Heaven Can Wait
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Written by Samson Raphaelson from a play by Leslie Bush-Fekete
1943/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
[box] His Excellency: If you meet our requirements, we’ll be only too glad to accomodate you. Uh, would you be good enough to mention, for instance, some outstanding crime you’ve committed?
Henry Van Cleve: Crime? Crime? I’m afraid I can’t think of any, but I can safely say my whole life was one continuous misdemeanor.[/box]
This story of a married man with a weakness for the ladies is notable for its lavish production values and the Lubitsch touch.
When he dies, Henry van Cleve (Don Ameche), who considers himself to have been a wicked roué, reports directly to Hell. The Devil (Laird Cregar) is not entirely convinced he is in the right place and asks him to tell his story. Segue into flashback.
Henry was a scamp of a boy, clearly taking after his waggish grandfather (Charles Coburn) and is a constant amazement to his doting mother (Spring Byington) and straight-laced father (Louis Calhern). As a young man, Henry has his parents wrapped around his little finger, cadging $100 loans every day so he can live the high life and entertain chorus girls. Then he sees the lovely Martha (Gene Tierney) on a street, tries to woo her in a book store, and decides to locate and win her. Finding her again works out to be easy as his stuffy cousin Albert (Allyn Joslyn) introduces her as his fiancee at his birthday parting that evening along with her feuding parents (Eugene Palette and Marjorie Main). The naughty, romantic Henry sweeps her off her feet, though, and elopes with her that very evening.
The rest of the movie follows the ups and downs of their mostly happy married life as Martha learns to look at Henry’s various indiscretions with tolerance and humor. Then she dies shortly after their 25th anniversary and Henry resumes his career as a stage-door Johnny in his later years. Are Henry’s sins enough to earn him a place in Hell?
As usual, Charles Coburn is the highlight of this movie and some of the zest goes out of it when he (and Martha’s parents) leave it about two-thirds of the way through. Ameche is appealing, though, and Tierney looks good enough to be a proper object of life-long adoration. The gay nineties sets and costumes are amazing, especially considering this was made under wartime restrictions. Fox must have been able to get good value out of its existing sets. Lubitsch keeps everything light and fun.
Heaven Can Wait was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography, Color (Edward Cronjager). I don’t see how it missed at least a nod for its Art Direction.
Clip – final eight minutes of movie
