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Heaven Can Wait (1943)

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Summary: Henry Van Cleve presents himself at the gates of Hell only to find he is closely vetted on his qualifications for entry... (imdb)
Poster submitted by Gauntlet
Country: USA
Directed By: Ernst Lubitsch
More information at the Internet Movie Database
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Show:All Rankings | With Reviews
Order by:TCI | Tier | Date Ranked | # Stars (Reviews)
TCI User Score
na JerryJ
50
T4
na PerryStroika
66
T8
na magnoliakid
90
T5
na tyoda
70
T8
na Rozmarin
77
T6
na IsaacFord
92
T9
na Hagar
80
T8
na IMDb-byvotes
75
T7
na Andrew Rusin
78
T7
na JooJoo
5
T4
Unbelievably daft for this late period of Lubtisch. It's a good thing everything's so darn pleasing to the eye.
na keskin
70
T6
na Gurrkin
61
T6
na bood
85
T9
na CMQuinn
80
T8
na Prenzlau
80
T6
na anime salve
88
T8
na Eden
66
T8
na Jerky
50
T6
na jen11x
85
T9
na henrybr
78
T7
na Crazy Jack
80
T8
na MadMan
95
T9
na joseywales
36
T2
Zzzzzzz.
na jeff_v
61
T4
na rubysparkles
74
T4
na Sinister
78
T6
na ledfloyd
75
T6
na Cuba Pudding
75
T7
na Fetsch
78
T9
na gabeh
80
T5
na onetwothree
50
T5
na rudolf55
93
T9
na f-adam
60
T5
na mongo
75
T7
na doctorbu
83
T7
na KasperL
50
T4
For a movie about a man at the gates of hell, this needed to be much darker and it should have dealt with some heftier themes. The premise did have potential, had Lubitch hit the right notes. His film is not really funny, nor very touching. Bittersweet might seem the way to go but if you don't deliver the sweetness, it all just ends up being slightly depressing - that is, if we cared.
na Mr. Mxyzptlk
98
T10
na Scottathon
69
T4
The parts at the gates at hell were the most interesting, so it's a shame that they only book-ended the film.
na rottentomat
89
T9
na chiphall72
90
T9
na billkerwin
96
T10
My personal favorite of Lubitsch films, perhaps because instead of "touches," he here gives us his whole philosophy: a tolerance of all human follies (particularly the sexual) provided the people who are responsible for them are gentle, and loving and kind. Gene Tierney is even more beautiful than usual (if that's possible), Don Ameche is ten times better than he has a right to be, and Laird Cregar is the best Lucifer ever!
na katsuben
80
T10
na frg
88
T9
na St. Gloede
89
T8
na Minjo
61
T3
na Bacchanalian
84
T9
na WBadger
95
T10
na avgcrtckr
68
T8
na Criminal5
80
T7
Is it a bit too stiff upper-lip? Well, yeah. But a knockout premise and some pretty fair romance carry it through, and I was genuinely invested in Cleve's dalliances. It doesn't hurt that Gene Tierney looks stunningly gorgeous, granted. The humor is often dated, but just as often charming, and makes this very enjoyable.
na mightysparks
40
T2
na NRM03
90
T10
na The Comedian
93
T10
na nuked
7
T6
na strangelime
90
T8
na TheMantidMan
80
T9
na Darren
95
T10
na javadm
74
T4
na rant1229
50
T3
I always hate to dismiss a film as "dated" since what is a movie supposed to be about other than the time in which it's from. But here Lubitch doesn't feel so much like he's pushing up against the code as much as sitting comfortably within it's box and winking occasionally. A character who is supposed to be philandering in 1943 comes off as a strictly harmless (even admirable) family man in 2011.
na KTP
78
T8
na Rumplesink
70
T6
na pzingg
83
T4
na thatgreatwar
68
T5
na nicson
60
T5
na Zeno
76
T7
na NRM02
57
T6
na theyshoot11
52
T1
#967
na Domini
72
T9
na Clark Nova
100
T10
na Aliboron
91
T9
na rollsroyce
46
T3
na Cuculiza
80
T8
na Guernica
65
T7
na gaucho
5
T8
na SeanBerndorff
90
T9
Got to admit that the whole heaven and hell thing was sort of silly and unnecessary, but I loved the rest of the movie immensively. Similar in storytelling and feel to It's a Wonderful Life (perhaps my favorite movie of all time). Charles Coburn is highly entertaining as the grandfather.
na lesintrigant
80
T9
na jacobb1313
76
T7
Lubitsch's use of ellipsis is intelligent to the point of being profound: it really is like grasping at the wind of life to catch only the most important bits. Still, I get the distinct impression that Lubitsch is looking back on his own life - and his distinct gender politics, marrying love and polygamy - and hoping Satan is just a heck of a nice fella. There is a very peculiar melancholy there, creating a different level of dark comedy. And I truly hope that worked out for him, really.
na Moribunny
75
T9
You can really feel the friction here between Lubitsch's suggestive, relatively liberal kind of comedy, and the restrictive Hays Code conventions of the day. It's a late nineteenth century period piece to boot, so the strict family values are a given, but they don't necessarily prevail, and the skirt-chasing protagonist is "forgiven" for defying them. Bush-Fekete and Raphaelson's script qualifies as one of the better ones directed by Lubitsch.
na trevitron
55
T3
na TNMomof5
80
T2
na MMAlpha
65
T6
na authorial
75
T5
na OwenE73
80
T10
na Bandy
80
T7
na FallFoliage
60
T5
na kaitkaitkait
80
T9
na jsim596
3
T6
na oakwoodjoe
60
T5
na caffe
67
T5
na theyshoot10
54
T1
930
na mandarkzilla
90
T10
na Zoltan
75
T8
na paulofilmo
77
T10
na dissidentdov
85
T8
na chesterfilms
75
T6
na RNG
69
T8
na TheRev
89
T8
na Stain
90
T9
Very funny and charming motion picture. Also, it's in the public domain and you can download it off www.archive.org, so you have no excuse for not seeing it :-)
na boxgod
65
T5
na welike
40
T9
na PeaceAnarchy
82
T7
A very enjoyable comedy. The interplay between Ameche and Tierney works pretty well and the story as a whole flows quite nicely. There's an underlying sarcastic tone to the film which works quite well and while it's never really a dark comedy it's not quite a lighthearted affair either.
na Esmerodo
66
T5
na allisoncm
77
T9
na monkfish
89
T9
na dcatcher
68
T7
na Molesworth
87
T8
na hoolie
85
T7
na flowing
70
T6
na MrsEmmaPeel
85
T8
na Theodora
80
T8
na Mango
4
T5
na Jos
78
T7
na Tricolores
85
T7
na dharmabum
94
T10
na Darbicus
80
T9
na Ciro
93
T6
na schnofel
54
T4
na shadowchance
60
T3
na Dally
60
T3
na lynchian
53
T3
na FitFortDanga
51
T1
Strictly dullsville. It's a limp premise, and the comedy has no spark to it. A few good lines come from the grandfather character, but otherwise all the jokes fall flat. Ameche is astoundingly bland, and Tierney doesn't radiate enough charisma to make up for him.
na Parmandur
30
T2
na kangadoodoo
65
T7
na deckard0
90
T8
na djross
75
T8
na Malcym
70
T8
na sinkholly
78
T7
na LordCaes
85
T10
na jaybrennan
95
T9
na moeta2
80
T4
na djfntstque
65
T4
na Cskok
93
T7
na meester
83
T9
na TheDiceman
60
T7
Good film.
na Mingus
3
T9
na nimno
49
T5
na LordofDance
45
T5
na jacobmercy
82
T5
na PaulMorel
78
T5
na negative
2
T6
na givethanks
82
T9
na leerudman
81
T6
na imdb
76
T9
na paghat
79
T7
na kyvetti
80
T9
na Derrick X
80
T9
na bren
73
T5
na winds
5
T6
na iownpurple
78
T7
na danielldb
80
T9
na kastenm
82
T8
na cactusman
87
T5
na cinebaixar
89
T9
na Razuna
77
T6
na cvn
90
T4
na lebasi
5
T10
na kjfellows
3
T4
na demonhatesme
93
T9
na Mirabell
50
T5
na anb2226
89
T6
na coltrane
6
T9
na Icarus
85
T8
Solid effort from Lubitsch. Gentle touches throughout. It takes a while to get going, but once Tierney shows up, it just gets better and better. The use of space is always imaginative, with a depth to many of the shots that visually adds layers to the film. The story is done in a way that highlights the comic elements, but that doesn't let you forget the darker threads running through it.
na Pocra
85
T9
na haydn
82
T8
na goran
80
T9
na Catriona
90
T5
na purity
3
T9
na idyll
82
T6
na filmaffinity
78
T10
na willofgaia
85
T6
na Islandia
5
T3
na sunamiabe
85
T8
na experimental
81
T8
na BaalMan
60
T2
na JJJames
89
T9
na TJ Ximenez
100
T9
na ormz
8
T10
na Mike DAngelo
57
T6
na theyshoot08
53
T1
944
na Madstone
95
T8
Average Tier 6.82 from 179 Rankings rss