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One Foot in Heaven (1941)

Christian films, sometimes derisively referred to as “faith-based films”, in the United States have undergone a resurgence in the last decade. Whether the film is explicitly Christian or contains Christian themes, such films have existed since the early silent era. Numerous contemporary Christian films – not all of which have been made or produced by those who are artists before proselytists – have been burdened with a reputation for being sanctimonious, inviting the converted while repelling everyone else. That reputation, largely deserved, was nonexistent during the height of the Hollywood Studio System (1930s-late ‘50s), when films touching upon religion looked upon their subjects and themes with reverence while respecting that the audiences congregating in theaters might be of different or of no religious faith.

Irving Rapper’s One Foot in Heaven – released on home media for the first time in March 2015 – presents its religious themes seriously, yet never intrudes on the beliefs of others. There is a notable exchange between William Spence (Fredric March), the film’s protagonist and (by that point in the film) a well-established minister, and Dr. Horrigan (Jerome Cowan), who has been openly disparaging of the Christians in town. The two engage in discourse about what can be seen, heard, smelled, touched. Can a soul or one’s faith be seen, heard smelled, our touched? And if not, does it still exist? This line of questioning is followed by a line of thought that – during an argument over religion – one seldom hears in real life or in fiction:

DR. HORRIGAN: Well, that’s just sophistry! Pretty good, though – worthy of old Socrates himself… WILLIAM SPENCE: …Alright, you admire Socrates– DR. HORRIGAN: –As a philosopher, I do… But you don’t hear people going around claiming Socrates is divine; as far as that goes, Christ was a good teacher. WILLIAM SPENCE: Why don’t leave the religious angle out of Christianity and respect it as a good rule of living?

It was this moment where One Foot in Heaven extinguished whatever doubt I, as someone who is nonreligious, may have held in its intentions. It takes two to make a disagreement civil. Credit Dr. Horrigan for realizing, “Christ was a good teacher.” Credit Will Spence for not attempting to reach an understanding, and seeing no need to condemn Dr. Horrigan and respecting the fact that he is not Christian (no Bible quotations to be heard in this scene).

One Foot in Heaven is based on Hartzell Spence’s biography of the same name that he wrote about his father. The film follows Will Spence and his wife, Hope Morris Spence (Martha Scott; fresh off starring in an emotional leading role in 1940′s Our Town) as Will enters the ministry, all while raising a family in places far from their original dreams. Life in these small towns is humbling, but wherever the Spences go, despite the local drama, there are always parishioners who will support them just as Will serves the communities he is assigned to. Though the Spence children are not nearly as prominent as their parents, we also see how difficult it is being the child of a priest. This is an episodic, intimate drama graced with good humor, showing a man and his family living sincerely as the times and people around them change.

The film begins in 1904 in Stratford, Ontario. William Spence is in medical school, but has found his calling to become a Methodist minister. Hope Morris, his future bride and from a wealthy family, is encouraging of these new aspirations where her parents are not. With no ministerial vacancies in Canada, they move to small-town Iowa – the townspeople live simply, with everyone knowing each other’s faces. The Spences raise their children there: Hartzell (Frankie Thomas at age 18; Peter Caldwell as younger Hartzell), Eileen (Elisabeth Fraser at age 17; Carlotta Jelm as younger Eileen), and Frazer (Casey Johnson; the kerfuffle around Frazer’s baptism and naming is warmly humorous passage). The family adjusts as the children grow, the United States enters World War I, and multiple moves across the central U.S.

As a minister, Will is aware of what he is not an expert in – he never pretends to be something he is not. He is always approachable and hyper-local (declining a potential posting as a missionary to Africa or Asia, he quips that, “the real heathens are in the church”). One Foot in Heaven’s most memorable scene involves Will learning that Hartzell has been to the local cinema. Attending the cinema, so say Will’s superiors (or popular evangelical belief perhaps), cultivates sinful behavior – something turn-of-the-century old time religion said about billiards, all types of gambling, speaking about divorce too loudly. Will warns his son not to do so again, as such actions embarrass the moral authority that he wields. Hartzell objects, to which Will says that he will accompany his son to the movies and point out why the artform only promotes sin. Some time after, they pay the admission for The Silent Man (1917; the director and star of that film, William S. Hart, was a guest of honor at One Foot in Heaven’s premiere) – attracting the stares of the patrons who can scarcely believe the local pastor is at the theater. The lights dim. The flicker of the projector and the nitrate film reel fill the room. And to Will’s surprise, the film contains worthwhile messages extolling virtue, honesty, and a disgust for injustice. Will acknowledges he has been wrong and how quick to judgment he was.

This, too, is where One Foot in Heaven refutes many of the attitudes found in modern-day Christian films. Will demonstrates a willingness to change prior views, to heed the words and feelings of the young generations that will someday be sitting in the pews of his church and, perhaps, one of them standing at his pulpit. He and Hope may initially approach a situation in anger or frustration, but work through their problems with kindness in mind, and leave the scenario able to laugh at themselves thinking about their predicament or how foolish they might have been before. Cultural change is not to be fought, but welcomed. Christian fundamentals will endure (and have endured) such changes anyways. What repulses non-Christians from modern Christian cinema is the perception that many of those films carry an evangelical righteousness that make nonbelievers look like wet towels or hot-headed ignoramuses (after a heated dispute with a nonbeliever, “I’ll pray for you” is probably not a helpful thing to say). How refreshing One Foot in Heaven is to avoid all these traps of losing the empathy of non-Christian viewers, putting it in the company of The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Ben-Hur (1959).

Screenwriter Casey Robinson (1935′s Captain Blood; 1940′s All This, and Heaven Too) has crafted beautiful dialogue for the sermons, endowing the character of William Spence with a minster’s ideal literacy. But once the plot exits the first few years of the Spences’ life in Iowa, the screenplay begins to accelerate the proceedings. The Spences’ years in Iowa take the time to relax, to soak in all the quiet pleasantries and meaningful conversations between characters and have them reflect on what has transpired. From their first and subpar parsonage home (to the disapproval of the infant children, it is next to the fire station), church politics, and the aforementioned segment where Will has learned that Hartzell has been sneaking into the local cinema, one feels the weight of time’s passage in the opening two-thirds of the film. What happens to the Spences following the American entry into World War I feels underdeveloped, and the 1920s seem like a narrative blur that is dominated by controversies with Mrs. Sandow (Beulah Bondi) and the Thurstons (Gene Lockhart and Laura Hope Crews).

Hartzell Spence, who wanted Raymond Massey (who was commanding headlines on Broadway for his turn as the President-to-be in Abe Lincoln in Illinois) to star as his father, settled on Fredric March upon her mother’s recommendation. Warner Bros. indeed chose March, but only because of the fact March was considered one of Hollywood’s premier actors and a dependable box office draw. Olivia de Havilland was Warners’ first choice for Hope, but their executives wanted to pair her with Errol Flynn (yet again) for 1941′s They Died with Their Boots On. Scott and especially March are excellent in One Foot in Heaven – March truly shines as Will when speaking to his parishioners and in the film’s final moments; Scott (whose stage background made her suspect to overacting during this production, but was assisted by March to help address these tendencies) is tremendous when attempting to show Will a different way to think about a dilemma. The inside jokes between Will and Hope all work thanks to both actors. March would later consider One Foot in Heaven to be a favorite among the films he appeared in.

This was Irving Rapper’s second film as a director. He usually worked as a dialogue director for Warner Bros., but his crowning achievement – Now, Voyager (1942) – was a year away. Rapper keeps his camera relatively close to the actors and the action, lending One Foot in Heaven an air of intimacy. Composer Max Steiner’s score is gorgeous, with his signature stirring string melodies leading the film’s musical identity. Steiner arranged Samuel John Stone’s hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation”, as the score’s spiritual center. Following its release, One Foot in Heaven – despite receiving acclaim from film critics, who were more influential on their readers than today’s critics – was considerably more popular in rural America than urban America. A publicity campaign geared towards rural parishes paid dividends. One Foot in Heaven remained a fixture in small-town American cinemas following the United States’ entry into World War II; its rural-skewed popularity probably contributed to its unavailability on home media until rather recently.

It would be easy to write off One Foot in Heaven as anecdotal treacle. Listen and look closer. It is a film of enduring faith but, regardless of one’s faith, it celebrates lives dedicated to the purpose of serving others. One need not attend Sunday services or believe in God to intuit that.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here.

#One Foot in Heaven #Irving Rapper #Fredric March #Martha Scott #Beulah Bondi #Gene Lockhart #Elisabeth Fraser #Harry Davenport #Laura Hope Crews #Casey Robinson #Hartzell Spence #Max Steiner #TCM #My Movie Odyssey