Heavens Above!

This is great stuff indeed and a fitting tribute for Peter Sellers, who would have turned 100 this year. Here, he plays a humble vicar who, in a case of mistaken identity, is sent to a wealthy parish where he attempts to teach the locals the true meaning of Christianity… The results are as hilarious as they are thought-provoking.

Prison Reverend John Edward Smallwood (Sellers) is well-meaning but also, how to put it politely, a bit on the naive side. Of truly humble stock, he sees plenty of opportunity to spread the word of Jesus when he, due to a clerical error, is sent to a rather wealthy country backwater called Orbiston Parva, a place which for a very, very long time has been dominated by the Despard family (as demonstrated in an opening sequence in which a camera pans across the local graveyard, with 70% of the graves bearing the name Despard. The Despards also own the local factory where Tranquillax is produced: part stimulant, part sedative, part laxative. The order of Orbiston Parva is soon brought into disarray when Rev Smallwood arrives, not realising that in fact it is not him who is supposed to be there but ‘the other’ Smallwood (Ian Carmichael) - a Reverend favoured by the church due to their connections with the Despards. That mistaken identity doesn’t come to light until much later in the film.

For now, the ‘wrong’ Smallwood is in Orbiston Parva and wastes no time in turning everything on the head, starting with employing black dustman Matthew Robinson (Brock Peters) as his churchwarden and during his first service in church, insults must of the congregation by suggesting they do not act like god-fearing Christians but are driven by greed and selfishness. It doesn’t end there, because soon after, Smallwood opens the doors of the massive rectory to the rather large Smith family, with Ma Smith (Irene Handl) looking after her brood while Pa Smith (Eric Sykes) is busy thinking up money-making schemes. The locals might be shocked about the rectory’s new ‘tenants’ but it’s not the fault of the Smith family that they are now homeless, for the reason why they have been evicted in the first place is to make way for an expansion of the Tranquillax factory. Eventually, the locals begin to see the error of their ways and soon, Lady Despard (Isabel Jeans) decides to spread her enormous wealth by setting up the so-called Good Neighbour Fellowship - a food bank where locals can get their essentials (not just food) for free in the new Church ‘supermarket’. While the idea seems very Christian indeed, the tide soon turns and the town’s various shop owners and tradesmen are up in arms as they begin to lose business thanks to Smallwood. When the Church hears of the goings-on in Orbiston Parva, they begin to realise their mistake and quickly dispatch the real Smallwood to take over from the wrong Smallwood… That scene alone is laugh out loud funny. Not quite sure what to do with the wrong and troublesome Smallwood, it is decided that he should be dispatched to the remote Scottish island of Ultima Thule. His new position reads ‘Bishop of Outer Space’ because you see, the British Space Operations are based there. As it turns out, Smallwood takes his new role literally indeed…

Peter Sellers is a riot and simply fantastic in his part and while the film is predominantly a satirical comedy, it’s also thought-provoking as quite a few of the topics seem timeless and almost even more relevant nowadays - tenants being evicted, food banks, food banks overseen by corrupt individuals, welfare dodgers, you name it, it’s there. It would seem that 1963 (the years the film was made) and 2025 have a lot in common, maybe our current government should watch this one.

HEAVENS ABOVE is now available newly restored on Blu-ray. Bonus Material includes: Sellers Takes Off in Heavens Above / Heavens Above Q&A / Heavens Above - The Mask Behind the Mask / Audio commentary / Lobby cards gallery