Blu-ray Review: HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, A Heavenly Addition To The Criterion Collection

Part screwball comedy, part supernatural mystery, and part fable, Alexander Hall's Here Comes Mr. Jordan is one of the most enduring films of Hollywood's golden age between the Great Depression and the emergence of the new Hollywood in the '50s.

This story of an up-and-comer who finds himself down-and-out at the hands of a mischievous agent of the hereafter is universally relatable, as it teaches the viewer about his own desires and expectations and just how silly it can be to try to plan away misery. As the old saying goes, life is what happens while we're busy making plans, and no one learns that lesson quite like Joe Pendleton.

Pendleton is a boxer on the rise, the Flying Pug they call him (short for Pugilist), who is on the cusp of a title bout when his hobby plane suddenly takes a dive on the way to his next match. Suddenly Joe finds himself in the hands of Messenger 7013, a new kid to the soul gathering game, who has accidentally plucked Joe's soul from his body a split second before his body actually died. This is a big no-no in the afterlife, and when Mr. Jordan – 7013's boss and a man capable of miracles – hears about it, he's determined to give Joe the second chance at life he was destined for all along.

Mr. Jordan instructs Joe that he can choose from any body on the brink of death to inhabit and try again, he just can't return to his own. When Joe asks why, he finds out that his manager, a nebbish little sentimental man named Max Corkle, has had it cremated so there's no “Joe” to return to. Pendleton accepts this and the pair go on the hunt for an acceptable replacement, but Joe is a picky man, his mortal body was, after all, “in the pink.” 

When Mr. Jordan suggests the body of a less-than-honest businessman on the brink of being murdered, Joe is not very enthusiastic about the tradfe until he witnesses a wrong that he can right by inhabiting the crooked corpse of Bruce Farnsworth and he goes for it. Only things get very complicated when the beautiful and kind Bette turns out to be more alluring that he was expecting and he decides to ride out the Farnsworth life and gets more than he expected.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan came out right after the peak of the screwball comedy boom in 1941, just before America found itself mired in World War II, and it retains a bit of that optimism that made late '30s films so fun. Even though the story is definitely one full of adult themes – death, vengeance, murder, infidelity, and more – the dialogue and cadence of the characters ensures that viewers of all ages can get something from it, even when some of the darker humor goes over their heads. The bright and snappy performances of all of the actors are wonderful to watch, and the film's ninety-four minute runtime seems to be over in a flash.

There are two real stars of the film, and both are absolutely astonishing to watch in their own ways. Robert Mongomery, who plays Joe Pendleton, was a veteran of top hat and tie movies and Thin Man rip offs through the thirties. His performance as the New York tough making good is miles from the upper crust roles he was used to.

However, it is the imminently charming Claude Rains as Mr. Jordan who really steals the show with the the demeanor of a man who understands his role and understands that no matter how hard to try to mold life to be what you want, it will always be what it is. Rains is superb in this role, his devlish charm as an angel is entirely convincing. He is masterful as he cleverly leads Joe into making all the right decisions, even as Joe thinks they are all his own ideas.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is a film that is universal and timeless. Unlike so many films today that will be dated by technology, pop culture references, and all too topical jokes, Mr. Jordan lives in any time, and that's what makes films from this era so special. Director Hall never allows a dull moment in the film, and with great performances from Montgomery and Rains, along with excellent support in James Gleason as Corkle and the beautiful Evelyn Keyes as Bette, it's hard to go wrong. I loved this film, and I wish they still made them like this.

The Disc:

As one might expect from the Criterion Collection, Here Comes Mr. Jordan on Blu-ray is an excellent presentation of an excellent film. The video quality of the film certainly eclipses previous DVD editions, though there is some brightness flickering during the opening titles and from time to time the 2K transfer does show cracking in the film, but with a film this old, it's hard to avoid. Apart from that, the black and white photography looks excellent, even if the cinematography is less than adventurous. The uncompressed mono audio track does an amazing job with the jaunty dialogue and we are provided with English subtitles.

While there are several worthwhile extras, the most enjoyable for me was definitely a conversation between film critic Micheael Sragow and distributor Micheal Schlesinger. These two gentlemen share an obvious fondness not only for the film, but also old Hollywood in general that is infectious. They mix their conversation between scholarly talk of the film's place in history and their own personal recollections and feelings about the film and the small cottage industry of sequels and remakes that it spawned. It's a lively half-hour conversation that is well worth the time.

In addition to that there is a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the plan starring Cary Grant in the Robert Montgomery role, along with much of the film's cast. Lastly there is an audio interview with actress Elizabeth Montgomery, daughter of Robert, from 1991 where she discusses her father's work, coincidentally recorded in the year that Pendleton was pre-destined to pass along in the film. Close it out with an excellent essay by Farron Smith Nehme (in the new, unfortunate fold-out insert that Criterion has moved to) and it's definitely a film and package worth owning. I'd give this one a definite recommendation.