''Oh, God!'' is a 1977 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

starring

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...

and

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

. Based on the 1971 novel by Avery Corman, the film was directed by

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, author, comedian, director and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He was the List of awards and nominations received by Carl Reiner, recipient of many awards and ...

from a screenplay by

Larry Gelbart Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009) was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series '' M*A*S*H'', and as co-writer of the ...

. The story centers on supermarket manager Jerry Landers (Denver), who is chosen by

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

(Burns) to spread His message despite skepticism of the media, religious authorities, and his own wife (

Teri Garr Terry Ann Garr (December 11, 1944 – October 29, 2024), known as Teri Garr, was an American actress. Known for her comedic roles in film and television in the 1970s and 1980s, she often played women struggling to cope with the life-changing ex ...

). The movie's success spawned its titular film series, which included two sequels: '' Oh, God! Book II'' (1980) and '' Oh, God! You Devil'' (1984). Both featured Burns reprising his role, but no other characters from the original story.

Plot

God appears as a kindly old man to Jerry Landers, an assistant supermarket manager. He tells Jerry that he has been selected to be His messenger to the modern world, much like a contemporary

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

. Landers tells his wife, children and a religion editor of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' of his encounters with God and becomes a national icon of comedic fodder. Jerry appears on television with

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

and describes the look God takes when He encounters him. The next day, after Jerry is stranded from a car breakdown, God appears as a taxi driver to take him home, where they are met by a bunch of chanting "religious nuts". Before He disappears, God consoles Jerry that he has the "strength that comes from knowing". Landers finds his life turned upside down as a group of

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

s attempt to discredit him. They challenge him to answer a series of questions in

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

while locked in a hotel room alone, to prove God is contacting him directly. After an agonizing wait, God delivers food to Jerry and answers the questions. After being sued for slander by a charismatic preacher whom God directed Jerry to call a "phony", Jerry decides to prove his story in a court of law. He argues that if

God's existence The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the exis ...

is a reasonable possibility, he can materialize and sit in the witness chair if he chooses. At first, God fails to appear and the judge threatens to charge Jerry with contempt. Jerry argues that when everyone waited a moment to see what would happen when he raised the mere possibility of God appearing, it proved he at least deserved the benefit of the doubt. Suddenly, without opening the doors, God appears and asks to be sworn in. He provides some miracles, first in the form of card tricks for the judge. Then He leaves the stand, walks a few steps, and, with everyone watching, disappears. God's voice does not appear on the court tape recording, nor on the court stenographer's tape. The judge has no choice but to dismiss the case. Some time later, Jerry meets God again. God states that He is going on a trip to spend some time with animals. Jerry expresses worry that they failed, but God compares him to

Johnny Appleseed Johnny Appleseed (born John Chapman; September 26, 1774March 18, 1845) was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced trees grown with apple seeds (as opposed to trees grown with grafting) to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, I ...

, saying he was given the best seeds and they will take root. God prepares to leave and says He will not be coming back. Jerry then asks what to do if he needs to talk with him. God says, "I'll tell you what, you talk. I'll listen.” Jerry smiles as God departs.

Cast

Casting

Gelbart originally wanted

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

to play Jerry Landers and

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

to play God but Allen declined because he was already making his own film dealing with God, ''

Stardust Memories ''Stardust Memories'' is a 1980 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, who stars alongside Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, Marie-Christine Barrault, and Tony Roberts. Sharon Stone has a brief role, in her film de ...

''.

Release

The film was released on October 7, 1977 in 198 theaters and earned $1.9 million on its opening weekend. It ultimately grossed $51,061,196 domestically, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 1977.

Reception

''Oh, God!'' was a critical and commercial success. It was regarded in many reviews as one of the best films of 1977, including

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert. Siskel started writing for the '' ...

, who placed it on his top 10 list for the year.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the film 3.5 stars out of possible 4, praising the casting of Burns and Denver and noting that ''Oh God!'' struck the right tone by avoiding both pious religious platitudes and "cheap shots" about faith. The film holds a 72% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

from 29 reviews. The site's consensus states: "''Oh, God!''s Biblical playfulness makes for more cute farce than divine comedy, but George Burns' sly performance as the Almighty gives this high concept gravitas".

Awards

's screenplay received an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and a

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...

nod for Best Writing. The screenplay also won the Writers Guild

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. ''Oh, God!'' was also awarded two Saturn Awards for Best Fantasy Film and Best Actor for

. It received an additional nomination for Carl Reiner's direction.

Legacy

''Oh, God!'' has become a cornerstone of the ''

On Cinema ''On Cinema'' (also called ''On Cinema at the Cinema'') is an American comedy web series and podcast starring Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington as amateur film critics. The duo appear as fictionalized versions of themselves. The show started ...

'' parody film review series, appearing as a recurring joke for several years. Its filming locations are featured repeatedly in the "On Cinema On Location" segments, as well as a segment in the "On Cinema Live" touring show, where Gregg Turkington presented "a slideshow detailing the career trajectories of actors who starred in ''Oh, God!''".

References

External links

* * * * {{Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film 1973–1990 1977 films 1970s fantasy comedy films 1970s American films American fantasy comedy films 1970s English-language films Films about God Films about Christianity Films based on American novels Films based on fantasy novels Films directed by Carl Reiner Films scored by Jack Elliott (composer) Films set in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by Larry Gelbart Religious comedy films Warner Bros. films Columbia Pictures films 1977 comedy films American courtroom films Films produced by Jerry Weintraub English-language fantasy comedy films Saturn Award–winning films Religion in fantasy fiction