This is How Movies Should Be Made

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

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.

I have loved this film for the last forty or so years.If it's on or I know it's going to be on,I'll make time to watch. One of the few movies where you will be sucked in from the very opening shots.It's a shame James Gleason didn't win as Best Supporting Actor. He played the mostly compassionate, caring and befuddled Max Corkle to perfection, and the last looks on his face when he realizes that "Joe" doesn't remember is classic. Donald MacBride should have some kind of mention as the detective searching for a body ("Where's the body?") or playing the suspicious hotel manager in Cary Grant-Irene Dunne's masterpiece His Favorite Wife.The man had facial expressions unequaled in today's Hollywood. Gleason was under-appreciated as an actor. Catch him as taxi driver in The Bishop's Wife. As far as a film full of treasures, this is the one to hold on to and treasure. Every single performance is a joy and done to perfection and not the least of which is Robert Montgomery's quick change between characters. Not only do I suggest watching but buying and sharing it with another generation of movie lovers.

When I watched this film for the first time, I liked it a lot. But I only considered the film as an enjoyable comedy. When I watched the second time, I realized so many interesting things we don't notice throughout the movie. When we look into Sidney Buchman and Seton Miller's wonderful screenplay, then we see that there are several interesting dialogue and ideas in the film.Here is an example of an interesting dialogue. Mr. Jordan says to Joe "Finance is merely a matter of heart being in the right place." Mr. Jordan also says to Joe "But eventually, she will see the soul of Joe Pendleton, because that is never lost. That will always shine through Joe. No matter what overcoat you put on." I think this dialogue covers the main message of the movie. Many people becomes sad about the ending, because they think Joe no longer exists.I think this is because they are confused about the message of the film. When I watched the film for the first time, I got a little confused too. But after the second viewing, I understood the film much more. Although Mr. Jordan gave the body of Murdock and his memory, still the soul belongs to Joe. Only Joe exists. Murdock is dead. The body of Murdock and Murdock's memory is nothing but an overcoat for the soul of Joe to live for the rest of his life. In the end, we see that the soul of Joe Pendleton shining through the overcoat of Murdock. That's one of the reasons why Betty was attracted to him in the end. And this is also one of the reasons why Max Corkle becomes his coach in the end. Through the saxophone, we realize that it is Joe's soul inside Murdock's body. In the end, we see nothing but the beauty of the message left for us.We also have to appreciate what Screenwriter Sidney Buchman did to this project. Harry Cohn wanted to make this film as a low budget. But Sidney Buchman pushed Harry Cohn to give a high budget for this film. And Buchman also insisted Harry Cohn to get Robert Montgomery for the leading role. Just like Joe Pendleton's Soul, Sidney Buchman's love and true dedication makes this film shine. And I thought Alexander Hall's direction was great. His direction especially at the ending scenes and Frederick Hollander's score makes this film even more special. I thought everyone did a great job playing their roles. I rate this film 10 out of 10.

"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.