I Think I’ve Seen this Film Before… More Remakes and Sequels
With so many theatrical films being postponed and constantly changing their release dates, in some cases even opting for streaming availability in the midst of this pandemic, there is truly little new content for your viewing pleasure at the moment. For a film buff, such as myself, this isn’t too much of a problem, as it affords me the opportunity to revisit some classic films or allows me to take this time to catch up on television series that I just have not had the chance to watch over the past few years (I hate to admit that over the summer I have binged all 9 seasons of One Tree Hill and am several seasons deep into the madness that is the ‘Real Housewives’ franchise… these are certainly bleak and challenging times, especially content-wise). That being said, it is always fun to take a break from my time-consuming television binges and reexamine various films and the way Hollywood is constantly recycling similar content in supposedly ‘new’ packages. Earlier this year I began looking at groups of films that the classical studio system remade, with mere years between productions, and attempted to pass as completely new titles (you can read about those Remakes and Sequels here). This time I have stumbled across some more films that Hollywood quickly recycled or remade, essentially reusing the exact same concept or plot.
Each of the following films owes a great deal of their credit to a 1938 play by Harry Segall named “Heaven Can Wait” (which was originally published under the title “It Was Like This” in 1938, before being revised for its publication as “Heaven Can Wait” in 1942, and has even been revived onstage under the title “Wonderful Journey”) in that this play has spawned a slew of adaptation, remakes, and sequels… The premise of this comedic romantic fantasy play is that a boxing prize fighter, Joe Pendleton, has untimely met his demise and protests his death to Mr. Jordan, an ‘angel’ who is in the process of checking people in for their departure for the Hereafter. Realizing that Joe was not supposed to die for another 60 years, a compromise is made to send Joe back to Earth, but, unfortunately, Joe’s body has already been cremated and he no longer has a body to go back to. What follows is a fairly madcap series of events involving swapping Joe’s soul with different bodies in an attempt to right Joe’s fate, secure his continued profession as a boxer, and perhaps his even finding love in the end. This basic plot has been the catalyst for so many film adaptations, and has become the tropic prototype for the ‘interfering angel’ convention found throughout many different films. Found here are the most faithful and direct adaptations, remakes, and sequels related to “Heaven Can Wait.” If you haven’t seen any of these films before, I highly suggest that you watch them in order of their release date, as they are all enjoyable in their own way, but their similarities stand out even more if watched in chronological order. Enjoy!
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941, dir. Alexander Hall)
This film is the 1st adaptation of “Heaven Can Wait,” and is a genuinely likeable black-and-white classic Hollywood production. The film features a great cast, including Robert Montgomery as Joe Pendleton and Claude Rains as Mr. Jordan, and includes plenty of comedic moments. Here Comes Mr. Jordan deviates slightly from the play, making Joe a pilot and boxer who dies unexpectedly in a plane crash, and expands upon several supporting characters to flesh out various scenes and interactions. The film won two Academy Awards, one to Harry Segall for Best Story, and the second to Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller for Best Screenplay, plus Here Comes Mr. Jordan was nominated for an additional 5 awards (including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White). Given the accolades this film garnered upon its release, it is no wonder that Here Comes Mr. Jordan would be the basis for each of the successive sequels and remakes, and a constant source of inspiration for many different films throughout the subsequent decades.
Down to Earth (1947, dir. Alexander Hall)
Why wouldn’t a technicolor musical comedy sequel be the perfect follow up to Here Comes Mr. Jordan? Boasting the same director, and with some of the supporting cast reprising their roles (Edward Everett Horton and James Gleason are some of the only cast members from the original film), Down to Earth is a departure from the central story of Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Instead audiences are following the antics of the Muse, Terpsichore (portrayed by Rita Hayworth) who gets permission from Mr. Jordan (this time played by Roland Culver) to go to Earth to help fix a play that paints the Muses in less than favorable light. Hayworth gets to play a double role, with her character taking on the persona of Kitty Pendleton hell-bent on securing a part in the ill-conceived show. Essentially, Down to Earth expands upon the popularity of Mr. Jordan as a character and creates a new ‘angel’ interfering on Earth saga. This film is entertaining, but certainly not without its flaws (the sequels are rarely, if ever, better than their source text), and lacks some of the drive and surprise of the film’s compelling fantasy elements that made Here Comes Mr. Jordan a more successful film.
Heaven Can Wait (1978, dirs. Warren Beatty and Buck Henry)
This 2nd adaptation of the play is a faithful remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, but updates and contemporizes the story, swapping out boxing for football. Praised at the time, and earning an Academy Award for Best Art Direction, in addition to having been nominated for eight other Oscars, I’m not sure the film is withstanding the test of time all that well. For starters, you will only like this film if you like Warren Beatty, as he is the ‘star’ of this film, with his portrayal of lead character Joe Pendleton, and even directs himself… But I’m not that big of a fan of Warren Beatty (or football for that matter). Beatty comes across, to me, as a very one-dimensional actor (you always know that you are watching Warren Beatty), and the directing within this film was merely average (nothing that really stands out as being exceptional). The only interesting thing about this film is its connection to the rest of the films in this list of sequels and remakes about Segall’s play, “Heaven Can Wait…” At least this film kept with the playwrights intended title.
Xanadu (1980, dir. Robert Greenwald)
A roller disco musical starring Gene Kelly (in his last film role) and Olivia Newton-John (directly following the success of Grease, released in 1978) sounds like a great idea, right?! Well, somebody certainly thought so… Don’t get me wrong, Xanadu is a pretty bad musical (as far as musicals go), but there is something about the film that has made me revisit it a little more than I care to admit. It is campy, has developed a bit of a cult following (some of the music proved to be a bit of a surprise hit), and has even spawned a successful Broadway musical adaptation, which garnered several Tony Award nominations. What many people probably don’t realize is that Xanadu is actually a musical remake of Down to Earth (1947). Although this film removes Mr. Jordan as a catalyst for the action between the main characters, the plot stays relatively the same by simply swapping out occupations and replacing the play director with a freelance cover artist, plus this iteration plays up the whole Greek gods angle, and provides a bit more of a satisfying ending (for those hopeless romantics) than its predecessor. If musical remakes of film sequels are your jam (and you can overlook the thirty-six-year age difference between Kelly and Newton-John) then Xanadu is well worth a revisit.
Down to Earth (2001, dirs. Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz)
This 3rd adaptation of the “Heaven Can Wait” play, shares its title with Here Comes Mr. Jordan’s sequel Down to Earth (1947), but is more of a lackluster vehicle for comedian Chris Rock that uses the soul swapping trope as a gimmick and drawn out joke. This film also eliminates Mr. Jordan, replacing this character with two angels King and Keyes (played by Chazz Palminteri and Eugene Levy) who don’t have the greatest suggestions for replacing struggling comedian Lance’s (Chris Rock) body, initially selecting a wealthy white guy as a replacement body, with the understanding that if a better match comes along, Lance will be switched into that body instead. This movie isn’t really all that memorable, but it is mildly entertaining enough (if you don’t mind Chris Rock’s comedy) and does round out this selection of sequels and remakes, reviving the concepts found in Here Comes Mr. Jordan for more modern audiences.
This list of films is by no means definitive as there are actually many more films that feature a similar plot to Segall’s “Heaven Can Wait” and plenty of riffs on the character of Mr. Jordan. For instance, there is a Fox Family Film called Ice Angel (aka On Thin Ice: Going For The Gold, 2000, dir. George Erschbamer), which features a male hockey player being transferred into the body of a female figure skater, plus there are adult film adaptations, including Heaven’s Touch (1983, dir. Shaun Costello [as Warren Evans]) and Debbie Does Dallas … Again (2007, dir. Paul Thomas). Moreover, “Heaven Can Wait” has even entered international film waters with a Hindi language film adaptation, The Skies Have Bowed (aka Jkuk Gaya Aasman, 1968, dir. Lekh Tandon), and a Punjabi language film, Mar Gaye Oye Loko (2018, dir. Simerjit Singh).
If that weren’t enough there are plenty of intertextual references, or in-jokes, and connections that can be found throughout many other films, and TV series, to this day. In two of the “Road Pictures,” starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Hope makes pointed quips that relate to Here Comes Mr. Jordan. In Road to Morocco (1942, dir. David Butler), Hope has a conversation with his deceased Aunt Lucy (played by Hope, in drag, carrying a harp) who says, “Here Comes Mr. Jordan,” before having to end her conversation with his character. This joke is revamped in Road to Rio (1947, dir. Normal McLeod), in which Hope, at one point, retorts: “Who do you think I am – Mr. Jordan?” Even the recent TV series, Drop Dead Diva (2009-2014, Lifetime), recycled the trope of a character dying and returning to Earth in a different body. Plus the show would even insert a cheeky homage to its source, and filmic inspiration, as in one episode “Will & Grayson” (from Season 2, Episode 10), the main characters Stacy, Fred, and Jane are featured as watching Here Comes Mr. Jordan…
Perhaps my favorite filmic connection revolves around a seemingly unrelated musical comedy film. Cover Girl (1944, dir. Charles Vidor) can be directly connected to Xanadu in that Gene Kelly plays a character named Danny McGuire in both movies… But wait, if that coincidence weren’t enough, there are newspaper advertisements featured in both Down to Earth (1947) and Cover Girl that state: “Save up your gas and go to Danny McGuire’s Place in Brooklyn. You’ll see the current Vanity cover in the flesh…” It also helps that Rita Hayworth is the lead in both Down to Earth (1947) and Cover Girl, playing opposite male characters named ‘Danny.’ This, in a roundabout way, makes Xanadu not only a remake of Down to Earth (1947) but also an extremely loose sequel to Cover Girl… Just thinking about all of these intertextual connections, sequels, remakes, and adaptations is making my head spin, perhaps even faster than all those roller skates in Xanadu…
What are your thoughts about these adaptations of “Heaven Can Wait?” How many of these remakes and/or sequels have you seen? Share your thoughts in the comments below and be on the lookout for more posts from me exploring even more of Hollywood’s never-ending litany of adaptations, remakes, and sequels!
Copyright © 2020 Sarah Crane
