good back-story, and good acting

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The acid tongued Clifton Webb who earned three Oscar nominations in the Forties, in the Fifties had his image considerably softened and for most of the rest of his career would be doing items like For Heaven's Sake. How much base was applied to this acid for Webb to team with Edmund Gwenn as a pair of angels trying to help some unborn kids make their earthy debuts.Webb has the tougher assignment. Gigi Perreau's prospective parents are theatrical couple Bob Cummings and Joan Bennett who've become rather jaded and are on the verge of splitting. Against a lot of celestial advice including Gwenn's, Webb decides to materialize and become human. And as his role model, Webb takes on the persona of Gary Cooper as a western millionaire. In fact Webb is shown going into a theater and seeing Coop in a revival of The Westerner. This is just to get some background information as to how to pull off the character.And he enters the lives of Cummings and Bennett as another kind of angel, a theatrical one. Of course without any money since they don't use any where he's from. But when he does acquire some money, Webb acquires a lot of earthly habits and problems to go along with the pleasures and perks of being corporeal.Webb and Gwenn who would team up again in Mr. Scoutmaster have a nice easy chemistry that really carries For Heaven's Sake to some really nice heights. I'd also make note of performances by Joan Blondell as an actress playing one a lot like Joan Blondell, Harry Von Zell in a nice caricature of a real Texas oil millionaire and most of all Jack LaRue as an actor who really starts believing he is one of those gangster tough guys he portrays on the screen. I think LaRue took as his model George Raft though God only knows LaRue played plenty of gangsters in his own career.For Heaven's Sake holds up very nicely after over 60 years and makes nice family viewing.

For those of you who haven't been able to find FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE and want to, look no further than the Fox Movie Channel -- the movie's on FMC as I type this! The movie itself is an odd but amiable comedy starring Clifton Webb as an angel going incognito as a rancher (Clifton Webb as an urbane, persnickety angel going rustic -- there's a mindbender for you! :-) to help theater folk Robert Cummings and Joan Bennett get over their self-absorption and start a family (feeling dizzy yet? :-). Although its tone is uneven, veering between hilarity and mawkishness, it's still watchable thanks to the great cast, particularly Webb, Edmund Gwenn as a fellow angel, and Gigi Perreau and Tommy Rettig as two kid angels who are growing up in Heaven because their parents-to-be keep putting off starting a family. I found the kid angels' part of the story to be the most touching and intriguing, with its concept of children who are already "old souls" when they're born, so they turn out to be "child prodigies" because they already know so much (Webb has a delightful grouchfest about that). Anyway, if you're a sucker for Clifton Webb and heartwarming dramedies where angels solve people's problems, keep your eye on your cable listings, or if your cable company doesn't carry the Fox Movie Channel, now might be a good time to bug them to pick it up! :-)

I remember this movie as a kid watching old movies on the independent station in Dallas. I would love to see it again but can't find it anywhere. Clifton Webb is hilarious as the angel. Bob Cummings was very popular at the time with his TV show "love that bob". I watched the movie because of him, but ended up not liking his character very much (i remember him being extremely selfish) But the harp-playing cowboy has stayed in my memory for 30 years. I don't remember anything about the kids other than they were growing older in heaven because their prospective parents kept putting off starting a family. If anyone knows where to find it please drop me a note

Great escapist fantasy, perfect 1950s era storyline and shooting. Clifton Webb couldn't be better as cowboy-playing angel trying to get this writer-couple to want a baby who's been waiting for parents.The acting, staging, storyline, acting all terrific, great fun, poignant, simple.