Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

When you think about it, "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" almost seems sacrilegious. How could God and all his Angels make a mistake and summon somebody before their time? Mind you, organized religion doesn't enter into director Alexander Hall's comedy and God is never taken to task for this mistake. Still, makes you wonder if the real title could have been: "Heaven Made A Mistake." No way, not under the Production Code Administration. Interestingly enough, the play on which the film was based was entitled "Heaven Can Wait." Later, Warren Beatty would remake the Montgomery version but as a gridiron star instead of a boxer. Nevertheless, this body-swapping comedy boasts a nice-guy performance by Robert Montgomery as a prizefighter who likes to fly but crashes in an accident.An overzealous angel, Messenger 7013 (Edward Everett Horton of "Arsenic and Old Lace"), claims Joe Pendleton by mistake, whisking him out of a plane before it crashed, and our hero winds up in the clouds about to board another plane. Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains of "Casablanca") intervenes when he discovers that Joe wasn't schedule to die for another 50 years. Charitably, Mr. Jordan gives Joe a second chance. However, he is particularly upset after he learns that he won't be receiving his original body. As it turns out, Joe's fight manager Max Corkle (James Gleason of "Meet Joe Doe"), had him cremated! So Joe has no options. The unhappy Joe takes a lot of talking to before he agrees to accept another body. Hall and scenarists Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller indulge in quite a bit of exposition not only to explain Joe's predicament to him but also to us. Joe winds up in a body that is above his social class. They thrust Joe into 'the overcoat' of Wall Street tycoon Bruce Farnsworth and a business intrigue subplot kicks into gear. It seems that Farnsworth's duplicitous wife Julia (Rita Johnson of "Honolulu") has been cheating on him with his secretary, Mr. Abbott (John Emery of "Spellbound"), and these two initially drowned her sleepy husband in his own private bath. At the same time, our hero feels sympathetic toward the plight of the daughter of a man that Farnsworth swindled in the Stock Market. Much to the chagrin of his board of trustees and his wife, Joe admits in the guise of Farnsworth that he swindled Bette Logan's father. When Joe isn't straightening everything out for Bette, he struggles to convince Max that he is really Joe in Farnsworth's body. Joe still wants to compete in the boxing championship that he was training for in the first scenes. The black & white comic fantasy is ideal for a rainy day.

Boxer Robert Montgomery (Joe) is on his way to a fight when his plane crashes and he finds himself under the guidance of heavenly messenger Edward Everett Horton roaming the celestial skies. However, Horton has plucked Montgomery from the plane before the plane actually crashed so Montgomery is still technically alive and must return to Earth. Meanwhile, back on Earth, his body has been cremated after the accident and it falls to Horton's boss Claude Rains (Mr Jordan) to find another body for Montgomery to reside in. Montgomery takes on the persona of a couple of people and is involved in their adventures as he finds his destiny......and love..This film is a comedy fantasy that is both funny and fantastic in it's story that has several plot holes. It doesn't matter, though. The cast are OK and the situations that Montgomery finds himself in are most interesting. His first journey to find a body with Mr Jordan takes him to the residency of Mr Farnsworth who is being murdered in his bath. The revelation of what is happening is a memorable scene, of which there are many including a humorous section where Montgomery is trying to convince his old boxing manager James Gleason (Max Corkle) that he is the dead Joe while in the guise of Mr Farnsworth.The film is played for comedy but it is overdone by Donald MacBride who plays the inspector and James Gleason just makes it on the right side of annoying despite being involved in some genuinely funny scenes. Montgomery starts off as quite a dis-likable character. He's full of himself and needs to show a bit of humbleness when addressing celestial beings. Mr Jordan should have given him a woman's body - I would have.It's a funny film that delivered something better than I had anticipated. Montgomery morphs into Marlon Brando at the end of the film - it's quite odd.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is directed by Alexander Hall and adapted from Harry Segall's play by Sidney Buchman & Seton Miller. It stars Robert Montgomery, Evelyn Keyes, Claude Rains, Rita Johnson, Edward Everett Horton and James Gleason. Photography is by Joseph Walker and Friedrich Hollaender scores the music. Plot sees Montgomery as boxer Joe Pendleton, who during a journey in a small plane finds himself crashing towards the earth but then suddenly finds that he is in heaven. Turns out that his soul was saved before the crash impact by angel 7013 (Horton) who assumed that he wouldn't have survived the crash. Bad call, tho, because it wasn't Pendleton's time, he's not due to die for another 50 years! So superior angel Mr. Jordan (Rains) escorts him back to Earth, but the trouble is is that Joe's body has been cremated by his boxing manager Max (Gleason), so the search is on for a new body for Joe to exist in. First stop; a murder victim!Fun and appealing comedy that offers up dry observations on the afterlife and keeps its romantic plot strand on the warm side of the bed. It's that the makers can marry up the comedy to the romance so well that makes the film so utterly beguiling. The characters are easily to warm too, so as the plot delightfully twists and turns, we are happy to run with them into each well written corner. The film is also very well casted, with Montgomery bullish without over doing it, and Rains elegant and enjoying his role. But the joys come in the support cast with Horton all prissy as the over zealous 7013 and Gleason playing it spot on as the bemused and incredulous manager. Bonus, too, is that the ending offers up a two fold resolution that shows a better hand than many other comedies of the era.Uncynical if a touch routine, Here Comes Mr. Jordan is heartily recommended fare to the classic comedy seeker. 7.5/10

When I watched this film for the first time, I liked it a lot. But I only considered the film as an enjoyable comedy. When I watched the second time, I realized so many interesting things we don't notice throughout the movie. When we look into Sidney Buchman and Seton Miller's wonderful screenplay, then we see that there are several interesting dialogue and ideas in the film.Here is an example of an interesting dialogue. Mr. Jordan says to Joe "Finance is merely a matter of heart being in the right place." Mr. Jordan also says to Joe "But eventually, she will see the soul of Joe Pendleton, because that is never lost. That will always shine through Joe. No matter what overcoat you put on." I think this dialogue covers the main message of the movie. Many people becomes sad about the ending, because they think Joe no longer exists.I think this is because they are confused about the message of the film. When I watched the film for the first time, I got a little confused too. But after the second viewing, I understood the film much more. Although Mr. Jordan gave the body of Murdock and his memory, still the soul belongs to Joe. Only Joe exists. Murdock is dead. The body of Murdock and Murdock's memory is nothing but an overcoat for the soul of Joe to live for the rest of his life. In the end, we see that the soul of Joe Pendleton shining through the overcoat of Murdock. That's one of the reasons why Betty was attracted to him in the end. And this is also one of the reasons why Max Corkle becomes his coach in the end. Through the saxophone, we realize that it is Joe's soul inside Murdock's body. In the end, we see nothing but the beauty of the message left for us.We also have to appreciate what Screenwriter Sidney Buchman did to this project. Harry Cohn wanted to make this film as a low budget. But Sidney Buchman pushed Harry Cohn to give a high budget for this film. And Buchman also insisted Harry Cohn to get Robert Montgomery for the leading role. Just like Joe Pendleton's Soul, Sidney Buchman's love and true dedication makes this film shine. And I thought Alexander Hall's direction was great. His direction especially at the ending scenes and Frederick Hollander's score makes this film even more special. I thought everyone did a great job playing their roles. I rate this film 10 out of 10.