20th Century Fox
Not part of a collection.
Heaven Can Wait
He believed in Love… Honor… and Obey – That Impulse!
Spoiled playboy Henry van Cleve dies and arrives at the entrance to Hell, a final destination he is sure he deserves after living a life of profligacy. The devil, however, isn't so sure Henry meets Hell's standards. Convinced he is where he belongs, Henry recounts his life's deeds, both good and bad, including an act of indiscretion during his 25-year marriage to his wife, Martha, with the hope that "His Excellency" will arrive at the proper judgment.
- Original title
- Heaven Can Wait
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
CinemaSerf
Dec 22, 2024 · via TMDB
I kept seeing Clifton Webb in the role of "Henry Van Cleve" here, but Don Ameche manages it well enough as he arrives in the waiting room "downstairs" for an interview with Laird Cregar. He thinks he has lived his successful life in such a fashion as to merit refusal up where Mozart and Beethoven still play, but his interviewer decides to let him tell his own story and that's where we come in. "Henry" comes from a wealthy New York family where he is expected to conform to society rules by his father "Randolph" (Louis Calhern) and mother "Bertha" (Spring Byington). Well suffice to say he doesn't ever really want to play that game, but nobody quite expects him to pinch his cousin's bride-to-be "Martha" (Gene Tierney) just as they get engaged. What now ensues sees the couple's trials and tribulations as they bring up their own son "Jack" with the assistance of their grandpa "Hugo" (Charles Coburn) before sadness tinges his life. At the start we all make assumptions about "Henry", but gradually we realise that he's actually quite a decent cove whose instinctive behaviour is refreshing amongst the formality and pseudo-snobbishness of a society that's long since forgotten it's own shoot from the hip roots. Coburn is on good form, Eugene Palette - and his instantly recognisable tones - turns in a few fun cameos as her father and though maybe a bit long, it tells us a story of true love in a gently amiable, quite personable fashion that allows the chemistry between Ameche and Tierney to gently simmer.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Don Ameche
Henry Van Cleve
Gene Tierney
Martha Strabel Van Cleve
Charles Coburn
Hugo Van Cleve
Marjorie Main
Mrs. Strabel
Laird Cregar
His Excellency
Spring Byington
Bertha Van Cleve
Allyn Joslyn
Albert Van Cleve
Eugene Pallette
E.F. Strabel
Signe Hasso
Yvette ("Mademoiselle")
Louis Calhern
Randolph Van Cleve
Helene Reynolds
Peggy Nash
Aubrey Mather
James
Tod Andrews
Jack Van Cleve
Florence Bates
Mrs. Edna Craig (uncredited)
Scotty Beckett
Henry Van Cleve - Age 9 (uncredited)
Clara Blandick
Grandmother Van Cleve (uncredited)
Leonard Carey
Flogdell (uncredited)
Claire Du Brey
Miss Ralston - Jack's Secretary (uncredited)
Jay Eaton
Book Store Clerk (uncredited)
James Flavin
Policeman (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
Party Guest (uncredited)
Gary Gray
Boy in Park (uncredited)
Grayce Hampton
Albert's Mother (uncredited)
Trudy Marshall
Jane Van Cleve - Jack's Wife (uncredited)
Edwin Maxwell
Doctor (uncredited)
Doris Merrick
Nellie Brown - Registered Nurse (uncredited)
Harold Miller
Party Guest (uncredited)
Dickie Moore
Henry Van Cleve - Age 15 (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse
Party Guest (uncredited)
Clarence Muse
Jasper (uncredited)
Monty O'Grady
Party Guest (uncredited)
Anita Sharp-Bolster
Mrs. Cooper-Cooper (uncredited)
Gerald Oliver Smith
Smith - Van Cleve's Second Butler (uncredited)
Edward Cronjager
Director of Photography
Ernst Lubitsch
Director
Dorothy Spencer
Editor
Ernst Lubitsch
Producer
Alfred Newman
Original Music Composer
Samson Raphaelson
Screenplay
Bozuk Düzen
Lojzička
Tiempo
The Eccentricities of a Nightingale
A Subject of Scandal and Concern
Rope
The Ten Commandments
Daphne Laureola
Chief of the Souls Sector
Torch Song Trilogy
An Inspector Calls
American Satan
Chicago
Fahrenheit 451
Julius Caesar
The Lovely Bones
Playboy of Paris
Oliver!
Curse of the Golden Flower
Hamlet Goes Business
The History Boys
Death of the Flea Circus Director
Flatliners
Before We Vanish
Casper
Two Kinds of Women
Gypsy
Jeffrey
The Great White Hope
Bedazzled
Show Boat
Gigi
The Sentinel
Evita
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
South Pacific
Blue Hawaii
Děvče z předměstí anebo Všecko příjde na jevo
Barbarella
Der Vetter aus Dingsda
Hello Again
Carry On Up the Jungle
A Noisy Day
Dancers in the Dark
Ghost Rider
Petos
The Crucible
Merrily We Roll Along
Mugworth
Mágnás Miska
Sto dukátů za Juana
Veľkomožní páni
Anyone Can Whistle: Live at Carnegie Hall
Gabriel's Inferno: Part II
Blue Story
Crossroads
Rosaline
The Best You Can
ATL
Nine Days
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
Fifty Shades Freed
Endless
Pillion
Delirious
(Untitled)
Dirty Sexy Saint
How to Please a Woman
Enemies, a Love Story
The Good House
A Life Less Ordinary
Sex and Death 101
Strictly Sexual
St. Elmo's Fire
Fairy Tales
Love Me Love Me
Breaking & Exiting
Maria's Lovers
Cyrus
Darby and the Dead
XX/XY
Numb
Aug 5, 1943
Los Angeles, California
Aug 11, 1943
New York City, New York
Aug 13, 1943
