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	~~{{short description\|1963 film}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=June 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = Heavens Above!		\| name = Heavens Above!

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en>Philip Cross: ce

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{{short description|1963 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Heavens Above!
| image = Heavens Above! movie poster.jpeg
| border = yes
| caption =
| director = [[John Boulting]] [[Roy Boulting]]
| producer = [[John Boulting]] [[Roy Boulting]]
| writer = [[Frank Harvey (English screenwriter)|Frank Harvey]]
| starring = [[Peter Sellers]] [[Cecil Parker]] [[Isabel Jeans]] [[Eric Sykes]] [[Bernard Miles]] [[Ian Carmichael]] [[Irene Handl]] [[Roy Kinnear]] [[Miriam Karlin]] [[Brock Peters]]
| music = [[Richard Rodney Bennett]]
| cinematography = [[Mutz Greenbaum]]
| editing = Teddy Darvas
| studio = Charter Film Productions [[Romulus Films]]
| distributor = [[British Lion Films]] {{small|(UK)}}
| released = {{film date|df=y|1963|05|23|UK<ref name=Times>The Times, 23 May 1963, page 6, Film review: [http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=kenlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS101803191&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 ''A Serious Film Comedy Gone Wrong - Heavens Above!''] - found in The Times Digital Archive 2014-03-15</ref>}}
| runtime = 113 min.
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
'''''Heavens Above!''''' is a 1963 [[United Kingdom|British]] [[satirical]] [[comedy film]] starring [[Peter Sellers]], directed by [[John and Roy Boulting]], who also co-wrote along with [[Frank Harvey (English screenwriter)|Frank Harvey]], from an idea by [[Malcolm Muggeridge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6ac0639d|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712173038/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6ac0639d|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-12|title=Heavens Above! (1963)|work=BFI}}</ref> It is in a similar vein to the earlier collaboration between Sellers, Harvey and the Boultings, ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/77642/Heavens-Above-/articles.html|title=Heavens Above! (1963) - Articles - TCM.com|work=Turner Classic Movies}}</ref>

==Plot==

A naive but caring prison chaplain, John Smallwood (Sellers), is accidentally assigned as [[vicar]] to the small and prosperous English country town of Orbiston Parva, in place of an upper-class cleric (Carmichael) with the same name, who is favoured by the Despard family, who practically run the town and operate a large factory there.

Smallwood's belief in [[Charity (virtue)|charity]] and [[forgiveness]] sets him at odds with the locals, whose assertions that they are good, [[Christians|Christian]] people are belied in Smallwood's eyes by their behaviour and ideas. He creates social ructions by appointing a black dustman (Peters) as his churchwarden, taking in a [[Romani people|gypsy]] family, and persuading local landowner Lady Despard (Jeans) to provide food for the church to distribute free to the people of the town.

His scheme spirals out of control and very soon the local traders are up in arms as they have lost all their customers. He tries to explain this to the residents but is besieged in the church hall and only just rescued by the police.

As a face-saving act, the Bishop appoints the 'original' Smallwood to the parish and assigns the 'troublemaker' to the Scottish island of 'Ultima Thule'. He is made 'Bishop of Outer Space' to the British space operations based there. But when the intended pilot of the first rocket gets cold feet, Smallwood takes his place. He is last heard broadcasting a sermon over the rocket's radio.

==Main cast==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Peter Sellers]] as the Reverend John Edward Smallwood
* [[Cecil Parker]] as Archdeacon Aspinall
* [[Isabel Jeans]] as Lady Lucy Despard
* [[Ian Carmichael]] as the Other Smallwood
* [[Bernard Miles]] as Simpson
* [[Brock Peters]] as Matthew Robinson
* [[Eric Sykes]] as Harry Smith
* [[Irene Handl]] as Rene Smith
* [[Miriam Karlin]] as Winnie Smith
* Josephine Woodford as Doris Smith
* Joan Miller as Mrs. Smith-Gould
* [[Miles Malleson]] as Rockeby
* [[Eric Barker]] as Bank Manager
* [[William Hartnell]] as Major Fowler, town councillor
* [[Roy Kinnear]] as Fred Smith
* [[Joan Hickson]] as Housewife
* [[Kenneth Griffith]] as Reverend Owen Thomas
* [[Mark Eden]] as Sir Geoffrey Despard
* [[John Comer]] as Butcher
* [[Basil Dignam]] as Prison Governor
* [[Franklin Engelmann]] as TV Commentator
* [[Colin Gordon]] as Prime Minister
* [[Geoffrey Hibbert]] as Council Official
* Joan Heal as Disgruntled Housewife
* [[Ludovic Kennedy]] as Himself
* [[Marjie Lawrence|Margery Lawrence]] as Quarrelling Housewife
* [[Harry Locke]] as Shop Steward
* [[Henry Longhurst (actor)|Henry Longhurst]] as Deaf Man
* [[Malcolm Muggeridge]] as Cleric
* [[Derek Nimmo]] as Director-Generals Assistant
* [[Conrad Phillips]] as P.R.O.
* [[Nicholas Phipps]] as Director-General
* [[Cardew Robinson]] as Tramp
* [[Gerald Sim]] as Store Manager
* [[Olive Sloane]] as Housewife
* [[Marianne Stone]] as Miss Palmer
* [[Elsie Wagstaff]] Lady on Parish Council
* [[Thorley Walters]] as Tranquilax Executive
* [[Ian Wilson (actor)|Ian Wilson]] as Salvation Army Major
* [[George Woodbridge (actor)|George Woodbridge]] as Bishop
* [[Drewe Henley]] as Doris's Boy Friend (uncredited)
* [[Ed Devereaux]] as Communication Officer (uncredited)
{{div col end}}
The cast includes several uncredited performers: ''[[A Hard Day's Night (film)|A Hard Day's Night]]'' actor [[John Junkin]], [[Rodney Bewes]], who has a couple of lines as a milkman, and future [[Small Faces]] and [[Humble Pie (band)|Humble Pie]] singer [[Steve Marriott]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A9370415 BBC - h2g2 - The Small Faces - the Band.] Steve Marriott appeared in ''Heavens Above!''</ref> Sellers's performance is generally held to be outstanding, in a meatier, more dramatic role, similar to his work in ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]'', released in 1959.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/479060/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Heavens Above! (1963)|work=screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

==Reception==
The film premiered in London on 23 May 1963 at the Columbia Cinema in Shaftesbury Avenue (today known as Curzon Soho),<ref>[http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6244 Cinema Treasures: Curzon Soho] Linked 2014-03-15</ref> and although it disappointed the critic for ''[[The Times]]'', who found it lacking the mild bite and satire of the Boulting-Sellers film ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]'',<ref name=Times/> it became one of the 12 most popular films in Britain in 1963.<ref>The Times, 3 January 1964, page 4: ''Most Popular Films Of 1963'' - found in The Times Digital Archive 2012-07-11</ref>

==Analysis==
An article in ''Garden History'' likened the character of the Reverend John Smallwood to that of an 18th century picturesque guru [[William Gilpin (priest)|William Gilpin]]: "The first act of the new reverend is to invite a group of colourful travellers to reside in the vicarage; the second is to convince an old lady to open her house and grounds to all sorts of poor vagabonds, scruffs and vagrants, characters who bring picturesque values to the noble scene. Eventually, a picturesque economic system based on free donation causes havoc in the village and the nation - the reverend is made a bishop and sent into space, in [[UK|Britain]]'s first spaceship. The film revives a character that one can safely imagine as a modern version of Doctor Syntax - cordial, dedicated, stubborn, fearless, not reacting against, but slightly diverging from, the established values of his culture."<ref>The Revd William Gilpin and the Picturesque; Or, Who's Afraid of Doctor Syntax? Author(s): Francesca Orestano Source: Garden History, Vol.31, No.2 (Winter, 2003), pp. 163–179</ref>

Like other Boulting films, ''Heavens Above!'' satirises contemporary [[Economic materialism|materialistic]] attitudes and cautiously espouses a [[socialist]] ethos, while also showing the possible deleterious side-effects of such ideas, and the all-too-human tendency to take advantage of naive generosity.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Screenonline title|479060}}
* {{IMDb title|0057134}}
* {{Amg movie|21990}}
* {{tcmdb title|77642}}

{{Boulting brothers}}

[[Category:1963 films]]
[[Category:1963 comedy films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:British satirical films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Boulting]]
[[Category:Films directed by Roy Boulting]]
[[Category:Films scored by Richard Rodney Bennett]]
[[Category:Films about Christianity]]
[[Category:Religion in the United Kingdom]]

Heavens Above! - Revision history

Kurt at 01:07, 9 February 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Philip Cross: ce