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One Foot in Heaven

 One Foot in Heaven
type
TVTItem
 One Foot in Heaven
label
One Foot in Heaven
 One Foot in Heaven
page
OneFootInHeaven
 One Foot in Heaven
comment
One Foot in Heaven is a 1941 film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Fredric March.It is an episodic story about William Spence, a Canadian medical student who undergoes a religious conversion and decides to become a Methodist preacher. Taking his new bride Hope in hand, he abandons both medicine and Canada, moving to the United States and becoming a "circuit preacher" with responsibilities in multiple towns in his district, located in rural Iowa. William and Hope raise children together while he ministers to his flock. Meanwhile, they have to deal with the pressures of life as a rural Protestant minister, some of which are a low salary, various dumpy parsonages (the homes provided for ministers), the strictness of William's Methodist discipline, and the petty narrow-mindedness of the people William serves.
 One Foot in Heaven
fetched
2018-10-09T22:09:08Z
 One Foot in Heaven
parsed
2020-06-24T03:43:42Z
 One Foot in Heaven
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DBTropes
 One Foot in Heaven / int_191e0d45
type
Preacher Man
 One Foot in Heaven / int_191e0d45
comment
Preacher Man: Played straight, as Rev. Spence ministers to his flock, giving sermons, performing weddings and baptisms, and setting an example to the community.
 One Foot in Heaven / int_191e0d45
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One Foot in Heaven / int_191e0d45
 One Foot in Heaven / int_3dfdc686
type
Time-Passes Montage
 One Foot in Heaven / int_3dfdc686
comment
Time Passes Montage: One that includes brief clips of the reverend going about his duties while the births of their first two children are inscribed in the family Bible.
 One Foot in Heaven / int_3dfdc686
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One Foot in Heaven / int_3dfdc686
 One Foot in Heaven / int_51bc8d33
type
TheChurch
 One Foot in Heaven / int_51bc8d33
comment
The Church: Rev. Spence's strict Methodist discipline makes problems for his family.
 One Foot in Heaven / int_51bc8d33
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One Foot in Heaven / int_51bc8d33
 One Foot in Heaven / int_644eca71
type
Rich Bitch
 One Foot in Heaven / int_644eca71
comment
Rich Bitch: Mrs. Sandow, the richest lady in town and the town snob. She flies into a rage when she finds out that the reverend called on her live-in gardener, because she thinks that raises the gardener to her social status.
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One Foot in Heaven / int_644eca71
 One Foot in Heaven / int_6b35bdff
type
Serious Business
 One Foot in Heaven / int_6b35bdff
comment
Serious Business: The narrow-minded people of the dinky little town the Spences live in can be amazingly petty. One of the church's benefactors walks away in a huff, withdrawing his support, when Rev. Spence says the new church should have the choir moved to the back. The benefactor doesn't like this because it would make his wife, a choir member, less prominent. See also the tantrum Mrs. Sandow throws when Rev. Spence calls on her gardener.
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One Foot in Heaven / int_6b35bdff
 One Foot in Heaven / int_7e081ea0
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Slice of Life
 One Foot in Heaven / int_7e081ea0
comment
Slice of Life: There is no real story arc, just an account of the Spences and their lives together over several decades.
 One Foot in Heaven / int_7e081ea0
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One Foot in Heaven / int_7e081ea0
 One Foot in Heaven / int_a90fff3
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Based on a True Story
 One Foot in Heaven / int_a90fff3
comment
Based on a True Story: Specifically, Hartzell Spence's biography of his father, Rev. William Spence.
 One Foot in Heaven / int_a90fff3
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One Foot in Heaven / int_a90fff3
 One Foot in Heaven / int_ab48ea8
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Preacher's Kid
 One Foot in Heaven / int_ab48ea8
comment
Preacher's Kid: The Spence children chafe at restrictions on their behavior and how they are perceived. Hartzell says that girls are shocked when he tries to hold their hand, thinking that he's a pure-hearted preacher's son, while his sister Elizabeth complains that boys think exactly the opposite. They win a small victory when Hartzell takes his father to the movies and convinces the reverend that film-going isn't inherently sinful.
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One Foot in Heaven / int_ab48ea8
 One Foot in Heaven / int_b0a529cb
type
Extreme Doormat
 One Foot in Heaven / int_b0a529cb
comment
Extreme Doormat: Hope Spence. See "Housewife"
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One Foot in Heaven / int_b0a529cb
 One Foot in Heaven / int_b5dded87
type
Gossipy Hens
 One Foot in Heaven / int_b5dded87
comment
Gossipy Hens: A major irritant for the reverend, especially when one of his enemies in the town uses the gossipy hen network to spread an ugly rumor that gets Hartzell expelled from school.
 One Foot in Heaven / int_b5dded87
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One Foot in Heaven / int_b5dded87
 One Foot in Heaven / int_b707726f
type
Hypocritical Humor
 One Foot in Heaven / int_b707726f
comment
Hypocritical Humor: One nosy old lady buttonholes the reverend, telling him that two kids in the congregation were holding hands and weren't even paying attention to his text. Rev. Spence asks "By the way, what was my text?", and the old lady has no answer, because she wasn't paying attention either.
 One Foot in Heaven / int_b707726f
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One Foot in Heaven / int_b707726f
 One Foot in Heaven / int_bec0417c
type
Happily Married
 One Foot in Heaven / int_bec0417c
comment
Happily Married: The Spences, although they probably shouldn't be—see Housewife below.
 One Foot in Heaven / int_bec0417c
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One Foot in Heaven / int_bec0417c
 One Foot in Heaven / int_d03fc3f1
type
Good Shepherd
 One Foot in Heaven / int_d03fc3f1
comment
Good Shepherd: Rev. Spence sacrifices his welfare and his family's for the sake of his flock.
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One Foot in Heaven / int_d03fc3f1
 One Foot in Heaven / int_d5d265ec
type
Housewife
 One Foot in Heaven / int_d5d265ec
comment
Housewife: In 1941 the character of Hope Spence was no doubt meant to be an inspiring example of a virtuous wife who supports her husband. To a 21st century viewer, however, Mrs. Spence may come off as an Extreme Doormat. William makes her leave her family and come with him to the U.S., he tells her that she can't redecorate the dingy parsonage they move into, he tells her she can't dress nice because that might outshine the other ladies in the congregation, he tells her they have to go hungry because advertising for his wedding services is "too commercial", he refuses the much cushier posting in California that she wanted him to take, he disregards her wishes about naming their third child, and he forces her to leave for another crappy district just when things have been fixed up nicely in their Iowa home. At no point in the film does William ask her about any of these life choices; he tells her, and she obeys.
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One Foot in Heaven / int_d5d265ec
 One Foot in Heaven / int_da46a2c0
type
Hollywood Atheist
 One Foot in Heaven / int_da46a2c0
comment
Hollywood Atheist: The town dentist, who exists only to be easily outpointed by Rev. Spence in a debate.
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One Foot in Heaven / int_da46a2c0
 One Foot in Heaven / int_ed503b22
type
Match Cut
 One Foot in Heaven / int_ed503b22
comment
Match Cut: An audio match cut from the reverend ringing some bells for a couple he just married to the bells ringing in the church.
 One Foot in Heaven / int_ed503b22
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One Foot in Heaven / int_ed503b22
 One Foot in Heaven / int_fa6bfde9
type
Have a Gay Old Time
 One Foot in Heaven / int_fa6bfde9
comment
Have a Gay Old Time: Hartzell grouses about all the problems that ensue if he, a preacher's son, ever gets "gay enough to hold a girl's hand."
 One Foot in Heaven / int_fa6bfde9
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 One Foot in Heaven / int_fd16495f
type
Answer Cut
 One Foot in Heaven / int_fd16495f
comment
Answer Cut: Rev. Spence talks in a sermon about the importance of peace to the world. Cut to newspaper headlines about the assassination at Sarajevo and the beginning of World War I.
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One Foot in Heaven

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 OneFootinHeaven
sameAs
One Foot in Heaven
 One Foot in Heaven
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Extreme Doormat / int_d55f2cfa
 One Foot in Heaven
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Good Shepherd / int_d55f2cfa
 One Foot in Heaven
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Housewife / int_d55f2cfa
 One Foot in Heaven
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Preacher Man / int_d55f2cfa
 One Foot in Heaven
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Preacher's Kid / int_d55f2cfa