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One Foot in Heaven Movie Review

One Foot in Heaven is a 1941 biographical film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Fredric March and Martha Scott. It is a very mediocre, dated Oscar nominee.

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“He who speaks to only one generation is already dead.

And he who listens to only one generation is deaf“

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The values of church and state collide as a devout minister and his wife have to deal with the modern world. We see them struggling to bring in a balance between the two opposing worlds. On the surface, this theme of modernity versus tradition, religion versus secular life sounds great and is still interesting to this day, but the treatment of that theme in this movie was very subpar in my opinion.

Most of the movie felt dated as the slow pace prevents you from enjoying it more and most of the drama felt very much of its time, especially in the character dynamics and conflicts. None of it was all that relatable nor does the movie hold much interest for today’s audiences. Had it not been nominated for Best Picture, it would have been forgotten.

The fact that it only received that one nomination should be enough of a hint that it’s far from a great movie as truly great Best Picture nominees get at least one or two other nominations. This was just a filler slot for 1941 and an entirely unnecessary one.

With that being said, there are a couple of aspects that I liked in One Foot in Heaven. Clearly the acting is quite good. Fredric March is his usual great self while both Martha Scott and the great Beulah Bondi did their best in what are rather pedestrian roles.

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The movie also has a bit of charm in the theme of tradition and family while some sequences are definitely quite endearing, but most of it plays out in a rather typical and uneventful manner with most of the plot points being predictable and forgettable. I also did not care at all for the technical aspects here as the movie was only serviceably scored, shot and directed. Irving Rapper really wasn’t that great of a director.

One Foot in Heaven has some rather interesting themes regarding religion and tradition, but it doesn’t fully develop them nor is it ever a particularly engaging watch. It’s all rather dated, slow in pace and quite forgettable, uneventful and predictable in most of its plot points. The acting by its solid cast was pretty good, but everything else was undoubtedly quite subpar.

My Rating – 2.5