Robert Montgomery stars as Joe Pendleton, a boxer quickly on his way to becoming champion. Hard-headed as ever, he insists that he fly his own plane to New York for training, much to the chagrin of his manager and trainer, Max Corkle (James Gleason). Unfortunately for Joe, his plane has trouble and begins bee-lining for the quickly approaching ground. An overzealous new angel (Edward Everett Horton) takes him before the plane hits, to spare him that terrible experience. Sadly enough, Joe was scheduled to die some 50 years later and would have survived the crash, so when the two get to heaven to sort out this mess, they both find that it is too late to return Joe to his body as he has already been cremated. Joe is understandably upset, but Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains) steps in to patch things up. He offers to find Joe an acceptable body, one comparable to the one essentially stolen from him. One that can make it to the championship!
The search begins, but no one seems good enough to satisfy Joe. Then they come to the home of grossly wealthy Mr. Bruce Farnsworth. Mr. Jordan tells Joe that Farnsworth’s wife (Rita Johnson) and his personal assistant Tony Abbott (John Emery) are currently murdering him in his bathtub and Joe has only moments to decide if this is the life he wants. Joe doesn’t want any part of that sordid love triangle and quickly wants out, but then in walks the vulnerable Bette Logan (Evelyn Keyes), daughter of a man wrongly imprisoned by Mr. Farnsworth’s dirty business deals. Joe is taken by Bette immediately and decides to stay and become Farnsworth, but only long enough to help Bette. Mr. Jordan leaves him to his work.
Needless to say, when the seemingly dead Farnsworth is suddenly alive again, his wife and her lover are quite disturbed. Joe, as Farnsworth, rights the wrongs and frees Bette’s dad, winning her heart in the meantime. He decides to stick around as Farnsworth and train his body to be the championship fighter that Joe was supposed to be, enlisting Max Corkle to help. At first, Max is more than skeptical, thinking Farnsworth to be a nutcase. But soon, through the help of Joe’s trusty saxophone, Max becomes convinced of Joe’s authenticity in the body of Max. Sadly, Mrs. Farnsworth and Mr. Abbott decide to finally do away with Farnsworth and his foolishness, seemingly ending Joe’s chance at happiness. But does the story end here? Of course not, but you need to see for yourself how it all shakes out at the end.
As I said earlier, Here Comes Mr. Jordan is a timeless classic, one that would do well to be added to anyone’s collection. It is filled with both adorable and heartwarming moments, plus a very hearty dose of comedy, and truly stands the test of time. Although it is a black and white film, and Joe uses the phrase “in the pink” a bit too much for my tastes (and Mr. Jordan’s too, actually), the movie is a wonderful example of old Hollywood film classics and is a must see. Highly recommended.
