On HERE COMES MR. JORDAN

 "You cannot change the course of your destiny." That's a line Mr. Jordan, an angel, says to boxer Joe Pendleton in the 1941 romantic fantasy HERE COMES MR. JORDAN. Warren Beatty remade this classic as his 1978 box office hit, HEAVEN CAN WAIT. Beatty took on the Joe Pendleton role, making Joe a pro football player instead of a boxer. There's a theme about the nature of true love in this story laced with murder, destiny and reincarnation. It was loosely remade in 2001 as DOWN TO EARTH with Chris Rock playing a comedian who dies before his time and gets reincarnated.

I never saw the Chris Rock remake. I loved the first two versions, especially the original. A pro athlete dies long before his scheduled expiration date. In the Afterlife, heavenly workers realize their mistake and rush to get him reincarnated. He returns to Earth in the body of a millionaire just murdered by his unfaithful wife and her lover. With his new identity as an older rich man, the athlete finds true love in a sweet younger woman who doesn't care about his looks or age. She sees something in him that illuminates her soul. There are new problems to be faced in the athlete's reincarnation. But, ultimately, we see that true love is also on the course of his destiny. Here's a trailer for 1941 original.

During his reincarnation, Joe meets the lovely, lonely and charitable young lady.  Her name is Bette Logan. There's an immediate, mutual and soulful attraction. Bette gazes at Joe and says, "It's something in your eyes. It's what's behind them that I keep trying to see..." He replies, "I know what you mean. When you make a discovery like that, it's pretty important. Isn't it? More important than what two people look like or who they are..."

You can see the original on Amazon Prime Video or the Criterion channel online website:  Criterion.com.

We are in an age where a professional athlete can come out of the closet and continue to play the sport. Warren Beatty played Joe Pendleton as an NFL star in 1978. The Las Vegas Raiders signed NFL star, Carl Nassib, into the 2020 season. Nassib came out publicly and played.

Seeing the original again had me thinking. So many times, I have no interest in seeing a new gay romantic film because of its ironic lack of diversity in a story about diversity. I see a slim, handsome, young dude who finds true love in another slim, handsome, young dude. There's rarely a gay love story that presents a visually different pair with the feelings expressed by Bette and Joe in HERE COMES MR. JORDAN. Let's be honest. Good looks are an asset in the gay male community. But they shouldn't be seen as a man's sole currency. I've had several gay pals who were disappointed because the guys they were attracted to turned out to be like Christmas gifts in a department store window. They were lovely to look at but there was nothing inside.

Lord knows I'm not the Form Divine. I'd never been romantically attached and, in my late 30s, I'd given up on being anything other than solo in the gay community. A friend introduced me to a friend of his -- a department store clerk in New York City. The friend, in his 20s, was a very polite and professional young man who looked quite middle class Caucasian suburban. Not what I was usually attracted to at all. I'd long fantasized about finding a slightly older Afro-Latino New York male. Our eyes would meet and a mutual attraction would spark as we danced the Laendler like Maria and Captain Von Trapp in THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

Six months after we met, that young gentleman asked me out. I wasn't interested. However, I'd been stood up on numerous dates. I didn't want to treat someone like that. Besides, he was most charming on the phone. I gave in and said "Yes."

That was one of the wisest words I'd ever said in my life. We met for a Sunday brunch. Long story short, he changed my life. Whereas other gay men saw me as only "cute and funny," Richard saw me as complicated and handsome. We met for a Sunday brunch -- and stayed together until the day he died 18 months later. I loved him dearly. We were opposites -- a young white Southern Baptist and a middle-aged black Catholic from Southern California.

Do you think a HERE COMES MR. JORDAN remake with a modern-day gay twist could work? The cheating wife and her lover could be a gay couple too. If the product retained the emotional substance and spiritual quality about true love that the original -- and even Beatty's version -- gave audiences, such a remake could be refreshing for romantic stories about our community.