Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Starring: Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains, Evelyn Keyes
Director: Alexander Hall

I was busy on Sims earlier on today when I caught site of the TV times, and what should be on BBC 2? Nothing but a Claude Rains film!

The title 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan' made me die, just a little, inside. Being used to titles like 'Dracula' and 'The Old Dark House' I knew this'd be a change from the norm for me which wasn't nessecarily a good thing, as, with the three Claude Rains films I already have under my belt, Casablanca, The Invisible Man and The Phantom of the Opera, as fantastic as they are, there's always a really, really, REALLY annoying woman; Ingrid Bergman, Una O'Conner and Susanna Foster's dialogue.

But onto the plot:
The story follows Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery), a boxer who, when on a joyride in an aeroplane decides it would be a good idea to play his saxophone. Now I’ve written some strange things in my time, but that is one of the weirdest. Anyway, distracted from the controls, Joe loses control of the plane and crashes.
His soul is taken from his body and “rescued” by 7013, an angel who is new on the job, who assumed that because of the crash, Pendleton couldn’t have survived which seems pretty likely to me as nosedives at blankity mph into the floor normally don't end too cheerfully, but I'm willing to roll with miricle circumstances. 7013 takes Joe to a plane, which I assume takes the dead to heaven, which is manned by Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains who looks quite out of place standing with two skyscrapers standing next to him). When checking the records, 7013 says that he isn’t due to die for another 50 years, which Mr. Jordan confirms. 7013 takes Joe back to Earth only to find Joe’s body has been moved, it’s not long before they discover Joe’s trainer, Max Corkle (James Gleason, a middle-aged looking bald bloke who doesn't look like he's boxed in his life) has had it cremated. Idiot. This could be a problem, having no body and all.
7013 quickly takes Joe back to the ever-helpful Mr. Jordan, who explains that Joe will have to take over a newly dead body. I wonder what the spirit's in heaven'll think about that? Pendleton insists that the person’ll have to be in good shape or “In the pink” as he says about 50 times during the whole movie “That is becoming a rather redundant colour, please don’t say it again,” Mr. Jordan tells him but he’s back saying it by the end of the movie, which really made me need to smack my head into something a few times. Honestly, if I ever hear an American say pink again, I'll explode. Another annoying thing is that Joe brought his saxophone to heaven with him; he may as well have brought a dying goat for the noise it makes.
Joe turns down quite a few candidates until Mr. Jordan takes him to visit Bruce Farnsworth, a wealthy, crooked bank-investor. If he had so much money, why didn't he change his name? Really, Farnsworth? Farnsworth’s wife, Julia (Rita Johnson) and his secretary, Tony Abbott (John Emery) have just drowned him in his bath. Joe’s not too keen on taking over such a different life with such a wife, but when he sees the two mocking Miss Logan (Evelyn Keyes in the proto-type cheesy, pretty girl role) the daughter of a financer, he changes his mind. Weed.
As Farnsworth, Joe sorts his life out and then sends for his manager, Corkle, who he convinces that he’s Joe by playing his dying goat saxophone. Corkle begins training Joe again, getting him ready for a fight against the boxer, Murdock, who Joe was originally set to fight. Mr. Jordan and 7013 appear again to warn Joe that he can’t keep Farnsworth’s body. He ignores them, but warns Miss Logan, who he’s fallen in love with incredibly quickly to look out for ‘his eyes’ in a fighter’s body. Turns out Joe is a melon-headed idiot, no surprise there, as he gets shot by his secretary soon after.
After a long period of searching for a new body, Mr. Jordan and Joe visit the Farnsworth house where the occupants are being questioned as to the whereabouts of Bruce who has “disappeared”, also known as being stuffed in a fridge. Corkle explains to the private investigator about Joe, Mr. Jordan and the body-swapping and, despite not being able to see, hear, touch etc. him, a little nudging from Joe, turns on the prize-fight between Murdock and Gilbert. During the fight, Murdock collapses without being touched, much to everyone’s shock. Mr. Jordan reveals to Joe that he’s just been shot for refusing to throw the fight. Quickly, Joe takes over his body and wins the fight with what looks like fists-of-fury. Back at the mansion, Corkle hears from the announcer that a saxophone has appeared at the side of the ring, evidently there wasn’t too much going on at the time, realizes that Joe’s found a new body and heads down to Murdock’s dressing room. There, Joe tells Corkle where Farnsworth’s body is hidden. Corkle tells the detective, who has Mrs. Farnsworth and the secretary arrested. As Murdock, Joe fires his old, crooked manager and hires Corkle, who, come to think of it, lso has a stupid name. Mr. Jordan tells 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 Murdock instead. The pair think they have met before. The two go off together, while Mr. Jordan smiles over another job well done and says "So Long, Champ”.

Evelyn Keyes who played Miss Logan's career lasted from 1938-1993. 55 years! All in all she lived a very fruitful 92 years, which isn't a bad life span, really.

In this very complicated storyline is a generally great film that’s very enjoyable. I don’t think I’d call it the best classic comedy, as I laughed more at Casablanca, but then again I do have a strange sense of humour. Though it takes a lot of death-defying liberties and generally has a mad beginning, it is a fantasy film I suppose and is definitely worth a watch, though I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it. All in all? I think I’d give it a 3 ½ out of 5.

Stupidity Time: