Search - Heavens Above! on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Excellent For Children Movie Release: 1963 DVD Release: 01/21/2003 Format: DVD - Black and White,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 58 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 5 Genres: Comedy, Parody/Spoof, Satire

Considered a bit too sacrilegious for general consumption in 1963, the Boulting brothers' Heavens Above was simply ahead of its time, and has since accrued a loyal and vocal following. Peter Sellers plays an idealistic British reverend with a bad habit of telling the truth at all times. He also follows his conscience whenever possible, resulting in several cleric decisions that shock his wealthy, landed-gentry parishioners. By inviting such "undesirables" as gypsies and West Africans to worship freely in his church, Sellers rouses the ire of the rest of his white-bread flock. He does, however, compel the selfish owner (Isabel Jeans) of a laxative firm to "see the light" and to sell off all her holdings on behalf of the poor and downtrodden. Unfortunately, by doing this the woman wrecks her business--which is the principal source of income for the community where Sellers works. Retreating from town with an angry mob on his heels, Sellers relocates on a tiny island in the Pacific. Since the island is the site of a missile base, and since the local astronauts have shown signs of agnosticism, where else is there for Sellers to go...but up? Heavens Above was inspired by a notion cooked up by iconoclastic British satirist Malcolm Muggeridge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Sellers - The Rev. John Smallwood
Bernard Miles - Simpson
Cecil Parker - Archdeacon Aspinall
Eric Sykes - Harry Smith
Irene Handl - Rene Smith
Miriam Karlin - Winnie Smith
Isabel Jeans - Lady Despard

John Boulting and Roy Boulting's Heavens Above marked the end of the producer/director brother team's string of satirical successes. It was funny (often excruciatingly so), and Peter Sellers is brilliant in it, and the movie had an ending so outrageous as to seem almost sacrilegious, which is an ideal way to go for a satire of organized religion. But the movie also had probably been made about two or three years later than it ought to have been, to achieve its greatest impact. It came along just at a point where not only had the notion of "God is Dead" taken root in the popular culture (in England and elsewhere), but where staid, mainstream religious sensibilities would soon be competing with such underground, populist sentiments as "Clapton Is God" scrawled on the walls of buildings in London -- and, talking of the latter, also at a point when London had begun to "swing," at least for Brits and Londoners, if not for the rest of the world. Thus, the movie was a satiric salvo fired at a target that would no longer as big or inviting as it would have seemed at the outset of the decade. The Anchor Bay DVD is the best looking presentation of Heavens Above that this reviewer has ever seen on the small-screen. Letterboxed with an aspect ratio of 1.66-to-1, with enhancement for 16-by-9 screens, it presents a flawless image, cleaner and sharper than any broadcast; additionally, the disc features the uncut 118 minute version of the movie, as opposed to the 105 minute edition that was available originally in the United States -- and the extra 12 minutes are worth it. The audio quality is just as good as the image, capturing Richard Rodney Bennett's satirical score in all of its nuances -- by the time one is finished with this disc, the tune of "Simple Gifts," which is the basis for a major part of the score, will likely be running through your head in many variations. The 26 chapters are very carefully and generously placed, and one only wishes that there were some serious annotation about the origins of this movie, and about the Boultings. There is no trailer, but there is a Sellers bio -- the same as the one in the other discs in this series -- accessible through a menu that opens automatically, on a cleverly devised main page. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide