I think that scene between Ameche and Tierney in the bookstore is a superbly light and yet totally serioud encapsulation of the level of high wit and threading-the-needle tone that Lubitsch had with actors, especially in a romantic misunderstanding kind of context - or, in this case, there isn't too much to not understand as Martha sees that this man Henry has a thing for her and tries to tell her no, but oh, he has poetry in him. But look how connected by a live wire Ameche and Tierney are to each other, and how the color of the scene, that vibrant purple that lines her hat, adds to the warmth and sensuality, which maybe is in place of what you could get away with then.
So, show just this scene to someone and you can sat "this is *the* Lubitsch scene, this is what he was concerned with, how people are attracted and yet one tries to fight that attraction and we are so entertained by that conflict, and he is just so great at and confident in directing as an artist). That said, if that were today, no way he wouldn't get into some trouble for hitting on her so hard like that, regardless he didnt work there. Hell (pun intended) that was already pushing up against the line of acceptable behavior in that time and place. Oh, and this is the woman his cousin is going to marry, so they call each other Cousin Henry and Cousin Martha (from Kansas, you won't mistake it as Tierny brilliantly sobs about it).
The first half of Heaven Can Wait is far more witty and light and leaning into things like double takes for Pallette, and it feels so enjoyable scene to scene. At first, I had the quibble (hard to call much in this a complaint) that Lubitsch and Raphaelson sprint through the marriage so we dont get to see much of Henry and Martha until there are the conflicts, like from ten years and then to another ten and... that is the point, aint it? In the third part of the film, as Henry grays and gets older and has his indiscretion - and witnesses as his son Jack gets into his own with a theater gal (his reaction when he tells old rounder Henry is a highlight) - the film surprisingly deepens with its theme of "Ive done this with my life and that, and... I'm a louse, aren't I?"
Maybe another actor could have taken this into an all-timer level pantheon, but no matter: Ameche's performance got better for me the longer the film went and the older and less confident about himself Henry gets (as Sarris says on the Criterion Dvd, he courted women but didnt follow through as much), and when he and Martha have their last scenes ("It's just a dizzy spell" was the equivalent of a small cough in those days for a character like her to soon have mysterious/deathly illness), and I liked the fact that the filmmakers make this a little more serious as the characters get older, though not so serious that we lose the "Lubtisch touch" of a lightness that is totally natural, punctuating a rather dramatic moment with a damn good line.
Heaven Can Wait is a wonderful, existential comedy that makes a sly commentary on upper class gentlemen without denying any humanity, or power to women.
So, show just this scene to someone and you can sat "this is *the* Lubitsch scene, this is what he was concerned with, how people are attracted and yet one tries to fight that attraction and we are so entertained by that conflict, and he is just so great at and confident in directing as an artist). That said, if that were today, no way he wouldn't get into some trouble for hitting on her so hard like that, regardless he didnt work there. Hell (pun intended) that was already pushing up against the line of acceptable behavior in that time and place. Oh, and this is the woman his cousin is going to marry, so they call each other Cousin Henry and Cousin Martha (from Kansas, you won't mistake it as Tierny brilliantly sobs about it).
The first half of Heaven Can Wait is far more witty and light and leaning into things like double takes for Pallette, and it feels so enjoyable scene to scene. At first, I had the quibble (hard to call much in this a complaint) that Lubitsch and Raphaelson sprint through the marriage so we dont get to see much of Henry and Martha until there are the conflicts, like from ten years and then to another ten and... that is the point, aint it? In the third part of the film, as Henry grays and gets older and has his indiscretion - and witnesses as his son Jack gets into his own with a theater gal (his reaction when he tells old rounder Henry is a highlight) - the film surprisingly deepens with its theme of "Ive done this with my life and that, and... I'm a louse, aren't I?"
Maybe another actor could have taken this into an all-timer level pantheon, but no matter: Ameche's performance got better for me the longer the film went and the older and less confident about himself Henry gets (as Sarris says on the Criterion Dvd, he courted women but didnt follow through as much), and when he and Martha have their last scenes ("It's just a dizzy spell" was the equivalent of a small cough in those days for a character like her to soon have mysterious/deathly illness), and I liked the fact that the filmmakers make this a little more serious as the characters get older, though not so serious that we lose the "Lubtisch touch" of a lightness that is totally natural, punctuating a rather dramatic moment with a damn good line.
Heaven Can Wait is a wonderful, existential comedy that makes a sly commentary on upper class gentlemen without denying any humanity, or power to women.