Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- Sorry, this item is not available in
- Image not available
- To view this video download Flash Player
Heaven Can Wait (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Purchase options and add-ons
Genre | Comedy |
Format | Subtitled, NTSC |
Contributor | Ernst Lubitsch, Don Ameche;Gene Tierney |
Language | English |
Runtime | 1 hour and 52 minutes |
Frequently bought together
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
- To Be or Not to Be (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]Jack BennyBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- Design for Living (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]Fredric MarchBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- The Awful Truth (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]Irene DunneBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- Trouble in Paradise (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]Kay FrancisDVDFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- Holiday (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]Katharine HepburnBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1
- Cluny Brown (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]Charles BoyerBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Monday, Apr 1Only 4 left in stock (more on the way).
Product Description
Deceased turn-of-the-century playboy Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) presents himself to the outer offices of Hades, where he asks a bemused Satan for permission to enter through the gates of hell. Though the devil doubts that Henry’s sins qualify him for eternal damnation, Henry proceeds to recount a lifetime of wooing and pursuing women, his long, happy marriage to Martha (Gene Tierney) notwithstanding. Ernst Lubitsch’s Heaven Can Wait, nominated for Academy Awards for best picture and director, is an enduring classic that showcases his trademark blend of wit, urbanity, and grace.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• New 4K digital restoration by Twentieth Century Fox and the Academy Film Archive in collaboration with The Film Foundation, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Conversation from 2005 between film critics Molly Haskell and Andrew Sarris
• Creativity with Bill Moyers: A Portrait of Samson Raphaelson (1982), a thirty-minute program exploring the screenwriter’s life and career
• Audio seminar with Raphaelson and film critic Richard Corliss recorded at the Museum of Modern Art in 1977
• Home recordings of director Ernst Lubitsch playing the piano
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar William Paul
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 0.01 ounces
- Director : Ernst Lubitsch
- Media Format : Subtitled, NTSC
- Run time : 1 hour and 52 minutes
- Release date : August 21, 2018
- Actors : Don Ameche;Gene Tierney
- Subtitles: : English
- Studio : Criterion Collection
- ASIN : B07D3Q9F2Q
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #15,694 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #1,273 in Comedy (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
Videos
Videos for this product
1:46
Click to play video
Heaven Can Wait
Merchant Video
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Ernst Lubitsch's tale of Henry who enters the His Excellency's domain while the Devil inquires what he can do for him. After a brief run-in with an acquaintance from the past His Excellency becomes curious about Henry's past, as he also lacks knowledge of Henry's identity. Thus, Henry begins his biography, which he shares with the His Excellency in the light of all the women in his life. The story begins with his mother and grandmother who began quarrelling about when and how much affection to give him as an infant. Henry continues to tell how he kept on running into women through his childhood and adolescence. All of the women were treated with affectionate and tender care while he kept his physical distance in order maintain the fashionable moral conduct of the 1870s in New York City. This is a moral conduct that Martin Scorsese offers an intimate illustration of in his The Age of Innocence (1993), where marriage because of love was thought of a vulgar and indecent act.
Henry was growing up amidst the time of Victorian repression when it was fashionable to have a title and etiquette fit for a gentleman. However, as a teen Henry was no gentleman according to the rules of Victorian etiquette at the time. He kissed girls and befriended the family's French maid who also taught him how to drink wine and speak French. A little more than a decade later he met the love of his life, but it also meant that he had to struggle with all the rules of the Victorian etiquette, as he married the girl who he fell in love with who also was engaged. At the time, when the Heaven Can Wait was shot the strict codes of the Catholic Legion of Decency still ruled what was appropriate and inappropriate on the American film front. The Victorian moral codes were similar in their intentions to the policies of the Catholic Legion of Decency and Lubitsch flirted with the line of what was inappropriate in a very intentional manner through his character Henry in the film that does not follow the strict codes of his time. Indirectly and maybe unintentionally, Lubitsch was challenging the censorship policies of the country, as they were absurd and limited what many filmmakers and artists could express through the medium of cinema.
Lubitsch, born in German, and was invited to make films in Hollywood in 1922. More than a decade later the Nazi's wiped out his German citizenship, which forced him to stay in the United States. However, he continued to express his concerns with society, which he did with witty subtlety in more than one way in Heaven Can Wait. The film deals with interesting social moral codes inherited from sanctimonious sources that never have been questioned. In the light of freedom, Lubitsch expresses his idea that these rules often restrict people from fully being able to express themselves. Yet, it is within the fear of breaking these rules that he brings out the humor in a timely and brilliant manner. Maybe, Lubitsch's foreign perspective enhanced his ability to visualize some of the awkwardness within the American society, as this cinematic experience challenges the audience to reflect on what is right and wrong, instead of blindly following what has been stated a rule.
All the other actors shine in their roles. Gene Tierney is subtle, versatile and graceful as Ameche's wife. It is a mystery to me why she is sometimes singled out as mediocre. She has some very complex dialogue which she delivers faultlessly, her timing is excellent and she ages very convincingly. Charles Coburn as grandpa has the best lines, Signe Hasso as a French maid steals every scene in which she appears and Eugene Pallete as Tierney's father-in-law, Mr Strable, is very funny. There is a memorable scene between Pallette and harridan wife Marjorie Main at their breakfast table which ranks as one of the funniest scenes ever. The great Laird Cregar creates a superbly ambiguous and attractive devil and lastly, special mention of Allyn Joslyn as cousin Albert. Watch his straight back and smug grins. This is brilliant comic acting.
Two criticisms - the film sags after the Gene Tierney character dies and the 1940s styled lacquered cuties who appear make us long for Tierney's grace and poise. Samson Raphaelson, who wrote the film, comments on how the film loses momentum at this point in his interviews. Finally,the wig which Tierney wears as a middle aged woman is just plain weird.
The DVD offers a perfect print with glorious Fox technicolour, overstuffed sets and the usual high standard of photography. The extras focus mainly on the director Ernst Lubitsch and the writer Samson Raphaelson. First off is a discussion of the film by 2 critics. While they are able to provide some interesting background information, they tend to interrupt each other and come across as eager fans rather than commentators. The effect was irritating. Molly Haskell, in particular, is pretentious, always looking for a feminist angle if possible.
The interviews with Samson Raphaelson are unusual. One of the interviews is really a lecture to film students so you have to concentrate hard to follow his train of thought. His comments are at their best when he dismisses loaded questions about the motivation of Lubitsch and himself e.g. Lubitsch's use of doors. As Raphaelson says, if an actor leaves a set, it is 99% likely to be through a door - end of discussion!
There is also a charming monologue from Lubitsch's daughter about growing up in a house full of music. This is followed by some wonderful photos from her personal albums with some accompanying tunes played by Lubitsch himself on the piano. The music is upbeat and in combination with the photos, you get a very personal insight into their lives. She has also provided a copy of the film's original pressbook which is dry and ironic in the best Lubitsch sense.
Overall, this is another excellent comprehensive Criterion package which would have been improved by a good commentary to replace that dumb conversation between the film critics.
Top reviews from other countries
Im very disappointed as it wasn't cheap and now Ive got to go to all the effort of returning it. A huge pain in the A.
Note if theres no code written in the blurb about then product on Amazon just don't buy it. save yourself the pain.