Heaven Can Wait (1943) Ernst Lubitsch

Heaven Can Wait (1943), by Ernst Lubitsch starts in the luxurious waiting room of Hell where we meet Henry Van Cleve and he tells “His Excellency” the story of his debauched life and his certainty about his fate.  Henry starts off a spoiled baby and grows into a selfish pre-teen.  When his family hires a French maid, she introduces him to drink and then he keeps sliding further and further down the ladder until he meets his cousin’s fiancé and just knows he must have her for himself.  He is, of course, successful and so begins his long marriage to Martha.  They also have a spoiled son, but with Martha for a mother he is also very sweet.  While Henry is a dirty stomp-around, you can also tell that there is a lot of love in his heart.  Will the devil see it too?

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