# I just rewatched Heaven Can Wait (1978) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [March 19, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087 "2014-03-19T16:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/1 "2014-03-19T16:04:41Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Aqt-O9F6AkQ/hqdefault.jpg "Heaven Can Wait (1978) Trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqt-O9F6AkQ) > **[Heaven Can Wait (1978 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_Can_Wait_(1978_film))** > > Heaven Can Wait is a 1978 American sports fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Warren Beatty and Buck Henry about a young man (played by Beatty) being mistakenly taken to heaven by his guardian angel, and the resulting complications of how this mistake can be undone, given that his earthly body has been cremated. It was the second film adaptation of Harry Segall's play of the same name, the first being Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). > Beatty was influenced by the beliefs of his sister, actress Shi... > **[Heaven Can Wait (1978) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077663/)** > > Heaven Can Wait: Directed by Warren Beatty, Buck Henry. With Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Jack Warden. A Los Angeles Rams quarterback, accidentally taken away from his body by an overanxious angel before he was meant to die, returns to... I remember really enjoying it when it first came out, and I have to say, it was just as good this time. Funny, warm and winning - a bittersweet supernatural comedy/romance. Warren Beatty and Julie Christie have great chemistry and both look fantastic, Jack Warden is great as the crusty football coach, Dyan Cannon is a suitably scheming ice queen, Charles Grodin is deadpan perfection (his can-you-believe-this-guy? look at Cannon when he’s just patiently explained insider trading to a naive Beatty is comedy gold), and James Mason is the most calm, reassuring, suave angel ever. A fine supporting cast. Great gags, including a cannon (!) as Chekhov’s gun. A timeless message, that love is even stronger than death. The movie had, I think, one of the earliest viral ad campaigns ever - I remember the wordless graphic of a winged Beatty looking down at his stopwatch appeared in newspapers several weeks before the movie came out. Anyone else a fan? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/2 "2014-03-19T16:26:55Z")
I haven’t seen it since it came up, but I liked it in the theater. I was 13, and I remember the hand-waving around ‘heaven works on probabilities and percentages’ bugged me. Now I probably wouldn’t care. I felt sorry for Jack Warden at the end. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/3 "2014-03-19T16:27:14Z")
I remember liking the movie but then I made the mistake of watching the Chris Rock [remake](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0231775/?ref_=nm_knf_t3) about 15 years ago and have not had the inclination to go rewatch the Warren Beatty version ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/4 "2014-03-19T16:29:10Z")
I saw it as at about 14 or 15 when I was babysitting 79 or 80, it was on cable back before EVERYTHING was on cable). I’m sure I knew most of the cast, but I suspect it was the first time, I’d reallly paid attention to James Mason. I hope I get an angel so handsome and suave and with the same plummy accent. Mostly what I remember was all the blue and white in the sets, is that strange? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/5 "2014-03-19T16:30:19Z")
I really enjoyed it when it came out, and of course Warren Beatty in his prime was pretty nice to look at. The bedroom fascinated me. All the doors were papered in the same fabric as the walls, if I remember correctly, so they all blended in. I saw Here Comes Mr. Jordan, too, although not when it came out, and liked it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/6 "2014-03-19T16:31:31Z")
I actually preferred it to the original film _[Here Comes Mr Jordan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Comes_Mr._Jordan)_; Beatty and Mason really make the film work. Grodin and Cannon are a bit goofy for my taste but it does generally hold up. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/7 "2014-03-19T16:34:59Z")
Yes, yes, a thousand times YES! I didn’t think I’d like it because I don’t like football, but that’s not necessary because it’s not about football. I haven’t seen it for ages but back in the day when it played on cable all the time I’d watch it whenever possible. There’s a local discount movie theater I go to called the Logan and Every. Single. Time I say the name of the theater I say it how the butler says it when he says “Miss Looogan.” I love it. It’s so funny and sweet. IMO Beatty’s quite a looker too, which helps. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/8 "2014-03-19T16:42:23Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I really enjoyed it when it came out, and of course Warren Beatty in his prime was pretty nice to look at. Yet already past forty! ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/9 "2014-03-19T16:57:55Z")
Thanks for reminding me how much I liked _Heaven Can Wait._ As you said, great supporting cast, very funny screenplay by Elaine May, and thoughtful set design. Julie Christie and Warren Beatty were a great team on screen. _McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Shampoo_ and this film were all excellent films. Too bad they didn’t continue the pairing into the '80s. (I know they were a couple that broke up, but Shampoo and Heaven Can Wait both came after they parted ways, personally.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/10 "2014-03-19T16:59:55Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > …There’s a local discount movie theater I go to called the Logan and Every. Single. Time I say the name of the theater I say it how the butler says it when he says “Miss Looogan.” … Yes! Sisk, the imperturbable butler. The same (Irish) actor had a recurring role on the TV romantic comedy _Anything But Love._ He died in 1998, alas: [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536850/?ref\_=tt\_cl\_t9](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536850/?ref_=tt_cl_t9) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/11 "2014-04-05T15:21:26Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I actually preferred it to the original film _[Here Comes Mr Jordan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Comes_Mr._Jordan)_; Beatty and Mason really make the film work. Grodin and Cannon are a bit goofy for my taste but it does generally hold up. I just watched _Here Comes Mr. Jordan_, and I agree, the remake is much better. The original was more melodramatic and stagey, and Robert Montgomery in the lead role (a boxer, not a QB) comes across as simply more goofy than Beatty. The assistant angel (Edward Everett Horton, known to many Baby Boomers as the narrator of _Fractured Fairy Tales_) is IMHO downright annoying. On the plus side, Claude Rains is very good as Mr. Jordan, and very similar to James Mason in the role (although in a silly “uniform” with wings on both sides of his chest). Also, look for a young Lloyd Bridges as the radio operator on the plane which is to take people up to Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/12 "2014-04-06T20:28:17Z")
I am vaguely disturbed by the notion that Joe Pendleton loses all his personal memories and assumes those of Thomas Jarrett, the guy whose body he takes over. Will he get those memories back when “Jarrett” dies (presumably in 2025, Pendleton’s original scheduled death). If he doesn’t, hasn’t the soul of Joe Pendleton essentially been destroyed? If one’s soul is entirely different from one’s memories, then what is the individual value of one’s soul? Will Jarrett/Pendleton meet Jarrett in Heaven? It’s quite easy to overthink this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/13 "2014-04-06T21:39:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Anyone else a fan? I watched it once and once only, under circumstances odd enough that they are the only reason I recall much of anything about it. Our branch of Giant American Evilbank won some contest - this would be around 1979-80 - and one of the rewards we could claim was a movie and pizza night. This was a big deal since VCRs were still a bit rare, so having one rented along with the movie of our collective choice was kind of kewl and nouveau. So it was one of the first movies I can recall seeing on home video and it was in a bank lobby at night, accompanied by blah pizza because the cows I worked with voted for Pizza Hut instead of the infinitely superior Round Table. I don’t remember much about the movie, though. Sorry. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/14 "2014-07-09T17:40:49Z")
Time to watch it again, then, **Amateur**! ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/15 "2014-07-09T17:55:37Z")
I liked the movie, too. I somehow managed to see it in a theater when it first came out without knowing anything about it but the title, so the opening scene was a bit of a schock. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/16 "2014-07-09T18:15:35Z")
I liked the movie very much both then and now. The only joke that doesn’t still hold up is when Mr. Farnsworth buys the LA Rams. I remember seeing the movie in the theatre back then and there was a gasp from the crowd when he bought the team for $10million, I think. That was an unthinkably enormous price for an entire NFL team back in 1979. Now that amount won’t pay for a single offensive lineman. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/17 "2014-07-09T19:50:35Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > I liked the movie very much both then and now. The only joke that doesn’t still hold up is when Mr. Farnsworth buys the LA Rams. I remember seeing the movie in the theatre back then and there was a gasp from the crowd when he bought the team for $10million, I think. > > That was an unthinkably enormous price for an entire NFL team back in 1979. Now that amount won’t pay for a single offensive lineman. Former owner: He got my team. The son of a bitch got my team. Advisor to former owner: What kind of pressure did he use, Milt? Former owner: All I asked was sixty-seven million, and he said “okay.” Advisor to former owner: Ruthless bastard. I think elsewhere in the movie somebody said the team was only worth about $11 million. $67 million in 1978 dollars is quite a hunk of change, about $240 million today. That might be enough to buy a team, or at least a sizable chunk of one. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/18 "2014-07-09T21:10:25Z")
I love both Heaven Can Waits! Great soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/19 "2014-07-09T22:56:46Z")
I preferred [A Matter of Life And Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Life_and_Death_(film)). ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087/20 "2014-07-09T23:20:49Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I am vaguely disturbed by the notion that Joe Pendleton loses all his personal memories and assumes those of Thomas Jarrett, the guy whose body he takes over. Will he get those memories back when “Jarrett” dies (presumably in 2025, Pendleton’s original scheduled death). If he doesn’t, hasn’t the soul of Joe Pendleton essentially been destroyed? If one’s soul is entirely different from one’s memories, then what is the individual value of one’s soul? Will Jarrett/Pendleton meet Jarrett in Heaven? I thought this too. What are we beside a collection of past experience and memories? Well, maybe there are innate abilities and character traits too, but did he even get to keep those? I think they were giving it a romantic twist by implying that Julie Christie would still (somehow) recognize him and fill him in about who he really was. It still seemed like a cop out on the part of the angels, but that’s just a small quibble on an otherwise pretty good movie. Trivia: Joe as Farnsworth paid $67 million to buy the Rams, which was supposed to show what a rube he was. Nowadays an NFL franchise goes for a billion and change, so it’s not looking like such a bad investment. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-rewatched-heaven-can-wait-1978/684087.md?page=2)