I caught this on television today and was pretty impressed by the simple yet charming storyline. George Burns was in top form playing the dual roles as God and the devil. I'm surprised this film didn't get more recognition back in the day.
Nosey little bastard, ain't ya?
It actually did pretty well upon first release (though not the complete hit smash the original Oh God! was) - critics liked it quite a bit and I think it made a few bucks.
I thought it was really good too.
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Wait a minute... who am I here?
You sure about that, Doom? I seem to recall a promotional blitzkrieg that fizzled pretty quickly, a bunch of bad reviews, and since they never pushed forward with a fourth movie I always presumed it was a massive flop -- granted, I was pretty young at the time, so my perception might've been off. I do know it was in heavy rotation on HBO for the rest of the decade.. but so were "Midnight Madness," "Meatballs 3" and "The Pirate Movie," so that's not exactly a great way to gage the film's success.
It cost $5,560,001 and made $21,538,850 in the USA in late 1984, which means it was a modest box office hit.
In addition, Roger Ebert & Gene Siskel gave it a positive review, calling it "charming" and "delightful" "with a wicked sense of humor," which you can see in this video of the show in question (it's the first movie they review): https://siskelebert.org/?p=4508.
It's a funny, amusing, and poignant morality tale and a retelling of the legend of Faust. Both Ted Wass and George Burns are both quite captivating and capable actors. Burns in particular seems to be always at ease and speaks his lines authoritatively and credibly, requiring no strained effort. He also has a wonderful dry sense of humor.
"...sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.” ~ Cool Hand Luke