Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is a 1941 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Alexander Hall, in which a boxer, mistakenly taken to Heavenbefore his time, is given a second chance back on Earth. It stars Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains and Evelyn Keyes.

The film script, based on Harry Segall's play Heaven Can Wait, was written by Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller. The working titles for the film were Heaven Can Wait and Mr. Jordan Comes to Town.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan was followed by Down to Earth (1947), in which two of the actors reprised their roles. Warren Beatty remade it in 1978 as Heaven Can Wait. The premise of guardian angels was the focus of other Hollywoodfeatures, including I Married an Angel (1942); A Guy Named Joe (1943); Angel on My Shoulder (1946), in which Rains plays the Devil; It's a Wonderful Life(1946); The Bishop's Wife (1947) and Angels in the Outfield (1951), but it all began with Here Comes Mr. Jordan.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan was originally going to be released on VHS and Betamax in November 1979 as one of Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment's launch titles, but because of financial success of Midnight Express, the release was cancelled and Midnight Express took Here Comes Mr. Jordan's place in the launch lineup. Due to this, Columbia did not release the film on home video until 1985.

Plot

On May 11, 1941, boxer and amateur pilot Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery), affectionately known as "the Flying Pug", flies his small aircraft to his next fight in New York City, but crashes when a control cable severs. His soul is "rescued" by 7013 (Edward Everett Horton), an officious angel who assumed that Joe could not have survived. Joe's manager, Max "Pop" Corkle (James Gleason), has his body cremated. In the afterlife, the records show his death was a mistake; he was supposed to live for 50 more years. The angel's superior, Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains), confirms this, but since there is no more body, Joe will have to take over a newly dead corpse. Mr. Jordan explains that a body is just something that is worn, like an overcoat; inside, Joe will still be himself. Joe insists that it be someone in good physical shape, because he wants to continue his boxing career.

After Joe turns down several "candidates", Mr. Jordan takes him to see the body of a crooked, extremely wealthy banker and investor named Bruce Farnsworth, who has just been drugged and drowned in a bathtub by his wife Julia (Rita Johnson) and his secretary, Tony Abbott (John Emery). Joe is reluctant to take over a life so unlike his previous one, but when he sees the murderous pair mockingly berating Miss Logan (Evelyn Keyes), whose father's name has been misused by Farnsworth to sell worthless securities, he changes his mind and agrees to take over Farnsworth's body.

As Farnsworth, Joe repays all the investors and has Miss Logan's father exonerated. He sends for Corkle and convinces him that he is Joe (by playing his saxophone just as badly as he did in his previous incarnation). With Farnsworth's money to smooth the way, Corkle trains him and arranges a bout to decide who will next fight the current heavyweight champion, but Mr. Jordan returns to warn Joe that, while he is destined to be the champion, it cannot happen that way. Joe has just enough time to tell Miss Logan, with whom he has fallen in love, that if a stranger (especially if he is a boxer) approaches her, to give him a chance. Then he is shot by his secretary. While Joe returns to a ghostly existence, Farnsworth's body is hidden, with everyone believing Farnsworth has simply disappeared. Corkle hires a private investigator to find him.

Accompanied by Mr. Jordan, Joe goes to retrieve his lucky saxophone he left on Farnsworth's piano and finds the police conducting a group interrogation. Corkle, talking to himself, wanders the room looking for Joe or Mr. Jordan. Corkle has explained about Joe, Mr. Jordan and the body-switching, to the police detective (Donald MacBride) who thinks he is a nut. Joe manages to mentally nudge Corkle into turning on the radio to hear the championship fight and hears that Murdoch has collapsed from a slight grazing punch. Mr. Jordan reveals that the boxer was shot by gamblers because he refused to throw the fight. Joe takes over Murdoch's body and wins the title. Back at the mansion, Corkle hears one of the radio announcers mention a saxophone hanging by the ringside and seeing the saxophone gone from the room, realizes Joe has assumed Murdoch's body.

Corkle races down to the dressing room. There, Joe passes along information from Mr. Jordan that Farnsworth's body is in a refrigerator in the basement of the mansion. Corkle tells the detective, who promptly has Mrs. Farnsworth and the secretary arrested. As Murdoch, Joe fires his old, crooked manager and hires Corkle. Mr. Jordan reveals to Joe that this is his destiny; he can be Murdoch and live his life.

Healing the gunshot wound and at the same time removing Joe's memory of his past life, Mr. Jordan hangs around for a bit longer until Miss Logan arrives. She wanted to see Corkle, but runs into Murdoch instead. The pair feel they have met before. The two go off together, while Mr. Jordan smiles and says "So long, champ."