Heaven Can Wait

Top 10 Fun Facts

1. Although it shares its name with a 1943 film starring Don Ameche and Gene Tierney, Warren Beatty's version of Heaven Can Wait is actually a remake of the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan. At least he didn't call it Gone with the Wind.
2. The remake train doesn't stop there: Chris Rock starred in a 2001 adaptation called Down to Earth-which is not to be confused with the 1947 Rita Hayworth movie. (Seriously, it never ends.)
3. Life imitates art: in Heaven Can Wait, the Rams take on the Steelers in the Super Bowl. A year and a half after the film's release, the Rams did indeed face the Steelers in Super Bowl XIV. As for the outcome, let's just say it's a good thing Warren Beatty wasn't up against MVP Terry Bradshaw in the movie.
4. Mind if we borrow your fans? The Super Bowl scenes were filmed at halftime during a Rams/Chargers pre-season game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
5. Co-writer/director Warren Beatty initially conceived the lead as a boxer instead of a quarterback-but when Muhammed Ali turned down the part, Beatty switched sports and opted to pick up the pigskin himself.
6. Ali wasn't the only big name to turn down a part; Beatty tried to coax Cary Grant out of retirement for the role of Mr. Jordan, but the screen legend wouldn't bite. Grant's North by Northwest co-star James Mason took the role instead.
7. Warren Beatty and his co-director Buck Henry scored an Oscar nomination-only the third time in history that a directing team has been nominated. The other two were Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for West Side Story, and Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men-and in both cases, the directors took home the Academy Award. Sorry about that, Warren and Buck.
8. Warren Beatty has more Oscar trivia up his sleeve thanks to Heaven Can Wait; he's the only person to be nominated for four different Academy Awards in the same year twice. After going 0 for 4 at the 1979 ceremony, Beatty pulled in four more nominations (including one win) a few years later as writer, producer, director and star of Reds.
9. Continuity crazies: the candle on Joe's birthday cake slowly goes out, but in the next shot it's happily flickering away again. Although we suppose it could have been one of those ultra-fancy trick candles.
10. Cub reporter cameo: then-NFL sportscaster Bryant Gumbel makes an uncredited appearance on the sidelines. And if you squint real hard, one of the offensive linemen looks a little like Katie Couric.

Cast

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