Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

The 1978 Warren Beatty film Heaven Can Wait is actually a remake of this 1941 film, not as frequently assumed the 1943 film Heaven Can Wait, which has a completely unrelated story. Also the 2001 Chris Rock vehicle Down to Earth, is a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, even though it takes its title from  Mr. Jordan's 1947 sequel film Down to Earth. There, we got that straight?

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is the story of  nice-guy, saxophone playing boxer Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery) who is mistakenly taken from his body by Angle 7013 (Edward Everett Horton) when the small plane he is in crashes. By the time this mix up is sorted out by 7013's superior Mr. Jordan (the great Claude Rains), Pendleton's body has already been cremated. Joe is still entitled to 50 years of life so Mr. Jordan offers to find him another body, Joe is quite particular about what body he gets because he wants one healthy enough to win the national boxing title which Mr. Jordan assures him he is also entitled too.

After some weeks of looking Joe agrees to possess, on a temporary basis, the body of the just murdered millionaire banker-investor Bruce Farnsworth. Joe agrees to be Bruce because while still a ghost he becomes smitten with Bette Logan (Evelyn Keyes) the daughter of a man who Farnsworth has swindled and subsequently landed in jail. Joe wants to set things right for Bette and then leave Farnsworth for a better body, but he falls so in love with Bette that he decides he want to stay as Farnsworth, and he'll just have to exercise said body into sufficient shape to win the title. To do this Joe decides he needs the help of his old boxing coach Max Corkle (James Gleason) whom he sets out to convince that he is in fact Joe's spirit in possession of Farnsworth's body, que. comedy. Also Joe probably should keep in mind that Farnsworth was recently murdered and those responsible are probably going to try it again.

I'd seen a couple of other versions of this same story before so it wasn't really anything new to me, but Robert Montgomery's earnestness as the lead caries the film, and of course the presence of Claude Rains never hurts either. A likable romp. ***