Heaven Can Wait: Warren Beatty’s Gray Sweats
Warren Beatty as Joe Pendleton in Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Vitals
Warren Beatty as Joe Pendleton, ill-fated quarterback
Los Angeles, Fall 1977
Film: Heaven Can Wait
Release Date: June 28, 1978
Directed by: Warren Beatty & Buck Henry
Costume Designer: Richard Bruno
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Warren Beatty and Elaine May collaborated on the screenplay for this cool and charming retelling of Harry Segall’s original play Heaven Can Wait, which was first adapted for the screen in the 1940s as Here Comes Mr. Jordan. The 1978 film retains Segall’s original title, re-imagining our hero Joe Pendleton as a football player, specifically a skilled backup quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams who looks forward to leading his team to the Super Bowl. Despite taking great care of his physique through exercise and meals like his liver-and-whey shake, Joe can’t avoid catastrophe when a reckless van driver crashes into his bicycle.
Joe wakes up in the clouds with his soprano sax in hand, escorted by a bespectacled guardian angel (Buck Henry) into the afterlife. Believing he’s merely dreaming, Joe performs a coin trick (“the only trick I know!”) and some impromptu push-ups while the escort’s supervisor, the urbane Mr. Jordan (James Mason), intervenes to try to urge Joe’s cooperation—until he determines that the overzealous escort fumbled his first assignment by extracting Joe from his earthly body too soon, as the late Mr. Pendleton wasn’t scheduled to die for another half-century, surviving until 10:17 a.m. PDT on March 20, 2025.
R.I.P., Joe!
Mr. Jordan immediately rules that Joe is to be placed back into his body (“hey, I’ll see ya in about 50 years!” Joe calls on his way out), but it’s too late as Joe has already been cremated by the time the escort can return him to Earth. With Joe’s body no longer an option for his soul to be returned, Mr. Jordan takes charge of resolution by placing Joe into a newly deceased—but yet to be discovered—body, specifically the millionaire industrialist Leo Farnsworth.
Informed by Mr. Jordan that Farnsworth is in the middle of being murdered by his wife Julia (Dyan Cannon) and her lover, his scheming secretary Tony (Charles Grodin), Joe is reluctant to take Farnsworth’s body and all of its baggage, until he sees that part of that baggage is the acquaintanceship of the lovely English environmental activist Betty Logan (Julie Christie). Realizing that being in Farnsworth’s position can help Betty, he allows Mr. Jordan to temporarily place him into his body until they can find a more suitable solution.
What’d He Wear?
Joe Pendleton was the athlete’s athlete. Before he takes over Leo Farnsworth’s body, we never see him dressed in anything but athletic gear, whether that’s his Rams uniform, T-shirts, or sweats. It’s while dressed in the latter that he meets his untimely end.
His sweatsuit is made from a heathered gray fabric, likely a cotton and rayon blend, lined in a white sweat-absorbing French terry cloth. The sweatshirt is a zip-up hoodie, styled with a silver-toned straight front-zip and full hood that adjusts with a pale-gray drawstring. The two semi-kangaroo patch pockets along the bottom have curved entries that are beginning to fray from considerable wear.
Joe’s simple matching gray sweatpants have an elastic waistband that also adjusts with a drawstring. The pants lack any outer pockets and the bottoms are plain-hemmed, unlike the current trend of joggers with elasticized bottoms.
He trains in white sneakers, which are likely Adidas given the triple side stripes overlaid in the same cream sueded leather as on the heel quarters.
“You know what kind of shape you gotta be in to get to the Super Bowl?”
When Joe and Mr. Jordan’s attempts to find a suitable athletic body fail, Joe trains on his own to get Leo Farnsworth ready for the big game.
“Hey, my watch stopped! Look at that, keeps flashin’ the same time,” Joe comments to his angel. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of his outfit, Joe’s watch is a stainless steel Hamilton Pulsar P2. This quartz-powered timepiece was considered the world’s first successful mass-produced digital watch after it was jointly developed in the early 1970s by the American companies Hamilton Watch and ElectroData.
Despite its futuristic appearance, the original Pulsar P2’s functionality was limited to displaying the time on its black LED display—and even that was only achieved at the press of a button. The 39mm watch case was mated to a three-piece link bracelet and clasp, which enclosed the magnet used to set the time. Hamilton has since relaunched the style with models like the PSR Digital Quartz that pay tribute to the original.
A novelty status symbol through the ’70s, the Pulsar P2’s cinematic credits include Live and Let Die (1973) as the first watch worn by Roger Moore’s characterization of James Bond and in The Longest Yard (1974), where a gold Pulsar P2 was worn by a fellow pro football star played by Burt Reynolds. According to James Bond Lifestyle, it was also an off-screen favorite of stars like Elton John, Jack Nicholson, Keith Richards, and Peter Sellers.
How to Get the Look
Warren Beatty as Joe Pendleton in Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Joe’s gray zip-up hoodie, matching sweatpants, and trainers are a timeless and casual combination for athletic pursuits (as he appropriately wears them), with his steel Pulsar P2 digital watch adding a twist of ’70s novelty.
- Heather gray cotton/rayon-blend hooded sweatshirt with gray drawstring, straight-zip front, and curved-entry semi-kangaroo pockets
- Heather gray cotton/rayon-blend sweatpants with elastic waistband
- White Adidas sneakers with cream suede overlays
- Hamilton Pulsar P2 stainless-cased digital watch on steel three-piece link bracelet
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
I’m not supposed to be here!
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