks his body from the plane before the actual crash, thereby rendering Joe body-less, yet technically alive. Joe's body is promptly cremated, so his new friend, Mr. Jordan, promises Joe a new form and they begin a search for a replacement. The 1941 film centers around Joe Pendleton, an affable man and a capable boxer, who is on his way to a fight whenever he meets his untimely death. With the help of Mr. Jordan, Joe attempts to reverse his misfortune with a new body and a fresh opportunity to enter the title fight. Along the way, however, he meets the unexpected: a beautiful, independent, and charmingly belligerent woman that he falls hopelessly in love with. The film centers around Joe's struggle to realize his dream of winning a title fight, however, it is truly a romantic comedy with themes that tend to focus on love and the fulfillment of our dreams. The makers of the film use Joe's different forms to impart their view that love is a connection between two people, while the body is simply a shell and love is a faceless awareness that sees through physical realities. Don't be turned off by this seemingly heavy theme, because Joe's constant wisecracks and frequent squabbles with the man who took him from his body keep the film light and enjoyable. Despite the occasional sluggish scene, this timeless film offers enough clean-cut comedy and bearable romanticism to warrant a viewing. It deals with an important subject without taking any importance away from keeping the film light and fun to watch.