Heaven Can Wait

For sheer elegance and graceful wit, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better vintage comedy than Ernst Lubitsch's timeless classic Heaven Can Wait. Not to be confused with the Warren Beatty movie from 1978 (which was a remake of the 1941 comedy-fantasy Here Comes Mr. Jordan), this turn-of-the-century tale begins when recently-deceased upper-class playboy Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) pays a visit to Hell's reception lobby, attempting to convince Satan (formally attired and played by Laird Cregar) that he's earned his place in Hades. But as we see, when Lubitsch and the great screenwriter Samson Raphaelson examine 50 years of Henry's life through a series of masterfully directed episodes of genteel philandering, Henry's devotion to his wife Martha (Gene Tierney) was actually quite strong, and maybe--just maybe--Henry will have earned a place in Heaven. As critics Andrew Sarris and Molly Haskell (themselves a long-married couple) observe in this Criterion DVD's supplemental features, Heaven Can Wait is actually a very serious comedy with remarkable depth of theme, plot, and character, but the legendary "Lubitsch touch" keeps it floating on air, propelled by some of the finest dialogue ever written. To that end, Criterion's bonus features emphasize the career and legacy of Raphaelson, whose contributions were every bit as vital as Lubitsch's. Like any great film, Heaven Can Wait is a gift that keeps on giving, representing a high standard of comedy that's become virtually extinct in the age of Adam Sandler. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (J. Shannon) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—Aug. 21, 2018—Criterion, 112 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1943’s Heaven Can Wait features an excellent transfer with uncompressed monaural audio on the Blu-ray release. Extras include a 1977 audio seminar with screenwriter Samson Raphaelson and film critic Richard Corliss recorded at the Museum of Modern Art (53 min.), a 1982 episode of Creativity with Bill Moyers on Raphaelson’s life and career (30 min.), a 2005 conversation with critics Molly Haskell and Andrew Sarris (25 min.), home recordings of director Ernst Lubitsch playing the piano (8 min.), a photo gallery, pressbook, and an essay by film scholar William Paul. Bottom line: a Hollywood classic sparkles on Blu-ray.]