Home > 1950 - 1959 > For Heaven's Sake
For Heaven's Sake
Year - 1950
Studio - 20th Century Fox
Stars - Clifton Webb, Joan Bennett, Robert Cummings, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Blondell, Gigi Perreau, Jack La Rue, Harry von Zell, Tommy Rettig
Director - George Seaton
Writing Credits - George Seaton, Dorothy Segall (play), Harry Segall (play)
Music - Alfred Newman
Synopsis
Two angels, Charles (Clifton Webb) and Arthur (Edmund Gwenn) descend to Earth, with a mission to return an unborn girl, Item, (Gigi Perreau) to Heaven because it appears unlikely she will ever be conceived by her would-be parents, Jeff Bolton (Robert Cummings) and Lydia Bolton (Joan Bennett). He is a successful Broadway producer, she an actress, who are too caught up in their careers to have children.
Charles schemes that he will materialize to human form, and pretend to be a potential backer ("angel") to one of Jeff's productions, so that he can influence the married couple's relationship in a positive direction. He poses as a rich Texas sheep rancher, Slim,studying for the role by watching Gary Cooper in The Westerner. When Jeff is frustrated by his lack of success in getting Charles to actually write a check, he brings in the play's writer, the sultry Daphne Peters (Joan Blondell) to try to close the deal. Although Charles continues to be coy about financial backing, another rich Texan, Henry (Harry von Zell) arrives. He and Charles cut cards to determine who will back the play, with the winner also paying the loser $10,000. Henry wins the contest, and Charles gets the loser's payment.
Charles becomes an out-of-control big spender with his new found wealth. He is followed by a suspicious IRS agent to a nightclub, where the drunken Charles tells him that he's not only never paid income taxes, but that he's an angel about to return to Heaven. He is committed to an asylum, and he is unable to dematerialize to his angelic state. But Arthur and Item arrive to assist him make the change.
With their play's financial backing secured, the Bolton's relationship improves, and Lydia announces that she is pregnant. At the hospital nine months later, the two angels sit invisibly with Item, awaiting her "birth". She vanishes the moment the baby's cry is heard in the delivery room, and Charles enters the room to assume the role of her guardian angel.
Trailer
For Heaven's Sake was based on a play by Harry Segall, who also wrote the play, "Heaven Can Wait", upon which Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Down to Earth and Heaven Can Wait were based. He also wrote the screenplay for Angel on My Shoulder.