Heavens Above! (1963)

Directors:

John Boulting
Roy Boulting

Writers:

John Boulting (screenplay)
John Boulting (story)

Release Date:

25 November 1963 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A minister is accidentally appointed to a snobbish parish. |

Plot Keywords:

Satire | Salvation Army | Gypsy | Riot | Naive

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Peter Sellers	...	The Rev. John Smallwood
Cecil Parker	...	Archdeacon Aspinall
Isabel Jeans	...	Lady Despard
Ian Carmichael	...	The Other Smallwood
Bernard Miles	...	Simpson
Brock Peters	...	Matthew Robinson
Eric Sykes	...	Harry Smith
Irene Handl	...	Rene Smith
Miriam Karlin	...	Winnie Smith
Joan Miller	...	Mrs. Smith-Gould
Miles Malleson	...	Rockeby
Eric Barker	...	Bank Manager
William Hartnell	...	Major Fowler
Roy Kinnear	...	Fred Smith
Joan Hickson	...	Housewife

Runtime:

118 min | USA:105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Charter Film Productions

Trivia:

At one point when Rev. Smallwood (Sellers) is preaching from the pulpit, a young boy is seen in the foreground reading a copy of Nabokov's "Lolita". Sellers played Quilty in Stanley Kubrick's film version of that book.

Movie Connections:

References Lolita (1962)

Great fun with an abundance of acting talent!

This film is great fun, well written and well acted. While the ending is unexpected, if you haven't seen it before, it is difficult to know how all the issues could've been resolved in any other way except as unresolved as it is here! They did the same thing to John Steed in the very last episode of The Avengers, appropriately titled "Bizarre", some six years later! That episode featured Roy Kinnear as the marvellously named Bagpipes Happychap who also features here amongst a wealth of famous faces including the original Doctor Who, William Hartnell, in the year that he took that role. Again, considering the ending, that too seems appropriate now and brought a wry smile to this viewer's face especially as another of the film's cast, Mark Eden, also appeared, in the title role of "Marco Polo", opposite Hartnell in that series!!! Peter Sellars is on fine form as the hopelessly idealistic new vicar as is Eric Sykes as a chain smoking butcher! Best of all is the plethora of verbal and visual irony which should be enough to keep any discerning viewer entertained!!!