Heading for Heaven (1947) User Reviews

For Goodness Sake!

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 2 May 2011]

Small town real estate agent Stuart Erwin (as Henry Elkins) has been holding on to a large piece of property, which has been in his family for generations. He wants to fulfill his forefathers' dream of developing a residential "Elkins Eastern Acres", but the upscale town has expanded west. Excited to finally receive an offer on the land, Mr. Erwin refuses when he learns the burgeoning city wants to make his land their dump. When outsiders consider the land for an airport, swindlers move in on Erwin's' assets. Complicating matters, Erwin confuses his doctor's clean bill of health with a patient who only has four months to live...

This is pure situation comedy, and well-suited for Stuart Erwin.

Based on a play, "For the Sake of the Family" (1929) by Charles Webb and Daniel Brown, the low budget "PRC" studio and director Lewis D. Collins stick keep it smooth and simple. There are only a couple of attempts to stretch the ordinary - the opening sequence and a "jet propelled" car driven by young Ralph Hodges (as Danny). Both work very well. The appealing cast could have returned for movie sequel fun, with long-suffering maid Irene Ryan (later Granny on "The Beverly Hillbillies") and free-loading brother-in-law George O'Hanlon (later George Jetson on "The Jetsons") being the most obvious stand-outs.

****** Heading for Heaven (12/6/47) Lewis D. Collins ~ Stuart Erwin, Glenda Farrell, Irene Ryan, George O'Hanlon

Low-Grade Entertainment, Obviously Intended For Those Devotees Of Stu Erwin's Movie Persona.

[rsoonsa · 5/10 · 15 March 2007]

Stu Erwin's career is based largely upon his portrayals of a number of small-town based characters whose genial nature overrides their native inadequacies when faced with misfortune and the vagaries of chance, both being in the mix for this lacklustre production. Here Erwin plays as Henry Elkins, a realtor in the community of Elkinsville and also owner of a large piece of property within the town's east side, a district boosted (as shown through flashbacks) by the father and grandfather of Henry to be the most promising region for commercial development of the town, a witless prediction as the most desirable neighbourhoods have shifted westward, while Henry haplessly waits for his acreage to advance in value. Plot contrivances propel events in awkward fashion as various swindlers become interested in buying the supposedly useless Elkins land, because of an ostensible plan to construct an airport upon the location. Henry, after receiving a physical examination required for a life insurance policy, overhears his physician describing to a nurse the drastically poor condition of another patient who has little time left to live and, believing that he is the subject under discussion, alters his behaviour towards his wife (Glenda Farrell) and those about him, while deciding to dispose of his property so that buyers may build the airport, thereby financially benefiting the Elkins family. After the movie's pace begins to falter because of a surfeit of sentimental whimsy, a bevy of greedy and manipulative scoundrels provides reasons for Henry to leave off a decline toward self-pity, moving instead to protect his family's economic situation. The storyline material tends to include an overage of threads for competent handling by those personnel in place, although some scenes are redeemed due to acting efforts of Erwin and Farrell, the latter winning performance laurels here as Henry's patiently forbearing wife. An archetypal vehicle for Erwin's hangdog acting style, it has been a very difficult film to locate as a VHS release but has become available through Alpha Video in DVD format that, as is the company's customary mode, offers no extras. The Alpha print is below standard, having frequent jumps and elisions, and lacking needed editing.

Cheaply made but fun supernatural comedy.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 29 December 2011]

Stuart Erwin is a hen-pecked husband and father, the latest heir to a section of land that ends up part of a plot for real estate fraud. Wife Glenda Farrell has a yen for séances, and is used by a fake swami to swindle her for her naiveté. Other townsfolk want to get their hands on Erwin's land for various reasons (the bank to invest in it for a dump; a land developer to build an airport), but as fate has it, Erwin ends up being presumed dead (believing he is dying anyway) and uses this as an opportunity to expose the swami and shake things up for the other townspeople who are exploiting him. The situation is amusing but not hysterically funny, although "Beverly Hillbillies'" Irene Ryan does offer laughs as the housekeeper who constantly threatens to quit every time the bird in the clock she passes comes out to announce "Koo Koo!". As for Glenda Farrell, once one of the best of the 30's "tough girls" at Warner Brothers, she isn't convincing as the nagging wife bamboozled by a con-artist. The result of the film is fairly routine but a step above other "Z" grade poverty row comedies.

Dull Comedy Of A Dull Comedy Character

[boblipton · 4/10 · 26 July 2019]

Stuart Erwin is the third generation of his family to believe that a plot of 100 acres they own on the east side of town will be worth a lot of money. His wife, Glenda Farrell, is tired of poverty -- they live in a big house, well furnished, and have Irene Ryan as a live-in maid. Erwin's ship has come in, with an airline anxious to buy the property for an airport. Various swindlers, however, send him a fake telegram that the sale is off.

I'm not fond of Erwin's slow, dull-witted style of comedy, and this particularly lugubrious comedy wastes the talents of most of its cast -- George O'Hanlon offers some snap as Erwin's jittery, fast-talking brother-in-law whose efforts foul up everything.

Once again, Erwin's eventual triumph comes through no virtue or effort of his own, but simply because he is in the right place at the right time. I find such things to smack of pure contrivance and not amusing in the least.

redeeming feature here is Granny from B.Hillbillies.

[ksf-2 · 5/10 · 12 January 2018]

Some fun names in this one... Irene Ryan's best known role was GRANNY in Beverly Hillbillies. Dick Elliot was the Mayor in Andy Griffith. Glenda Farrell and Stuart Erwin had both entered showbiz right when talkies were just starting. Here, the Elkins family has owned this giant chunk of land, and great grandpaw Elkins made them promise never to sell it. Henry Elkins is now convinced that now is the right time to sell that property that no-one has dared to sell over the years. The sound and picture quality are pretty rough, but maybe this will be restored at some point. There are some bad edits and clearly there are some pieces missing here and there. Ryan plays the maid, who get way too involved with the family problems. Sometimes she interferes, and sometimes she helps. Apparently, this wants to be a comedy. Pretty silly, with the usual misunderstandings and over-heard conversations. It's okay. Pretty much a B movie. This is a Rank/Schwartz Film, distributed by Eagle Lion Films. Directed by Lew Collins. He had started directing shorts during the silents, and moved into talkies. This one is showing on "Moonlight Movies" channel.

Wow...this one stinks.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 20 May 2011]

Stu Erwin stars in this very, very broad comedy--one that comes off more like a bad sitcom instead of a movie. It has so many dopey plot elements that you find yourself marveling at how bad the writing could be.

The film begins with three successive generations discussing a plot of land over the years. Apparently the head of the family has a dream that this land will be useful for the future and make them rich, but a hundred years later, it's still a worthless piece of land. That is, until they decide to build an airport there. However, a phony swami (played with absolutely no subtlety) learns about the land deal and decides to try to cheat Erwin out of the property. Along the way, there is a wacky housekeeper who is announcing she's quitting every 30 seconds (Irene Ryan), a goofy lazy brother-in-law and even one of the oldest plot lines I can think of--Erwin overhearing someone talking about what he thinks is his health, but it's actually someone else. The bottom line is that none of the characters are the least bit subtle--and in fact, they're all pretty annoying and behave NOTHING like real people....nothing. It's all very corn-ball--the sort of stuff kids will most likely even groan at when they watch!

Save yourself from disappointment - skip this movie

[Paularoc · 3/10 · 30 April 2012]

Since I am a big fan of Glenda Farrell's Torchy Blane series and often find Stu Erwin amusing, I recorded this off of TMC recently. I sometimes give a movie a bit of leeway if the print quality of the movie is poor or even just fair. Obviously, this print quality was excellent – it is the movie that is poor. Stu Erwin plays a small town Realtor (Elkins) who stubbornly hangs on to a parcel of hand handed down from his grandfather. In addition to his gullible and bland wife (Farrell), the household includes his lazy schmuck of a brother-in-law and a dippy housekeeper. Actually, the housekeeper played by Irene Ryan is the only even mildly amusing character. I'm okay with the movie making no sense but that it also is boring and a waste of Erwin's, Farrell's and Ryan's talent is most unfortunate. Don't waste your time with this one.

Adorable!

[upagainstthewall-134-718104 · 10/10 · 10 December 2021]

What a concept! What a screenplay! A well thought out story full of untimely accidents and catastrophes, like life. And like life sometimes, the more you try to fix something, the more it goes awry. Sure, a movie from another time reflecting the values of that time. Sure, these portrayals of Americans would seem alien to people today. There were hustlers and grifters so the people of today should feel somewhat comfortable with the story. The honesty in this all American story may be off putting to the reality hustlers of today.