Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery) is an amiable prizefighter, whose plane crashes, and his soul is plucked out of the aircraft by a messenger from the afterlife (whose job it is to collect the souls of the dead). When Joe ends up in the afterlife, it is discovered that he has been taken there 50 years too early; he would in fact have survived the crash. The head of operations in the great beyond -a kindly man named Mr Jordan (Claude Rains) says that Joe must be returned to earth, but there’s one problem – Joe’s body has been cremated. Mr Jordan lets Joe inhabit the body of a man named Farnsworth, who has been murdered by his wife and her lover. When Farnsworth ‘comes back to life’, his wife is most surprised! As Farnsworth, Joe falls for a young woman named Bette Logan, but she is unaware of his real identity.
This film was one of many released in the 40s, which looked at the issue of life after death, and it reminded me somewhat of A Matter Of Life and Death, which starred David Niven, and which explored similar themes. I actually prefered A Matter Of Life and Death, but that is not to say that Here comes Mr Jordan is not a great film. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Despite the fact that the storyline deals with death and murder, it is actually very funny in parts, and sweetly romantic in others.
The pacing is tight, and the whole film comes in at about an hour and a half, which means that it never gets dull. It is helped along by an excellent cast – as well as Montgomery, who is perfect as Pendleton, and Rains, who brings a calmness to his role which balances out the over-excitement of other characters, the over-zealous messenger who plucked Pendleton from the plane is played by Edward Everett Horton; the exchanges between the Messenger and Joe provide a lot of laughs. James Gleason is outstanding as Max Corkle, Joe’s former manager (both Gleason and Montgomery were nominated for Oscars for their roles).
Overall, I would highly recommend this film – it really is lovely, and packed with charm. Highly recommended!
Year of release: 1941
Director: Alexander Hall
Producer: Everett Riskin
Writers: Harry Segall (play:’Heaven Can Wait’), Sidney Buchman, Seton I. Miller
Main cast: Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains, James Gleason, Evelyn Keyes, Edward Everett Horton
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