Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Overrated and overhyped

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Even today, 70+ years after this film was made, with this reviewer (having seen it maybe a dozen time) now in his dotage, I will still occasionally bump into another cinephile, no matter male or female, who will recall this film for that one unforgettable scene where Montgomery's character, Joe Pendelton, finally gets a replacement body that suits him, and his angel (played by Claude Rains) gives him a merry sendoff by removing the memory of everything that happened in the film before that. To balance the cosmos, so to speak. Unfortunately, this also removed his memory of a girl he'd met in an earlier body (one that did not work out) so it seems that now, the course of true love is thwarted. But is it? In a long corridor inside the stadium where Montgomery's character, in his last (and final) body, has just finished a prize fight, as Montgomery passes by the girl he once was in love with (ie, in another body before his memory was diddled with); and the girl, convinced the man she'd loved (ie, Montgomery in an earlier body) was dead, passes him going the other way. Of course she does not recognize him (new body, new name); and he does not recognize her (aforesaid angelic diddling). But as they pass as strangers, the lights in the corridor momentarily go out. And when the lights come back on, each stops, aware that just for a moment, in the dark, they recognized something about the other that was not obvious to the eye. And then the girl suggests that maybe they should go have a coffee and talk about the experience. And I swear I get misty-eyed just writing about this scene, that's how powerful it is, and I promise you that none of the 700 remakes has captured it properly. In fact, the tears are welling up so fast I am going to have to go out and shoot a deer just to remind myself what a manly man I am. Oh, in case I forgot, superb film, superb performances, based on a brilliant stage play, Claude Rains riding shotgun, mesmerizing and unforgettable. There, I think I covered all the bases. Actually deserves a 20 and I mean to talk to the IMDb about making a special rating system for this film. They listen to me, they really do...

Robert Montgomery & Claude Rains carry this film. There are several other good people in the cast but the main stars are the glue. The story here has been redone twice now, Chris Rock the latest & Heaven Can Wait earlier. Neither remake has the charm of this one.The story here is one of the strengths. It relies on light comedy & romance plus situations to carry the film. They do so quite well as the actresses in this are not as well known now as the actors, & they are clearly in support. This film has had a recent restoration which pretty much has made it as originally released.Claude Rains is an angel here, but he could play almost any role. It isn't too long after this that he is memorable in Casablanca. While it is obvious Rains worked hard in perfecting all the roles he played, he often brings them off making it look easy. In this case, he makes the angel role believable enough that you wonder if he might be there now, waiting for all of us when we go.

After a boxer is mistakenly summoned to heaven before his time, the powers that be scramble to find a new body for him to inhabit. This is a fairly amusing comedy, although it's not as funny as it could have been. The plot is of course pretty silly but the cast seems to be having a good time. As in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" from the same year, Montgomery shows a flair for low-key comedy as the unfortunate boxer. Rains brings a light touch to the role of the Big Kahuna in heaven (God?), a man named Mr. Jordan. Horton and Gleason provide most of the laughs. This was remade as "Heaven Can Wait" in 1978, not to be confused with the great Ernst Lubitsch comedy with that title made in 1943.

This movie is on the periphery as it will be until time immemorial. The best writers lived back then, 'get him out of here...' yeah right, you say... I agree...the only reason we like to see this film over and over again is the Hollywood reincarnation of letters dropping again and again all over screenplays we know will probably work. The remake was kind of funny...if you like echolalia. I thought it worked though and did it. Like everything I comment on, this film skirts around the fabric of mental illness. This film isn't about heaven yet unconfirmed delusion. Heaven is important to me though and it probably is to the average over-American. The film overcomes all odds with nothing to say about 'the field of dreams.' It might attest to the amnesia of the dream-winner. I like that he wins her in the end. Its right for the pretty girl to go for the crazy guy....