Heaven Can Wait (1943)

An old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld.

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Samson Raphaelson (screenplay), Leslie Bush-Fekete (play) (as Lazlo Bus-Fekete)

Stars:

Gene Tierney, Don Ameche, Charles Coburn

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gene Tierney	...	Martha Strabel Van Cleve
Don Ameche	...	Henry Van Cleve
Charles Coburn	...	Hugo Van Cleve
Marjorie Main	...	Mrs. Strabel
Laird Cregar	...	His Excellency
Spring Byington	...	Bertha Van Cleve
Allyn Joslyn	...	Albert Van Cleve
Eugene Pallette	...	E.F. Strabel
Signe Hasso	...	Mademoiselle
Louis Calhern	...	Randolph Van Cleve
Helene Reynolds	...	Peggy Nash
Aubrey Mather	...	James
Tod Andrews	...	Jack Van Cleve (as Michael Ames)

Storyline

Henry Van Cleve presents himself at the gates of Hell only to find he is closely vetted on his qualifications for entry. Surprised there is any question on his suitability, he recounts his lively life and the women he has known from his mother onwards, but mainly concentrating on his happy but sometimes difficult twenty-five years of marriage to Martha.

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Plot Keywords:

comics | water poured over someone's head | hades the underworld | reference to muhammad | hell | 

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Taglines:

ERNST LUBITSCH'S GREATEST AND GRANDEST PRODUCTION (print ad - Lubbock Morning Avalanche -Lindsey Theatre - Lubbock, Texas - Feb. 16, 1944 - all caps)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Tod Andrews played Don Ameche and Gene Tierney's son in the film, he was only six years younger than Ameche and six years older than Tierney.

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Goofs

When Henry first notices Martha in the department store at the telephones, a shadow of the camera rig falls across Martha as the scene and camera slides from right to left across the partition between the telephones.

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Quotes

Randolph Van Cleve: [coming out of his son's room] Well, this time I was firm!
Bertha Van Cleve: Good, Randolph. What happened?
Randolph Van Cleve: He asked for a hundred dollars, but I told HIM! I told him I'd let him have only fifty.
Bertha Van Cleve: Randolph!
Randolph Van Cleve: And not right away!
Bertha Van Cleve: For the first time in twenty-seven years of marriage I feel like criticizing you.

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Connections

Referenced in Animation Lookback: Don Bluth Part 2 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Yankee Doodle
(uncredited)
Traditional
Played when Jackie is bouncing the ball

User Reviews

"Your soul is bigger than your pants"

A tale of a charming rogue directed by Ernst Lubitsch--but the great expectations aroused by that description are let down by casting (the un-roguish Don Ameche) and the demands of the period. In the Twenties and Thirties, Lubitsch directed some of the most exquisitely naughty movies ever made, full of Continental charm, in which the women are as clever and independent as the men. But this kind of material didn't suit the setting here, of Victorian America, or the stricter morals necessary after the adoption of the Production Code in 1934. Much of the wit is blunted, and its intrinsic cruelty is softened or denied. Gene Tierney winks so often at her husband's adultery it's a wonder she isn't cross-eyed. While earlier audiences could laugh and take this film at its own valuation, it is now difficult not to squirm at her humiliation--or wonder if her finding him endearing isn't a cover-up for her real motivation, his wealth and social position.

Another reviewer thinks the movie might have been improved by showing the husband's affairs rather than just alluding to them--they are very deliberately not shown because they would add an unwelcome note of reality. How sympathetic would the audience be after seeing Ameche kissing and fondling another woman, assuring her that he loves her, and that he doesn't care for his wife?

Despite all this, and despite the rather leaden pace, I emphatically recommend this movie. While it does not compare well with Lubitsch's earlier films, it is way above nearly every movie of today. There are plenty of neat jokes, in the art direction as well as the script, a deliciously sour performance from Charles Coburn as the story's one outspoken cynic, and an enchanting one from Signe Hasso as the ooh-la-la French maid. Pretending deep sympathy with the young man of the house, resentful at being kept in knickerbockers when he has the soul of an adult, she coos, with an irony he does not hear, "I understand--your soul is bigger than your pants." Which, in a way, sums up the movie.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

13 August 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heaven Can Wait

Filming Locations:

Stage 3, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1