One of the most delightful fantasy movies ever made, "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" is pure heaven in every sense of the word. It is often ecstatically funny and expertly performed. Not a single wasted frame or emotion to be found, this is one of those rare fantasy movies I would call flawless.
Robert Montgomery is the "Flying Pug," a boxer known as Joe Pendleton. One fine day, he flies a small plane and accidentally plummets to the ground. He's dead but he wasn't supposed to die and his soul was taken to heaven prematurely. This irks Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains - absolutely fabulous), who is the chief of angels I gather and assists the poor young man. Joe insists it was not supposed to happen this way and the newly hired angel named Messenger 7013 (Edward Everett Horton) made a mistake retrieving his soul. So, under the orders of Mr. Jordan, Joe returns to Earth assuming another body, that of wealthy Mr. Farnsworth who has just been drowned in his bathtub by his wife and the husband's secretary. The plot picks up speed when Bette Logan (Evelyn Keyes) pleads for her father to be sprung from jail after Mr. Farnsworth had him incarcerated. Mr. Farnsworth, now Joe, emerges from the bathroom to the ground floor understandably shocking his wife and the secretary. Joe is smitten with Bette and makes the decision to free her father quickly (all this so that Joe can inhabit the body of another boxer in Australia!)
Everything in "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" comes as a delectable surprise and it is constructed with utmost care and shows tremendous pathos in its characters, thanks to screenwriters Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller. Montgomery shows such a flair for comic timing and such humanity that I was floored by his Joe character - you get the impression that he wants to make the world a better place and Mr. Jordan can see that clearly. Rains' Jordan is such a welcomely inventive character in that he sees hope in Joe's eyes and that the human race could benefit from Joe's ambitions. Spiritually occupying one body after another, I wouldn't be surprised if "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" inspired TV's "Quantum Leap." Also worth noting is Joe's manager, Max "Pop" Corkle (Oscar-nominated James Gleason), who brings every note of desperation and disbelief in equal measure - it takes some convincing for Joe to prove he's inside Farnsworth's body to Max. Evelyn Keyes is a heavenly sight as Bette who senses there is more to Mr. Farnsworth than she thought. All the performances are tied to such a touching, tender ending that it made my heart melt. "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" is a miraculous achievement.
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