Taglines: Joe Pendleton… the only guy who ever raised Hell about going to Heaven.
Heaven Can Wait movie storyline. Joe Pendleton is a football quarterback, who has not been playing a great deal because of injuries. But now it appears he has fully recovered and the coach wants to make him the starting quarterback. But he goes out one day and an accident occurs and the next thing he knows he is on his way to heaven. But he convinces the man in charge, Mr. Jordan, that he isn’t suppose to be here and upon checking Mr.
Jordan discovers that he is right and tries to get him back into his body but his body has been cremated. Mr. Jordan tells him that they can put him in another man’s body provided that the man’s death has not been discovered. Mr. Jordan now shows him the body of Leo Farnsworth, who has just been killed by his wife and secretary.
Joe does not want to take Farnsworth’s body until a woman, Betty Logan, who has a problem with what Farnsworth’s business is doing to her home, insists on meeting him. Joe is now taken with her and would like to help her but can only do it if he assumes Farnsworth’s identity. And he does but unfortunately still acts like himself which perplexes everyone who knows Farnsworth especially his wife and secretary who are sure that they killed him and are on the edge of their seats wondering what he’s going to do.
Heaven Can Wait is a 1978 American fantasy-comedy film co-directed by Warren Beatty and Buck Henry about a young man (played by Beatty) being mistakenly taken to heaven by his guardian angel, and the resulting complications of how this mistake can be undone, given that his earthly body has been cremated. It was the second film adaptation of Harry Segall’s play of the same name, the first being Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941).
The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards. The cast includes Beatty, Julie Christie and Jack Warden, who had all appeared in Shampoo (1975). In 2001, a third film adaptation of the play was done, titled Down to Earth, sharing its name with the sequel to Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941).
The film won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Art Direction: Paul Sylbert and Edwin O’Donovan; Set Decoration: George Gaines), and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Warren Beatty), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Warden), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Dyan Cannon), Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Music, Original Score, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay (Elaine May and Warren Beatty).
About the Production
Warren Beatty initially wanted Muhammad Ali to play the central character, but because of Ali’s continued commitment to boxing, Beatty changed the character from a boxer to an American football player and played it himself. The type of instrument he played was also changed; in Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Pendleton assays “The Last Rose of Summer” on the alto saxophone, and in the 1978 film, he plays “Ciribiribin” on a soprano sax.
The music during the comic training scene with Joe and the servants at the Farnsworth mansion as well as the later training session with the Rams is Handel’s Sonata No. 3 in F Major, performed by Paul Brodie (sopranino saxophone) and Antonin Kubalek (piano). The main theme is the song “Heaven Can Wait” performed by Dave Grusin and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Neil Diamond composed a song titled “Heaven Can Wait” specifically for the film that he thought would be a good theme song, but Beatty declined to use it. The Paul McCartney and Wings song “Did We Meet Somewhere Before?” was considered as a theme song for the film, but was ruled out. It later appeared in the film Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979).
The Super Bowl game (Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Rams) was filmed during halftime of the San Diego Chargers vs. Los Angeles Rams preseason game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 1, 1977. (About a year and a half after the film’s release, in January 1980, the Rams and Steelers would meet in real life in Super Bowl XIV.)
The estate used as Farnsworth mansion was filmed at the Filoli Mansion, located at Canada Road, Woodside, off Highway 280 between San Francisco and San Jose, California. Another filming location, albeit brief, was at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles on the grounds beside the Gothic stone chapel in the scene where Joe discovers his body was cremated and scattered on the cemetery grounds. The football stadium used in the film was the home of the Los Angeles Rams team at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at 3911 South Figueroa Street, Exposition Park in Los Angeles.
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Directed by: Warren Beatty, Buck Henry
Starring: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Buck Henry, Vincent Gardenia, Jack Warden, Joseph Maher, Vincent Gardenia, Stephanie Faracy
Screenplay by: Elaine May, Warren Beatty
Production Design by: Paul Sylbert
Cinematography by: William A. Fraker
Film Editing by: Robert C. Jones, Don Zimmerman
Costume Design by: Richard Bruno
Set Decoration by: George Gaines
Art Direction by: Edwin O’Donovan
Music by: Dave Grusin
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: June 28, 1978
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