Here Comes Mr. Jordan

HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (PG)
D: Alexander Hall
Columbia (Everett Riskin)
US 1941
93 mins

Fantasy

W: Sidney Buchman & Seton I. Miller [based on the play "Heaven Can Wait" by Harry Segall]
DP: Joseph Walker
Ed: Viola Lawrence
Mus: Frederick Hollander

Robert Montgomery (Joe Pendleton), Evelyn Keyes (Bette Logan), Claude Rains (Mr. Jordan), Rita Johnson (Julia Farnsworth), Edward Everett Horton (Messenger No.7013), James Gleason (Max Corkle)

Capra-esque style fantasy from the early 1940's, starring Robert Montgomery as Joe Pendleton, a saxophone-playing prize fighter whose soul is plucked from his body prematurely by a novice guardian angel. The error is discovered too late to return Joe to his body which has since been cremated, so Joe must continue his life in another body, which he trains up for the big boxing match at the end of the movie.
Golden age Hollywood storytelling at its best, with good performances from Montgomery, James Gleason and especially Claude Rains as Mr. Jordan.
The film was later remade in 1978 as Heaven Can Wait (the original play's title) and in 2001 as Down To Earth.
9/10

Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Here Comes Mr. Jordan