Oh, God!

The title's no idle blasphemy, for God really does feature in Reiner's highly bizarre, mostly delightful comedy - and in the avuncular shape of George Burns, too, dressed for the golf course. He appears before supermarket manager Denver (more weird casting), determined to tell mankind that he's still around and watching. The result plays like an over-extended version of the Reiner/Mel Brooks 2000-Year-Old Man sketches, where world history is seen through the eyes of a grouchy Jewish old-timer. So here we have God's views on most things from TV to avocados, all enunciated in Burns' inimitably crisp'n'dry manner. Fun ultimately falters with some routine satire, but when the Devil's having such a time at the box-office, this comes as a welcome comic riposte from the other side. Two indifferent sequels followed: Oh, God! Book II (1980) and Oh, God! You Devil (1984).