Heaven Can Wait

"Joe Pendleton... the only guy who ever raised Hell about going to Heaven."

1978 1h 41m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 459

FantasyComedyRomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Joe Pendleton is a quarterback preparing to lead his team to the superbowl when he is almost killed in an accident. An overanxious angel plucks him to heaven only to discover that he wasn't ready to die, and that his body has been cremated. A new body must be found, and that of a recently-murdered millionaire is chosen. His wife and accountant—the murderers—are confused by this development, as he buys the L.A. Rams in order to once again quarterback them into the Superbowl.

“Joe Pendleton... the only guy who ever raised Hell about going to Heaven.”

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Cast

Warren Beatty
Joe Pendleton
Julie Christie
Betty Logan
James Mason
Mr. Jordan
Jack Warden
Max Corkle
Charles Grodin
Tony Abbott
Dyan Cannon
Julia Farnsworth
Buck Henry
The Escort
Vincent Gardenia
Krim

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Buck Henry
Writers: Elaine May, Warren Beatty
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

48 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Buck Henry, shot by William A. Fraker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dave Grusin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert C. Jones shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Warren Beatty and Julie Christie and James Mason carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Joe Pendleton... the only guy who ever raised Hell about going to Heaven.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0077663 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Buck Henry directs. William A. Fraker behind the camera. Dave Grusin scores. Robert C. Jones cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 6.6× over at the box office.
248 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Buck Henry, shot by William A. Fraker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Dave Grusin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Robert C. Jones shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Warren Beatty and Julie Christie and James Mason carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Joe Pendleton... the only guy who ever raised Hell about going to Heaven.".
8IMDB entry: tt0077663 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "infidelity", "sports", "afterlife", "american football".

The technical file

Cinematography: William A. Fraker
Original score: Dave Grusin
Editing: Robert C. Jones
Production design: Paul Sylbert
Costume design: Theadora Van Runkle
Makeup / hair: Lee Harman
Sound: John Wilkinson
Stunt coordinator: Craig R. Baxley
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $98,800,000
Return: 659% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Production Design

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Buck Henry

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-11-23
★ 6/10
Maybe Warren Beatty was also a fan of Powell & Pressburger as this has shades of "Matter of Life and Death" (1946) to it. Rather than a fighter pilot though, it's quarter-back "Joe" (Beatty) who is erroneously selected to take the Concorde to heaven. He protests to supremo "Jordan" (James Mason) who discovers that his new charge is still supposed to have another fifty-odd years with his mortal coil. OK, let's just put him back. Ah, well no - he has already been cremated. That's just one jigsaw puzzle too much, even for the celestial. "Jordan" decides that he can borrow the body of someone next in the queue, and he settles on millionaire industrialist "Farnsworth". This man has more enemies that he'd care to count, not least his scheming wife (Dyan Cannon) and the pesky British campaigner "Betty" (Julie Christie) who is adamant that her local village isn't going to be demolished to make way for an oil refinery. Now safely ensconced his new body, he only has thoughts of going back to playing ball - only now he can afford to actually buy a team. Re-uniting with coach "Max" (Jack Warden) whom he manages to convince of his true identity, we now embark on a gentle comedy that extols the virtues of team building and environmentally aware business practice. Cannon steals this as the plotting spouse, but Mason doesn't really make much impact and otherwise it's all just a rather blandly predictable offering that has it's moments but just not enough of them. Watchable, though, on a wet afternoon if it's on the telly.

Production companies