Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Harry Segall won an Academy Award on his only Oscar nomination for this original story a fantasy romance comedy that also earned screenwriters Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller their only Oscars. Director Alexander Hall received his only nomination as did Supporting Actor James Gleason. Lead actor Robert Montgomery the film and it’s B&W Cinematography were also nominated. It was later remade as Heaven Can Wait (1978).

Montgomery plays saxophone playing boxer Joe Pendleton who’s accidentally taken to heaven by Edward Everett Horton’s character. It seems Horton had ‘saved’ Joe from a plane crash prematurely underestimating the athlete’s ability to survive it. So Joe finds himself in limbo years before his time. Never fear the titled Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains) can ‘fix’ things if only temporarily by putting Joe (whose body had been cremated) in the body of a wealthy if wily businessman named Farnsworth who’s just been bumped off by his wife Julia (Rita Johnson) and secretary Tony Abbott (John Emery). Much to their surprise and chagrin Farnsworth is still alive and behaving strangely – Joe was/is a much different person. As Farnsworth Joe decides he wants the title fight he was due before the accident and despite his age he hires his old trainer Max Corkle (Gleason) to get Farnsworth’s old body in shape. By revealing some personal information known only between the two of them Farnsworth convinces Max he is really Joe. Subsequently the new Farnsworth falls in love with Bette Logan (Evelyn Keyes) whom he’d been helping to resolve a securities fraud issue involving her father who the original Farnsworth had framed. Naturally Julia still wants to kill him. Eventually police Inspector Williams (Donald MacBride) is called in to investigate and Max has a hard time convincing him of the improbability of it all. Meanwhile Mr. Jordan has found a more appropriate home for Joe’s soul a boxer who’s about to be killed by gamblers but Joe is worried that Bette won’t recognize the new-new him. Halliwell Hobbes plays Farnsworth’s butler Sisk.

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