Armand 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.

Alex da Silva Boxer Robert Montgomery (Joe) is on his way to a fight when his plane crashes and he finds himself under the guidance of heavenly messenger Edward Everett Horton roaming the celestial skies. However, Horton has plucked Montgomery from the plane before the plane actually crashed so Montgomery is still technically alive and must return to Earth. Meanwhile, back on Earth, his body has been cremated after the accident and it falls to Horton's boss Claude Rains (Mr Jordan) to find another body for Montgomery to reside in. Montgomery takes on the persona of a couple of people and is involved in their adventures as he finds his destiny......and love..This film is a comedy fantasy that is both funny and fantastic in it's story that has several plot holes. It doesn't matter, though. The cast are OK and the situations that Montgomery finds himself in are most interesting. His first journey to find a body with Mr Jordan takes him to the residency of Mr Farnsworth who is being murdered in his bath. The revelation of what is happening is a memorable scene, of which there are many including a humorous section where Montgomery is trying to convince his old boxing manager James Gleason (Max Corkle) that he is the dead Joe while in the guise of Mr Farnsworth.The film is played for comedy but it is overdone by Donald MacBride who plays the inspector and James Gleason just makes it on the right side of annoying despite being involved in some genuinely funny scenes. Montgomery starts off as quite a dis-likable character. He's full of himself and needs to show a bit of humbleness when addressing celestial beings. Mr Jordan should have given him a woman's body - I would have.It's a funny film that delivered something better than I had anticipated. Montgomery morphs into Marlon Brando at the end of the film - it's quite odd.

writers_reign What's in a name? Well you might ask: In 1941 a minor play by Harry Seagall entitled Heaven Can Wait was adapted for the screen as Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Two years later, 1943, Ernst Lubitsch adapted a play entitled Birthday, by Hungarian playwright Leslie-Bush Fekete for the screen and called it Heaven Can Wait. Confused? You ain't heard nothing yet; 30 years later Warren Beatty remade Here Comes Mr. Jordan under its original title, Heaven Can Wait. Both plays/screenplays had one common element in that both protagonists - Robert Montgomery's Joe Pendleton in the former and Don Ameche's Henry Van Cleave in the latter - died in the opening reels of their respective films but their the resemblance ends. Ameche died of natural causes after a long and full life whilst Montgomery didn't technically die at all. In the prime of his life, whilst alone in and piloting his own private plane it went into a spin and seemed certain to crash; New-Boy-In-Heaven Edward Everett Horton assumed the worst and plucked Joe from the plane. Alas, Joe wasn't due to die for another fifty years and is rightly miffed to find himself in limbo. He demands to see Horton's supervisor, Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains) who soon ascertains that not only is Joe not supposed to die he is also destined to become world heavyweight boxing champion. In theory there's nothing to it; return Joe to earth and let him get on with his life. There's the rub; his manager, Max Corklle (James Gleason) has already had Joe cremated ergo there is no 'body' for him to inhabit. This, of course, is where purists/pedants will come into their own; presumably there would be only a split second between Joe dying in the crash (which, of course, he survived) and his 'soul' being shipped to Heaven, hardly time for Corkle to 1) locate the crashed plane and 2) complete the necessary paperwork for the cremation which would take at least two or three days and 2) if Mr. Jordan has the power to return Joe to earth then surely it is not beyond him to reverse Time the necessary few seconds. Cavilling of this nature apart, the film delivers solid entertainment as Joe - who has the power to choose - selects first the body of millionaire Richard Farnsworth, just as he has been drowned in his bath by his wife and his secretary, and then the boxer he had, as Joe Pendleton, been scheduled to fight, and who is subsequently killed in the ring. If you're not too fussy about plot lines and relish the likes of Claude Rains walking away with the picture you'll enjoy this one.

edwagreen Terrific story of a pug who dies prematurely and comes back down to earth only to take the form of 2 other gentlemen. Seems that he had been cremated before it was realized in heaven that it wasn't his time to go yet.Robert Montgomery gave a memorable turn as the fighter, business man and other fighter again in this whimsical tale. James Gleason steals the movie as his over-wrought manager who knows what's going on but is unable to reveal the substantive details without being thought of as crazy.Then, there is Claude Rains as the leader in heaven.Evelyn Keyes is given the meatier role of his girlfriend during his 2nd existence and at the end. She really rids herself of the Sue-Ellen image 2 years earlier from "Gone With the Wind."