Heaven Can Wait

1943

1h 52m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

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Comedy

Romance

Fantasy

Drama

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.

Directors

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers

Samson Raphaelson(screenplay by)

Leslie Bush-Fekete(theatre play by)

Stars

Don Ameche

Gene Tierney

Charles Coburn

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Videos2

Trailer
Watch Heaven Can Wait (1943) ORIGINAL TRAILER
Featurette
Watch John Landis on HEAVEN CAN WAIT

Photos36

Top cast

Don Ameche

Henry Van Cleve

Gene Tierney

Martha Strabel Van Cleve

Hugo Van Cleve

Mrs. Strabel

His Excellency

Bertha Van Cleve

Albert Van Cleve

E.F. Strabel

Yvette ("Mademoiselle")

Randolph Van Cleve

Peggy Nash

James

Jack Van Cleve

Mrs. Edna Craig (uncredited)

Scotty Beckett

Henry Van Cleve - Age 9 (uncredited)

Clara Blandick

Grandmother Van Cleve (uncredited)

Leonard Carey

Flogdell (uncredited)

James Conaty

Man in Park with Top Hat (uncredited)

Directors

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers

Samson Raphaelson(screenplay by)

Leslie Bush-Fekete(theatre play by)

All cast & crew

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User reviews1

Review

Featured review

7/10

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.

Geronimo196722 Dec, 2024