BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Irishchatter I just thought this movie was rather boring because I felt like the story was a little over the top and that I couldn't just keep up with it. It was like the main characters storyline was telling a good few stories to the devil rather than his own. It just was so silly like I don't know how anyone can follow this movie, its confusing! I have nothing more to say but this movie was a time waster, never would I recommend this as one of the greatest movies of the 40's.................

jarrodmcdonald-1 Have you ever noticed while watching your favorite films, that in Hollywood they sort of discretely hide the ages of older characters? When you think about it, many motion pictures have quite a few older performers in the most important roles (usually playing much younger). But Ernst Lubitsch's 1943 masterpiece, Heaven Can Wait, is different. It rewrites the rule book on movie star aging and goes against the norm. There are many performers in this picture that are well above forty. And what's so great is that Lubitsch lets them act their own natural age. Take, for example, Charles Coburn. He happens to play a character quite a bit older than he is in real life! And the movie is much richer for it.

Ben Larson I have not had the pleasure of an Ernst Lubitsch film. The three-time Academy Award nominee has directed such features as The Patriot and The Love Parade, and this film; all three nominated for an Oscar. This is Lubitsch's first color film, and one of the last before his untimely death.It is unfortunate that Lubitsch and this film had to compete against Casablanca in the Oscars.I have also been remiss in seeing Gene Tierney, an Oscar nominee for Leave Her to Heaven. I shall correct two movie errors in one fell swoop.A charming comedy of love, marriage, and sex. Don Ameche was fantastic.

blanche-2 Strangely, the title of this film was used in 1978 to remake another movie, "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" which probably sounded old-fashioned to the filmmakers."Heaven Can Wait" is a 20th Century Fox production directed by the great Ernst Lubitsch and starring Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, Charles Coburn, Laird Cregar, Spring Byington, Marjorie Main, Eugene Palette, and Louis Calhern. Ameche plays Henry van Cleve, who at the start of the film is an old man who has just died. Figuring he's going straight to hell, he enters and meets "His Excellency" (Laird Cregar) who looks a bit like Satan. His Excellency wants to hear Henry's story and why he thinks he belongs in a hot atmosphere. The story is then told in flashback, going back to Henry's childhood up until the time he died.A playboy, Henry at the age of 25 fell madly in love with his cousin Albert's fiancée, Martha (Gene Tierney) and marries her. Henry adores her but he still has an eye for the ladies. At one point, Martha leaves him and returns to her family in Kansas. Henry's grandfather (Coburn) loves Henry, but he realizes that Martha is the best thing that ever happened to him. He insists that Henry go after her and make things right.Filmed in vivid color, this has the Lubitsch stamp of Lubitsch's finesse and charm all over it. It's not uproariously funny, rather, it's a pleasant comedy with an underlying warmth and sweetness.The performances are wonderful. Don Ameche is a darling Henry, a vain man who worries about how old he looks as he ages and wonders if he's getting a paunch but who is nevertheless lovable because of his adoration for Martha and the love he has for his family. He's delightfully out of it, which somehow makes him all the more appealing. Gene Tierney looks like a goddess and gives a lovely performance as the patient Martha. As Henry's outspoken grandfather, Charles Coburn gives one of his best performances.The film is well cast, with Spring Byington and Louis Calhern as Henry's confused parents, Marjorie Main and Eugene Palette as Martha's disapproving parents, Signe Hasso as a French maid who introduces Henry to some of the wilder parts of life when he's a teenager, and finally Laird Cregar as His Excellency. Here he seems so much like Raymond Burr. Had he lived past the age of 31, he would have had a magnificent career. Unfortunately, his heart couldn't withstand the crash diet he went on, and he died the year after this film's release.Lubitsch films are like champagne - they're bubbly and sublime. This is one of his best.