Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Alexander Hall

Writers:

Harry Segall (play)
Sidney Buchman (writer) ...

Release Date:

7 August 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

A picture different from anything ever screened before!

Plot:

Boxer Joe Pendleton dies 50 years too soon due to a heavenly mistake, and is given a new life as a millionaire playboy.

Plot Keywords:

Double Cross | Soul Mates | Police Investigation | Soul Transference | Title Fight

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Robert Montgomery	...	Joe Pendleton
Evelyn Keyes	...	Bette Logan
Claude Rains	...	Mr. Jordan
Rita Johnson	...	Julia Farnsworth
Edward Everett Horton	...	Messenger 7013
James Gleason	...	Max Corkle
John Emery	...	Tony Abbott
Donald MacBride	...	Insp. Williams
Don Costello	...	Lefty
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Sisk
Benny Rubin	...	Bugsy (the handler)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Providencia Ranch, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

James Gleason was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the role of Max Corkle. This is the first time in Academy Awards history for a person to be nominated for a supporting Oscar for a role for which a different person would later also be nominated for a supporting Oscar: Jack Warden was nominated for Best Supporting Actor as Max Corkle in Heaven Can Wait (1978).

Goofs:

Continuity: Pendleton (as Farnsworth) hands the $25,000 check to Max, who takes it with his left hand. There's an edit to a slightly different angle and suddenly the check is in Max's right hand.

Quotes:

Messenger 7013: [when asked the location of his earthly assignment by Mr. Jordan] A place called New Jersey, sir - and if it can arranged, I would like a transfer!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Road to Rio (1947)

Oh! Dear! Oh! Dear!

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.