HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (1941)
Article #942 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-13-2003
Posting Date: 3-11-2004
Directed by Alexander Hall
Featuring Robert Montgomery, Evelyn Keyes, Claude Rains

A fighter’s soul is snatched prematurely from this world by an over-zealous angel and his body is cremated before he can be returned to it. Therefore, the forces that be have to find a way to return him to the land of the living.

This movie is regarded as a classic, but for some reason whenever I watch it, I feel it falls just a hair short of the greatness that its reputation implies. This is despite many of the movies elements that I really do admire; it has a good story and a clever script, and I always love to see Claude Rains and Edward Everett Horton in action. I also quite like the spirited performance from Robert Montgomery. If I had to choose a reason for my disappointment, it would be that I think the pacing is not quite up to the pitch it really needs to be, and there are moments when I find myself wishing the story would move on along a little faster. This feeling does not arise, however, when James Gleason is on the screen; his portrayal of the perpetually confused Max Corkle is one of the great comic performances of all time, and he steals the show from the rest of the cast. It would be no surprise that he would prove the centerpiece of the semi-sequel, DOWN TO EARTH, though that movie is certainly nowhere near the quality of this one. The movie also features the familiar faces of John Emery and Evelyn Keyes.