I recently revisited a film I had once greatly enjoyed but hadn’t seen since its original release in 1978 – HEAVEN CAN WAIT – and was prepared for the worst. It didn’t seem like the sort of movie that would wear well over the years and it certainly wasn’t very original to begin with. After all, it was a remake of 1941’s HERE COME MR. JORDAN, which falls into that overexposed fantasy genre of spirits or ghosts aiding and complicating the lives of the living as in TOPPER or GHOST or ALL OF ME or ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER and on and on. I’ll dispense with any plot description since you’ve probably seen it or can find a more detailed synopsis elsewhere but I was pleasantly surprised by a second viewing.  Despite the completely absurd premise, screenwriters Elaine May and Warren Beatty (with uncredited contributions from Robert Towne) have fun with it, throwing in some wicked black comedy and anti-corporation satire to balance the fantasy elements and the warm romance at the film’s center with Beatty and Julie Christie at their most appealing (except for the bad ’70s hair day). But what really stands out is a scene stealing performance by Dyan Cannon as Beatty’s gleefully venal wife who attempts repeatedly, with the help of her spineless lover Charles Grodin, to kill Beatty for his millions. Each failed attempt makes her increasingly hysterical and manic and it’s as much fun to watch as Edgar Kennedy’s slow burn in DUCK SOUP where he dishes out and endures abuse from Harpo and Chico Marx.

Cannon seems to be channeling her character from some thirties screwball comedy and her timing and often unpredictable line readings make her shrill murderess a delightful creation. It takes a rare talent to make such a selfish, hateful character so much fun and she deservedly won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her work in HEAVEN CAN WAIT.  Grodin is great here too and so is the rest of the supporting cast including Buck Henry, James Mason and Jack Warden (also nominated for his performance in the Best Supporting Actor category). But Cannon really stands out on a second viewing and you wonder why her comedic skills were not better showcased in more films as well written and directed as HEAVEN CAN WAIT. 

Certainly BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969) is an early career highlight and her role in it as the most repressed and resistant member of the would-be swinging foursome is a brilliant comedy performance. Her confusion and resentment at not being able to easily accept the new permissiveness of partner swapping and free love that her best friends have embraced results in some of the movie’s funniest scenes, especially Cannon’s sessions with her psychiatrist which become free form confessionals and a sequence where she refuses to have sex with pleading husband Elliot Gould, who has rarely been better. Cannon was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for this role as well and there were a few other memorable parts between BOB & CAROL and HEAVEN CAN WAIT. 

DOCTORS’ WIVES (1971) is a trashy soap opera played straight as if it’s a serious drama but Cannon’s brief appearance as a nymphomaniac housewife has a lively vulgarity that almost elevates this into the ranks of great kitsch. Unfortunately she gets murdered early into the film and her shameless behavior and foul mouth – “God, am I horny!” is her opening line – is greatly missed. While the film is no comedy, it comes close to one whenever Cannon is onscreen, vowing to sleep with all her friend’s wives and rate them in bed. And it’s not the last time Cannon gives a peerless comic performance in a non-comedy. 

 THE LAST OF SHELIA (1973), a very intricate and witty murder mystery written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, features more scene-stealing by Cannon as a brassy talent agent whom she modeled on her own agent at the time, Sue Mengers, right down to her bawdy laugh and fondness for dirty gossip. Her “Christine” is quite a piece of work and the sort of monstrous character who’s great fun on the screen but a must to avoid in real life. In one of the movie’s best sequences, Cannon is sunbathing on a float that’s drifting toward a cruise ship’s stationary propeller. Suddenly a phantom hand flips on the propeller switch and Canon is knocked off her float and sucked toward the whirling blades. She somehow survives and is brought back on board ship where she stumbles toward her cabin in a hilarious and mesmerizing mood swing from crying to hysterical laughing. It’s an unforgettable moment of dark, unhinged humor.

But the question remains, do moviegoers think of Dyan Cannon as a comedy actress when they think about her at all? She’s certainly persuasive as a dramatic actress too but maybe her identity is still tied to her first, short lived marriage to Cary Grant in 1965. She was 27 at the time and he was 61. They had a daughter, Jennifer, and a much publicized divorce in 1968 where she accused Grant of abusive behavior, including locking her in a closet for punishment when she angered him and neglecting her while he indulged in LSD. Those public revelations about Grant were probably more harmful to her image than the actor who was so revered – and remains so to this day. 

In later life Cannon found Christianity which according to an IMDB factoid “led her to hold twice-monthly revival-style Bible study meetings on the CBS studio lot.” But in between the Grant marriage and her swing toward religion Cannon cultivated a sexpot image, transitioning from a sex kitten to a voracious, man-eating bitch on screen. Yet, it’s her knack for comedy and self-parody that continues to amuse. It’s just a shame she didn’t get more opportunities to play off her successes in BOB & CAROL and HEAVEN CAN WAIT instead of less worthy ventures like COAST TO COAST (1981), a romantic comedy with Robert Blake, believe it or not, AUTHOR! AUTHOR! (1982), CADDYSHACK II (1988), a TV remake of CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1992), a remake of Disney’s THAT DARN CAT (1997), 8 HEADS IN A DUFFEL BAG (1997) and OUT TO SEA (1997), a Grumpy Old Man-style comedy with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. 

Maybe I’m missing some gems along the way such as SUCH GOOD FRIENDS (1971) – a horrible personal experience for her in terms of working with director Otto Preminger or her Oscar nominated short, NUMBER ONE (1976), which she wrote, directed and starred in. Perhaps my fellow Morlocks have some recommendations or accolades for Cannon.