Here Comes Mr. Jordan

During a flight in a personal airplane, a young boxer by the name of Joe Pendleton crashes into a wooded area - just within the first ten minutes of the beginning of Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Unfortunately, a heavenly escort prematurely plucks his body from the plane before the actual crash, thereby rendering Joe body-less, yet technically alive. Joe's body is promptly cremated, so his new friend, Mr. Jordan, promises Joe a new form and they begin a search for a replacement. The 1941 film centers around Joe Pendleton, an affable man and a capable boxer, who is on his way to a fight whenever he meets his untimely death. With the help of Mr. Jordan, Joe attempts to reverse his misfortune with a new body and a fresh opportunity to enter the title fight. Along the way, however, he meets the unexpected: a beautiful, independent, and charmingly belligerent woman that he falls hopelessly in love with. The film centers around Joe's struggle to realize his dream of winning a title fight, however, it is truly a romantic comedy with themes that tend to focus on love and the fulfillment of our dreams. The makers of the film use Joe's different forms to impart their view that love is a connection between two people, while the body is simply a shell and love is a faceless awareness that sees through physical realities. Don't be turned off by this seemingly heavy theme, because Joe's constant wisecracks and frequent squabbles with the man who took him from his body keep the film light and enjoyable. Despite the occasional sluggish scene, this timeless film offers enough clean-cut comedy and bearable romanticism to warrant a viewing. It deals with an important subject without taking any importance away from keeping the film light and fun to watch.

"Here Comes Mr. Jordan" stars Robert Montgomery as Joe Pendleton, a prize fighter who, hurtling toward earth in his damaged plane, is taken to heaven prematurely by a new heavenly worker (Edward Everett Horton).

Upon reaching the gates, it appears that the book states that Joe isn't scheduled to head skyward until 1991. An attempt to return his spirit to his body fails since Joe was cremated; Joe ends up in the body of a business tycoon, Farnsworth, just drowned by his wife and male secretary, except Farnsworth is suddenly not dead.

Joe as Farnsworth meets Bette (Evelyn Keyes) and falls in love with her while wreaking havoc with the man's money and business and continuing to aggravate his wife and secretary. Then Mr. Jordan comes to him with some really bad news.

This is a delightful movie, and though "Heaven Can Wait," its '70s remake, was very enjoyable, how could it be as good or better when Claude Rains and Robert Montgomery are in the original?

Montgomery, who for years did light comedy as an elegant leading man, is wonderful as a streetwise prizefighter. James Gleason, as Joe's manager Corkle, has some great comic moments when he meets up with Farnsworth and Farnsworth claims to be the dead Joe.

Evelyn Keyes is lovely in the ingénue role, and Rita Johnson makes an excellent murderous wife. Claude Rains played the devil in another film, and as Mr. Jordan apparently works with the Head Honcho on the other side. He exudes warmth and calmness and performs beautifully opposite the more volatile Montgomery characters.

This film was released before Pearl Harbor, but everyone knew the U. S. would be entering the war. Thus began a spate of these films - "A Guy Named Joe," "Heaven Can Wait," "The Bishop's Wife," "Angel on my Shoulder," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Down to Earth," and others.

The fascination with death, angels, destiny, and souls was understandably rampant as reflected by Hollywood from 1941-1948 as people sought to understand what happened to their loved ones.

"Here Comes Mr. Jordan" is one of the really fine examples of this genre, with beautiful performances and story. I shed some tears at the end. Perhaps you will too.

This movie is my favorite film because of the comic and dramatic acting. Robert Montgomery is able to switch between Farnsworth and Joe Pendelton in a split second When he switches to Murdoch, you have a slight difference in speech and walk between Murdoch and Joe. The James Gleason scene in the gym with Montgomery is perfection. I love Claude Rains facial expressions and Edward Everett Horton's bumbling. The dectective's line (I believe he is William McBride, a great comic actor of the 1940's), "Where's the body" is one that I use as a joke with my husband often. The remakes of this film don't come close to the original. "Down to Earth", the one with Chris Rock, was just terrible. This plot has been borrowed often. It is the first film that every dealt with this subject and will remain a classic forever.

This story has made it to the screen three times so far -- HERE COMES MR. JORDAN with Robert Montgomery, HEAVEN CAN WAIT with Warren Beatty, and DOWN TO EARTH with Chris Rock. This one is the best of the three with Claude Rains stealing all his scenes -- a knack he had in most of his films. The movie deals with premature death, reincarnation, murder, and other serious topics, but all of it is handled with a charmingly light touch. This is a delightful classic.

Boxer Joe Pendleton is days away from his championship bout when his private plane goes down and the agents of death take him away to heaven. Unfortunately for Joe, the agent acted too fast and, had he waited he would have seen Joe recover the crashing aircraft and make it away safely. Problem is in the time taken to sort this out (which has involved top agent Mr Jordan), Joe's earthly remains have been cremated with no chance of him just being returned to his body. So begins a search for another body for Joe, a search that ultimately leads to millionaire Farnsworth – who has just been murdered by his wife and her lover.

Looking at the basic plot (and even the detail of the ending) it does strike me as rather amazing that this did get made as a studio picture because it does have a dark streak to it that could easily have undercut any comedy, whimsy or romance and alienated the audience. Watching it again recently it does still surprise me that it pulls it off but somehow it is light, funny and with plenty of charm and somehow even the rather ambiguous ending comes off as lifting and happy. A big part of this for me is the cast because they get the delivery just right – in particular Robert Montgomery. Some have said that Rains dominates his scenes but I totally disagree, Montgomery owns the film because the tough but kind nature of his character is the engine that drives it to success. He is note perfect and his performance kept me with the tone of the film. Rains is nearly as good but is more of a cool presence in each scene.

Hall's direction holds it together and makes the tone so that we never lose the slight hint of darkness but prevents it ever getting in the way of the comedy and fantasy of the piece. Here Comes Mr Jordan has been remade several times recently and you can see why because this original is charming and fresh with solid comedy and whimsy held together by a couple of great performances.