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directed by Ernst Lubitsch
USA 1943

 

Newly deceased playboy Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) presents himself to the outer offices of Hades, where he asks a bemused Satan for permission to enter the gates of Hell. Though the Devil doubts Henry’s sins will qualify him for eternal damnation, Henry proceeds to recount a lifetime spent wooing and pursuing women. Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture and Director, Heaven Can Wait is an enduring classic that showcases director Ernst Lubitsch’s trademark blend of wit, urbanity, and grace.

***

On the day of his death in 1943, the spirit of Henry Van Cleave (Don Ameche) obligingly heads for the place where so many people had previously told him to go. The immaculately dressed septuagenarian arrives at the outer offices of Hades, where he is greeted by His Excellency (Laird Cregar), the most courteous and gentlemanly Satan in screen history. His Excellency doubts that Van Cleave has sinned enough to qualify for entrance into Hades, but Henry insists that he's led the most wicked of lives, and proceeds to tell his story. Each milestone of Henry's life, it seems, has occurred on one of his birthdays. Upon reaching 15, Henry (played as a teenager by Dickie Moore) naively permits himself to get drunk with and be seduced by his family's French maid (Signe Hasso). At 21, Henry elopes with lovely Martha Strabel (Gene Tierney) stealing her away from her stuffy fiance Albert Van Cleve (Allyn Joslyn), Henry's cousin. At 31, Henry nearly loses Martha when, weary of his harmless extracurricular flirtations, she goes home to her boorish parents (Eugene Pallette and Marjorie Main). Henry's grandpa (Charles Coburn) orders the errant husband not to let so wonderful a girl as Martha get away from him. Henry once more declares his love to Martha, and she can't help but be touched by his boyish sincerity. Twenty years later, Henry, now a faithful and proper husband and father, attempts to charm a beautiful musical-comedy entertainer (Helen Walker) so that she'll forsake his young and impressionable son.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

 

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Theatrical Release: August 11th, 1943

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Comparison:

Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC LEFT

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

 

Box Cover

  

  

    

Distribution Criterion Collection - Spine # 291 - Region 1 - NTSC Criterion Collection - Spine # 291 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:52:16  1:52:46.217 
Video 1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.1 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

Disc Size:  48,198,908,892 bytes

Feature Size: 33,599,526,912 bytes

Average Bitrate: 35.55 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Bitrate: Blu-ray

Audio English (Dolby Digital 2.0)  LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles English, None English, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Criterion

Aspect Ratio:
Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1

Edition Details:

• New video conversation between film critics Molly Haskell and Andrew Sarris
• Creativity with Bill Moyers: A Portrait of Samson Raphaelson (1982), a 30-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
• Lubitsch home piano recordings
• Original theatrical trailer
• 8-page liner notes with essay by film scholar William Paul

DVD Release Date: June 14th, 2005

Keep Case
Chapters: 15

Release Information:
Studio: Criterion

 

Disc Size:  48,198,908,892 bytes

Feature Size: 33,599,526,912 bytes

Average Bitrate: 35.55 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:
• Conversation from 2005 between film critics Molly Haskell and Andrew Sarris (24:44)
• Episode from 1982 of Creativity with Bill Moyers exploring screenwriter Samson Raphaelson’s life and career (29:10)
• Audio seminar with Raphaelson and film critic Richard Corliss recorded at the Museum of Modern Art in 1977 (52:13, 44:27 + 18:13)
• Home recordings of director Ernst Lubitsch playing the piano (intro - 3:58, 4:32)
• Trailer (2:18) /
Gallery / Pressbook
PLUS: An essay by film scholar William Paul


Blu-ray  Release Date: August 21st, 2018
Black Blu-ray Case

Chapters: 14

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION - Criterion Blu-ray July 2018: Back in 2005 we noted (below) that the Criterion DVD (standard definition) could not fully capture the brilliance and depth of Heaven Can Wait's Technicolor. But the new 1080P, described as "New 4K digital restoration by Twentieth Century Fox and the Academy Film Archive in collaboration with The Film Foundation" certainly has given new life to the richness of the film's luminous color palette. This is a significant advancement over the DVD-rendering. It is tighter, has more detail, there is a notable amount of additional information in the 1.37:1 frame and the visuals even carry some depth. We see some minor teal and orange leaning but this is far less noticeable than some HD transfers of the past. The video presentation is marvelous in-motion with the colors being the most impressive attribute.

Audio goes linear PCM 1.0 channel (24-bit) in original English language and supports the film with the classical-based score credited to Alfred Newman (Panic in the Streets, Man Hunt, Cry of the City, The Diary of Anne Frank, Bus Stop, Blood and Sand, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Song of Bernadette) and Cyril J. Mockridge (Where the Sidewalk Ends, Thieves' Highway, Desk Set, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Dark Corner, My Darling Clementine, Nightmare Alley) . It sounds, predictably flat, clean and crisp in the uncompressed transfer. There are optional English subtitles on Criterion's Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

The Criterion Blu-ray appears to have all of the same extras as their 2005 DVD with the 25-minute conversation from between film critics Molly Haskell and Andrew Sarris recorded in January 2005. We also get the 1/2 hour episode from 1982 of Creativity with Bill Moyers exploring screenwriter Samson Raphaelson’s life and career plus there is an audio seminar with Raphaelson and film critic Richard Corliss recorded at the Museum of Modern Art in 1977 including an introduction, the conversation and an audience Q+A running over 2-hours in total. There are also the home recordings of director Ernst Lubitsch playing the piano with an intro by Nicola Lubitsch. There is also a trailer and stills gallery and pressbook seen via captures in a slideshow via the remote and the package has the same essay by film scholar William Paul.

This highly anticipated release has lived up to its deserved masterpiece film status with a stellar Blu-ray package from Criterion sporting a luminous HD transfer. Wow. It should get plenty of year-end votes in our Poll. This has our absolute highest recommendation.

***

ON THE DVD: It's tough to know for sure, but I have the feeling colors are a little 'off' at times on this release. I guess what I am referring to is consistency - hues can be bright one moment and a little washed out and dull the next. Perhaps its just my failing vision, but see the capture of the book followed by the conversation - one flat and the other luminous. Comments on possible reasons are offered to DVDBeaver from Daryl Chin HERE.

The image is, however, very sharp with some decent smatterings of film grain showing. Typically contrast is very good, as are subtitles and there are a bevy of extras included that Lubitsch aficionados will eat-up. I loved the film for more than Gene Tierney, which for me, is saying a bunch. out of    

Gary W. Tooze

 


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Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray



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Subtitle Sample

 

1) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC TOP

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

More Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Captures

 

Box Cover

  

  

    

Distribution Criterion Collection - Spine # 291 - Region 1 - NTSC Criterion Collection - Spine # 291 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 





 

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