Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Top Billed Actors: Gene Tierney, Don Ameche, Charles Coburn
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 3 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - 20th Century-Fox
Best Director - Ernst Lubitsch
Best Cinematography, Color - Edward Cronjager
Plot: A man shows up in the reception area of Hell and tries to convince Satan to accept him into the underworld. He tells his life story to show just how naughty he was being a faithful husband and a good father.
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Top Billed Actors: Gene Tierney, Don Ameche, Charles Coburn
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 3 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - 20th Century-Fox
Best Director - Ernst Lubitsch
Best Cinematography, Color - Edward Cronjager
Plot: A man shows up in the reception area of Hell and tries to convince Satan to accept him into the underworld. He tells his life story to show just how naughty he was being a faithful husband and a good father.
Not to be confused with another Best Picture nominee of the same name (which is an adaptation of the same play from yet another Best Picture nominee), Heaven Can Wait (1943) is Ernst Lubitsch's only foray into Technicolor. This is my introduction to Gene Tierney, who had a tenuous relationship with Lubitsch at first. Shooting was stressful early on but they eventually ironed things out and she has called him "a brilliant director" in subsequent years. Lubitsch also might have took issue with the lead actor as well, or at least his casting. He wanted a Frederic March or Rex Harrison type but Don Ameche was cast instead. Ameche won him over and has even called this film his favorite of all the films he worked on.
Tierney and Ameche are perfectly fine in their roles but I gravitated towards Charles Coburn. If you see my review for The More the Merrier (1943) you will see how much I adore this guy. He plays the down-to-earth grandfather that always has a trick up his sleeve. In a family full of stuck-up well-to-do types, Coburn is a delight to see carry out that "Lubitsch touch," or a series of jokes that seems to continue the extra mile. Lubitsch sprinkles this philosophy throughout the film such as when the Strables are talking through their butler about a storyline in the funny pages; the punchline to this happens way down the line as other events take place (their daughter returning home in this case). It's a unique lighthearted tone that makes the viewing very agreeable throughout watching Ameche have happy returns throughout the late nineteenth century and early twentieth. The color cinematography and art direction are also highlights of the film. A lot of this takes place in the Van Cleve home but the Gay Nineties is always a good time. The costumes put you into the period and it's neat seeing the old technology like the public telephone scene when Ameche discovers Tierney lying to her mother. The reception to Hell in the bookends of the film contains colors that pop as well. The cinematography nod is well deserved.
Although I commended the art direction and seeing the technology of the day, I wish there was even more of it. Like I previously stated, a lot of this picture takes places in the home. I get the gimmick of going through time on birthdays but this sometime feels a bit too constrained. The old makeup for Ameche and Tierney is also not very convincing. The minute Ameche enters the reception room, I know it was a younger man with makeup on and that we would be going back to see his life story. I would have also like to have learned how this family earned their money. How can this family throw away thousands of dollars so nonchalantly? When Ameche's son finally shows that he is working, it is kept very vague. I just like my cinematic worlds built out a bit more.
Overall, Lubitsch keeps his touch in the world of Technicolor. It's fun to travel through time on the central character's birthdays from the 1870s through the present day of 1942. Charles Coburn is perfect for a lighthearted picture such as this but there could have been more in terms of showing off the infrastructure and technology of the period.
My Score: 7/10
Tierney and Ameche are perfectly fine in their roles but I gravitated towards Charles Coburn. If you see my review for The More the Merrier (1943) you will see how much I adore this guy. He plays the down-to-earth grandfather that always has a trick up his sleeve. In a family full of stuck-up well-to-do types, Coburn is a delight to see carry out that "Lubitsch touch," or a series of jokes that seems to continue the extra mile. Lubitsch sprinkles this philosophy throughout the film such as when the Strables are talking through their butler about a storyline in the funny pages; the punchline to this happens way down the line as other events take place (their daughter returning home in this case). It's a unique lighthearted tone that makes the viewing very agreeable throughout watching Ameche have happy returns throughout the late nineteenth century and early twentieth. The color cinematography and art direction are also highlights of the film. A lot of this takes place in the Van Cleve home but the Gay Nineties is always a good time. The costumes put you into the period and it's neat seeing the old technology like the public telephone scene when Ameche discovers Tierney lying to her mother. The reception to Hell in the bookends of the film contains colors that pop as well. The cinematography nod is well deserved.
Although I commended the art direction and seeing the technology of the day, I wish there was even more of it. Like I previously stated, a lot of this picture takes places in the home. I get the gimmick of going through time on birthdays but this sometime feels a bit too constrained. The old makeup for Ameche and Tierney is also not very convincing. The minute Ameche enters the reception room, I know it was a younger man with makeup on and that we would be going back to see his life story. I would have also like to have learned how this family earned their money. How can this family throw away thousands of dollars so nonchalantly? When Ameche's son finally shows that he is working, it is kept very vague. I just like my cinematic worlds built out a bit more.
Overall, Lubitsch keeps his touch in the world of Technicolor. It's fun to travel through time on the central character's birthdays from the 1870s through the present day of 1942. Charles Coburn is perfect for a lighthearted picture such as this but there could have been more in terms of showing off the infrastructure and technology of the period.
My Score: 7/10