Fresh and Exciting

Brilliant and touching

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is the bona-fide movie adaption of Harry Segall's play HEAVEN CAN WAIT, which Warren Beatty would remake in the 70s, whereas Ernst Lubitsch's 1943 namesake is a different story. Alexander Hall's HERE COMES MR. JORDAN is a seven-times Oscar nominee including those big ones, BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST LEADING ACTOR and BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR and it won 2 for its original story and script (at a time when there were three different categories to honor the writers). This fantastic fable is about a promising prizefighter Joe Pendleton (Montgomery), whose soul is prematurely taken out of his body by an eager beaver soul-collector (Horton) during a plane crash, then according to the almighty agent of heaven, Mr. Jordan (Rains), Joe still has five-decade of life on earth, but the scrape is that his body has already been cremated, there is no way he can return as Joe. But no need to worry, Mr. Jordan comes to the rescue, he promises to chaperon Joe's soul to look for a perfect body, aka. a newly dead corpse, to his liking. Finally it is the murdered millionaire banker Bruce Farnsworth catches Joe's interest, but not in light of his wealth, the high- minded script clarifies that it is solely because of Joe's Good Samaritan attribute and an overt love- at-first-sight vibe, he tries to help out an elegant damsel-in-distress Miss Logan (Keyes), whose financier father is going to be put in jail thanks to the worthless bonds sold by Bruce's bank. Only, things will not be that easy because a certain destiny is already written in stone, and another tricky thing is, how can he makes Miss Logan reciprocate her love to him, Joe Pendleton instead of the person she sees aka. Bruce Farnsworth? Yet, don't worry, Mr. Jordan will safeguard that everything will be fine, plus, Joe always has his lucky saxophone as a mnemonic. Tackling with surreal idea like afterlife, floating-soul, body-altering, etc., the film deploys a strikingly economic visual tack, not even tries to adorn the narrative with a rudimentary out-of- body and invisible artifice which David Lean puts into practice in BLITHE SPIRIT (1945), this most expedient yet effective sleight-of-hand is to allow audience seeing Joe's soul all the time, regardless of his physical hosts, which means Montgomery can play along with a supporting cast reacts differently according to his host's identity, whether he is Bruce Farnsworth or later, the boxer Murdoch. Amplifying by the identity-shifting gimmick, a concise but innovative script, the film makes great play of appeal with a credible cast, headlined by Mr. Montgomery, who is marginally needling being a self-centered whiner in the beginning, but in time, he will imbue a charming patina of earnestness when the plot thickens and effortlessly take our breath away. Veteran character actor James Gleason scoops a hard-earned Oscar nomination as Joe's boxing agent, Max Corkle, who is the only one in the know and Gleason is hilarious, particularly in several reaction shots and whenever he attempts to communicate with Mr. Jordan whom he cannot see. Claude Rains is by and large, affable and unfathomable in a larger-than-life design, meanwhile the distaff players have less to impress, Evelyn Keyes and Rita Johnson (as Bruce's murderous wife) incarnate a Manichaean representation of women, which shamefully belies the movie's wishful- thinking male spin - a woman finds him desirable because of his soul rather than his outward form, but let's not forget, what attracts Joe at the first place is Miss Logan's comely appearance, not her inner quality, that's a double standard doesn't consonant with political correctness, otherwise, it is a refreshingly engaging comedy, replete of the gratifying allure of Hollywood's Golden Age.

not the story, not the theme are the best things in this case. but the cast. Robert Montgomery as the innocent/idealistic/perfect good guy with child soul, Evelyn Keyes as the lovely young woman who discovers the savior of her father and , than, the true love, Claude Rains who, more than inspired choice for Mr.Jordan, is himself, using, in precise doses, the old fashion charm. but the best spice remains James Gleason, high example of American inter-war popular humor , great comedian,spectacular choice for small roles. the death, the success, the love. an irresistible recipes. and the atmosphere of unique period.without be great, it could be useful. like a window to a lost age and its delicate values, its special humor.

"Here Comes Mr. Jordan" is a near-perfect romantic-fantasy-comedy about boxer Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery) taken to heaven by mistake fifty years before his time and must return to earth in a different body to continue his boxing pursuits. When he returns in the body of a rich man, he falls in love with a troubled woman and desires to help her. The film was remade later as "Heaven Can Wait," which was definitely enjoyable but lacked the same emotion and brilliance of this film. Honestly, I was nearly in tears during parts of this film, because I found some beautiful pictures of my own Christian faith in the story, particularly Mr. Jordan's (Claude Rains) statement that all good things had been ordained for Joe, that no matter what, everything would turn out as had been perfectly planned for him (God is not mentioned, but I couldn't help seeing His hand in this story). The romance was much better in this film than the remake, and I actually cared whether or not the main characters ended up together. It's also entertaining and very funny, and I laughed more here than I did at the other film. Already on my list of favorite films, I cannot recommend this enough for it's humorous, romantic, and inspirational value. Great film! **** out of ****

"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.