Very well executed

So much average

Absolutely the worst movie.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

When I first saw this masterpiece on UK BBC2 on 2nd February 1972 being more literal-minded at age 12 I was left completely puzzled by the Devil's ability to spend so much time listening to Van Cleve's life story. Or I thought, if Time does not exist Down There how could they explain and we understand a story with a beginning middle and end? I mean, at that leisurely rate most of the queue waiting to enter in 1942 must still be waiting. However, the film has stood the test of Time, and though not perfect is still beautiful to watch.Dead man Van Cleve played by Don Ameche is ushered into the presence of the august Satan played by Laird Cregar, to recount the terrible details of his awful life and accept his punishment. Then begins a film-long sentimental even schmaltzy flashback, hinging on his happy marriage to Gene Tierney and the procession of the generations through the years. The soap is applied liberally, it's a tender nostalgic look at life and mores in New York from 1872 to 1942, similar to the equally magnificent Meet Me In St. Louis and Life With Father, except in this the lead character has already gone ahead. Cregar had another marvellous role as the grinning Excellency but proving the Devil-May-Care after all! Ameche and Tierney were pretty bland, perfect for the characters and the story though. Although sophisticated and witty throughout in the best Ernst Lubitsch tradition my favourite bit was ardent but patient Allen Joslyn's exquisite description of himself to Tierney on the stairs in the Strable house and her concurrence of it – I always imagined her laughing out loud at the end of the scene. What a shame Charles Coburn and Eugene Palette couldn't have had a couple of scenes together! The TCF production values were sky-high, the sumptuous sets shown in sumptuous Technicolor, but not too many as originally a stage play. It also occasionally displays a regrettably neutral chauvinist attitude to women, but wasn't that also realistic of the time?To make films as seemingly effortlessly charming and as lovely to look at as Heaven Can Wait is now a dead art; what cinema has become over the years might have them all turning over in their graves.

It's a shame that Heaven Can Wait doesn't live up to its initial premise because it starts on such an interesting and deliciously sardonic note. It still has its delights and certainly makes up for it in some accounts but isn't as great as it could've been. Despite plenty of lavish and colourful production design to enjoy, the film is a series of scattered and unfocused vignettes in the life of the character, played animatedly by Don Ameche, who's ever a delight here. Each scene does eventually have an interesting point, if depressing, about love, infatuation and relationships, but it doesn't feel like it connects to its framing device enough to be justified. You don't feel the warmth of the connection to a character and instead you're just watching trivial but often interesting drama. Perhaps that's the point that the film is trying to make about life. Only Lubitsch can make films this earnest and accessible.8/10

The 1978 film gave us a smug-face Warren Beatty, a dead sports star, hopping around like a rabbit and talking about eating his "curds and whey" but unlike Little Miss Muffet a spider does NOT come along and eat Beatty, thus saving the audience.The 1943 film is a very fine comedy, filmed in stunning 3 strip Technicolor, overloaded with clever lines and fine performances.Don Ameche is dead and having his life reviewed by the Devil, for possible admission to Hell; but that doesn't work out.Ameche is a rich playboy, but when he takes one look at Gene Tierney it's love at first sight and marriage ASAP. Similarly, when I first saw Miss Tierney (in "Return of Frank James") I was stunned by her undeniable beauty. Too bad I was 10 years old and she was then 30.Heaven Can Wait certainly sells the idea of taking maybe 10 minutes to decide on a lifetime commitment. Older and wiser now, I can see that marriage with Gene would not have worked out. After a while, I can't long stand her screen personality, and I like a slimmer build in the upper measurement. I'd try to end it, "Gene, dear, you're much older, but..." BUT... I'd look at her beautiful face and be sunk all over again!

I have loved Gene Tierney since Laura and The Ghost and Mrs Muir, and Ernst Lubitsch is a brilliant director, I am especially fond of The Shop Around the Corner and The Merry Widow. Heaven Can Wait is a wonderful film, and another one of Lubitsch's best. The production values are impeccable, with stunning costumes and beautiful photography and sets and the Technicolour is as radiant now as it was then. Alfred Newman's score is wonderful, and the soundtrack choices are perfectly chosen and incorporated. The script is filled with warmth, charm, wit and honesty, while the story is never dull and Lubitsch's direction superb. Don Ameche is perfectly cast, Gene Tierney looks gorgeous, Laird Cregar is very effective in his satanic role and Charles Coburn is hilarious as the wise-cracking grandfather. So all in all, a classic. 10/10 Bethany Cox