Movie · 1943 · Comedy, Romance, Fantasy, Drama · 1h 52m · NR · English
Curator score: 8.3/10 (13.6K ratings)
He believed in Love… Honor… and Obey – That Impulse!
Overview
Spoiled playboy Henry van Cleve dies and arrives at the entrance to Hell, a final destination he is sure he deserves after living a life of profligacy. The devil, however, isn't so sure Henry meets Hell's standards. Convinced he is where he belongs, Henry recounts his life's deeds, both good and bad, including an act of indiscretion during his 25-year marriage to his wife, Martha, with the hope that "His Excellency" will arrive at the proper judgment.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.3/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Ernst Lubitsch
Production
20th Century Fox
Cast
Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, Charles Coburn, Marjorie Main, Laird Cregar, Spring Byington, Allyn Joslyn, Eugene Pallette, Signe Hasso, Louis Calhern, Helene Reynolds, Aubrey Mather, Tod Andrews, Florence Bates, Scotty Beckett, Clara Blandick, Leonard Carey, James Conaty, Jack Deery, Claire Du Brey
Where to watch
fuboTV
Curator Review
Verdict
A witty, bittersweet Lubitsch comedy that turns a cad’s afterlife confession into something surprisingly tender. Its charm comes from elegant dialogue, moral mischief, and a humane view of flawed people, even if the romantic and gender politics can feel dated.
Best for
fans of classic Hollywood comedy
viewers who like bittersweet romance
people interested in pre-Code-adjacent moral playfulness
Lubitsch devotees
audiences open to old-fashioned pacing and style
Skip if
you want fast modern comedy
you dislike stories centered on infidelity
you prefer clearly moralized characters
you need constant visual spectacle
you are impatient with 1940s studio-era rhythms
Overview
Heaven Can Wait is one of those classic Hollywood films that seems light on its feet until you realize how much it has smuggled in. Ernst Lubitsch uses a devil’s waiting room premise to stage a sly, humane argument about desire, marriage, vanity, and the strange ways people justify themselves. The result is funny, polished, and more emotionally generous than its premise suggests.
Worth noting
What lingers most is the film’s tone: amused but never cruel, romantic but not naïve. Don Ameche gives Henry enough charm to make the confession game work, while Gene Tierney and Charles Coburn help anchor the movie’s warmth and elegance. The film’s famous Lubitsch touch is very much present in the way it lets implication do the work.
Bottom line
It is also a film with some friction. Its treatment of gender and fidelity can feel comfortably old-fashioned or frustratingly permissive depending on your tolerance for the era’s moral double standards. But even that tension is part of why it remains interesting: it’s a glossy comedy that keeps revealing a melancholy core.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sean Gilman (5★) · 292 likes
That thing where Ernst Lubitsch makes you laugh hysterically for 90 minutes and then rips your heart out.
wersku (3★) · 247 likes
Lighthearted life story that shows things as they are, not as they should be. A bit stiff, but charming in its own way.
And its charm comes from the way this romantic comedy tells its own story. You can sense a slightly dull or maybe a bit tiresome quality in it, but even though it’s a peculiar whole, its own realistic weight with its interesting setting is the most important thing because that’s what makes this a deeply human story… more
theriverjordan (4★) · 198 likes
Lubitschland finally gets an address. And is there any surprise that it’s on 5th Avenue?
For Ernst Lubitsch, a director who built his distinct style around the conjuring of lush worlds in kingdoms (and one queendom) out of time and place, “Heaven Can Wait” is a story distinct to its fixed point in both. New York City. Turn of the century.
And the stakes of the plot? Determine whether its playboy protagonist will spend eternity in either heaven or hell. … more
Sally Jane Black · 187 likes
I wonder how the Catholic church felt about this one. It essentially asserts that serial adultery is not a mortal sin--a nicer way to say it is that it says that love trumps infidelity in the eyes of the Devil, perhaps--which is somehow not listed as a source of controversy on the Wikipedia page for this (I really thought it would be scandalous, so I looked it up). Instead, this got nominated for Academy Awards. Not that I entirely mind.… more I wonder how the Catholic church felt about this one. It essentially asserts that serial adultery is not a mortal sin--a nicer way to say it is that it says that love trumps infidelity in the eyes of the Devil, perhaps--which is somehow not listed as a source of controversy on the Wikipedia page for this (I really thought it would be scandalous, so I looked it up). Instead, this got nominated for Academy Awards. Not that I entirely mind.… more
Lara Pop (4★) · 152 likes
Lubitsch is underrated at melodrama. Much like his rapid-fire comedies, his forays into drama likewise work on such a profound level because of his one quality they all draw from: his understanding of human relationships. Be it about the process of falling in love (The Shop Around the Corner) or about the everyday tussles of sharing a home with someone (Design for Living), Lubitsch understands the dynamics between the two sides. He knows his characters and thus is able to… more Lubitsch is underrated at melodrama. Much like his rapid-fire comedies, his forays into drama likewise work on such a profound level because of his one quality they all draw from: his understanding of human relationships. Be it about the process of falling in love (The Shop Around the Corner) or about the everyday tussles of sharing a home with someone (Design for Living), Lubitsch understands the dynamics between the two sides. He knows his characters and thus is able to… more