Tomorrow Is Forever [Blu-ray]

Director: Irving Pichel Irving Pichel

Overview

Tomorrow is Forever was adapted by Lenore Coffee from the novel by Gwen Bristow. The blissful marriage between John (Orson Welles) and Elizabeth (Claudette Colbert) comes to an abrupt end when John is listed as missing and presumed dead in WWI. After a respectable period of mourning, Elizabeth, now a single mother, marries chemical-plant executive Larry Hamilton (George Brent), by whom she has a daughter, Margaret (Natalie Wood, in her first major film role). Twenty years later, a refugee Austrian chemist named Erich Kessler is hired by Hamilton. Kessler turns out to be the long-missing John, now suffering from amnesia, his face completely reconstructed by plastic surgery. Upon ascertaining Kessler's true identity, Elizabeth is faced with the sort of devastating dilemma indigenous to glossy soap operas of this nature. The film's central conflict arises from John/Erich's opposition to his grown son Drew's (Richard Long) participation in WW2. At the time of the film's release, publicists for Tomorrow is Forever paid more attention to Claudette Colbert's 18 costume changes than to Orson Welles' virtuoso performance in what amounted to a dual role.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/19/2017
UPC:	0851968007125
Original Release:	1946
Rating:	NR
Source:	Classicflix
Language:	English
Time:	1:44:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Claudette Colbert	Elizabeth Hamilton
George Brent	Lawrence Hamilton
Orson Welles	John Andrew MacDonald / Erik Kessler
Lucile Watson	Aunt Jessica Hamilton,Hamilton's Secretary
Richard Long	Drew
Natalie Wood	Margaret,Charles Hamilton
Sonny Howe	Brian
John Wengraf	Dr. Ludwig
Ian Wolfe	Norton
Joyce MacKenzie	Cherry
Tom Wirick	Pudge
Henry Hastings	Butler
Michael Ward	Baby Drew
Jesse Graves	Servant
Lois Austin	Receptionist
Anne Loos	Freckle-Faced Nurse
Thomas Louden	Englishman on Ship
Charles D. Brown	Immigration Officer
Milton Kibbee	Postman,Postman
Anne Howard	Girl Friend
Marguerite Campbell	Girl Friend
Betty Greco	Girl Friend
Bobby Brooks	Girl Friend
Barbara Bletcher	Girl Friend
Libby Taylor	Maid
Lane Chandler	Technician
Boyd Irwin	Dr. Callan
Evan Thomas	Ship Doctor
Thomas Lockyear	Englishman on ship
Buster Phelps	Fraternity Boy
Frank Wyrick	Fraternity Boy
Irving Pichel	Commentator
Bill Dyer	Fraternity Boy
Helen Gerald	Girl
Nena Ruth	Girl
Jessie Grayson	Servant

Technical Credits

Lenore J. Coffee

Irving Pichel	Director
Lenore J. Coffee	Screenwriter
David Lewis	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Tomorrow Is Forever is a strange mixture of "women's picture" and topical World War II drama. Covering two generations in a family's story, it is doubly strange for having come out in 1946. In a sense, the movie was late -- if it had been done in 1942 or 1943, it could have been an American version of Mrs. Miniver, with far more to say about families and responsibility in wartime than something like the much-vaunted Since You Went Away; but it came out too late for that. Instead, it's a very wistful, romantic movie, set in a time that was safely past in 1946, with a poignant, two-handkerchief ending. It was strongly reminiscent of a similar movie by Paramount from the same year called To Each His Own. Luckily, Tomorrow Is Forever never went as far afield in its plot and story machinations as To Each His Own; it also addressed issues that its audience would still have been coming to grips with in 1946. The end of the war raised all manner of questions about whether the sacrifice had been worth it, and Tomorrow Is Forever, despite its romantic veneer and woman's picture accouterments, shouted an emphatic "Yes!" and reminded audiences why that was true. It's also a very good drama, with some strong characterizations across the entire cast, led by Orson Welles, even though he's only onscreen for a little more than half of the movie. The last 30 minutes of the film are an acting tour de force for him, and he gives an excellent performance as both MacDonald and Kessler. George Brent once again gets to play a decent man struggling to do the decent thing; Claudette Colbert, far more than in Since You Went Away, was an excellent screen Everymother; and little Natalie Wood, not yet eight years old, nearly steals the end of the movie with her portrayal of a once again orphaned waif. Director Irving Pichel might not have had the sense of style or creativity that Welles would have brought to a movie (and it is funny to see Welles in so straightforward a drama in this part of his career), but he knew drama and how to make it work. Finally, Max Steiner's score puts the whole movie over the top as one of the finest (and most serious) romantic dramas of its era.