criterionforum.org

Here Comes Mr. Jordan



A sophisticated supernatural Hollywood comedy whose influence continues to be felt, Here Comes Mr. Jordan stars the eminently versatile Robert Montgomery as a working-class boxer and amateur aviator whose plane crashes in a freak accident. He finds himself in heaven but is told, by a wry angel named Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains), that his death was a clerical error, and that he can return to earth by entering the body of a corrupt (and about-to-be-murdered) banker—whose soul could use a transplant. Having inspired a sequel with Rita Hayworth and two remakes (the first starring Warren Beatty and the second Chris Rock), Alexander Hall's effervescent Here Comes Mr. Jordan is comic perfection.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New conversation between critic Michael Sragow and independent filmmaker Michael Schlesinger
• Audio interview from 1991 in which actor Elizabeth Montgomery discusses her father, actor Robert Montgomery
• Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Here Comes Mr. Jordan from 1942 starring Cary Grant, Claude Rains, Evelyn Keyes, and James Gleason
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme

Great film, but pretty slim extras for a title Criterion had to go out of their way for

I believe the audio interview as labeled here was actually a commentary track on the Crit laserdisc, no?

domino harvey wrote:I believe the audio interview as labeled here was actually a commentary track on the Crit laserdisc, no?

Maybe it was one of the halting, swiss cheese things that makes more sense edited down. If so, I'd much rather have it in that form.

domino harvey wrote:I believe the audio interview as labeled here was actually a commentary track on the Crit laserdisc, no?

It was presented as a commentary track on the laserdisc, but it was basically just an interview by Ronald Haver. I don't think it was scene-specific at all.

Jeff wrote:

domino harvey wrote:I believe the audio interview as labeled here was actually a commentary track on the Crit laserdisc, no?

It was presented as a commentary track on the laserdisc, but it was basically just an interview by Ronald Haver. I don't think it was scene-specific at all.

How long was the laser disc audio commentary?

What a wonderful film. Charming, funny, and bittersweet, it's a great romantic comedy bolstered by two pitch-perfect performances by Robert Montgomery and Claude Rains. Perhaps shamefully, I had no idea that this and Heaven Can Wait with Warren Beatty were based on the same play (I saw the latter when I was very young and only remembered its existence upon seeing the credit mention of the source in this film!). Not surprising that the basic story has been remade through the decades; it's timeless in nature and easily works in different modern settings.

I'll definitely second that the extras on this release feel a bit slim -- I'll try and forget about that by finally getting around to the other Montgomery film in the collection that I still haven't seen: last year's release of Ride the Pink Horse.

More than any other version this (fabulous version) has me shocked there was never a Quantum Leap type show based on the premise. It's also real eerie how identical Rains' performance is to Mason's. Also I have to imagine the title of this was changed from the play due to the Lubitsch film?