HEAVENS ABOVE
UK, 1963, 107 minutes, Black and white.
Peter Sellers, Cecil Parker, Isabel Jeans, Ian Carmichael, Bernard Miles, Brook Peters, Irene Handel, Miriam Karlin, Eric Sykes, Roy Kinnear, George Woodbridge, Miles Malleson.
Directed by Roy Boulting,
Heavens Above can be taken as a funny film about the Church of England, English society, Establishment, sincerity and crooks. And at that level it is very enjoyable. A subdued Peter Sellers, with yet another accept, invests his simple-minded, sincere minister with warmth and some dignity. Favourite English character actors (plus people like Derek Nimmo, Ed Devereaux, Nicholas Phipps in small parts) play their usual selves.
On another level, the film is sharp satire on the Establishment and the materialistic and snob values 1t stands for and on the selfish run-of-the-mill plebs, who are after as much as they can get for nothing, using religion merely as an excuse for a hand-out. But simple-minded sincerity does not escape the satire either, with the result that no clear message comes through and the audience must weigh up pros and cons although, in the credits at the end, there is a message. The film is based on an idea by Malcolm Muggeridge (who can be glimpsed as a cleric in a brief sequence). Perhaps it is his joke that sends the Reverend Smallwood rocket-high at the end, too good for this world. Good satire and good fun.
1. Was this film principally a comedy or a satire?
2. What was the point behind the laughs at:
- the English aristocracy at Orbiston parva;
- the Archdeacon, Lady Despard and Parish appointments;
- the world of Tranquilax;
- the mouthing of Christian principles by clergy;
- the nominal adherents of the English to the C, of E,
- the spongers on Christian charity?
3. Peter Sellers played the Rev Smallwood in a quiet, subdued way. Do you feel he portrayed his character well, deeply, compassionately?
4. How sincere was John Smallwood - his prison work, meeting Matthew, his first sermon, taking in the Smiths, his interviews with the Archdeacon and the Bishop, his work with Lady Despard?
5. Did Smallwood preach a genuine Christianity?
6. Why did Smallwood's attempts at Christian generosity fail? Were they too unrealistic? Did they clash with vested interests? Did he hurt tradesmen - in the town - with his generosity?
7. If Smallwood was unrealistic in his charity and compromise was necessary, were hie idealistic failings worse than the greediness, apathy, selfishness of the ordinary British public?
8. What was the point of the satire in the psychologist's examination of Smallwood and finding schizophrenia, paranoia?
9. What sympathy did Smallwood evoke when Lady Despard came to her senses, Matthew left, the Smiths robbed him and the church, and the mob rushed him?
10. Did you find the final part of the film in harmony with the rest? Why was Smallwood appointed Bishop of Outer Space?
11. Why did Smallwood substitute for the astronaut? Did the film's ending imply that there Was no place on earth for such a literal do-gooder Christian as Smallwood and that all authorities are glad to get rid of him - even if his witness to his Christianity is as effective as his orbiting the world singing hymns - or is this reading too much into the film? (Remember that the film was based on an idea of Malcolm Muggeridge!)
