And Now Tomorrow

Last updated

And Now Tomorrow
And Now Tomorrow FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Irving Pichel
Screenplay by Frank Partos
Raymond Chandler
Based onAnd Now Tomorrow
1942 novel
by Rachel Field
Produced byFred Kohlmar
Starring Alan Ladd
Loretta Young
Susan Hayward
Barry Sullivan
Cinematography Daniel L. Fapp
Edited by W. Duncan Mansfield
Music by Victor Young
Production
company
Paramount Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • November 22, 1944 (1944-11-22)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office891,418 admissions (France, 1946) [1]

And Now Tomorrow is a 1944 American drama film based on the best-selling novel, published in 1942 by Rachel Field, directed by Irving Pichel and written by Raymond Chandler. Both center around one doctor's attempt for curing deafness. The film stars Alan Ladd, Loretta Young, and Susan Hayward. Its tagline was Who are you that a man can't make love to you?. It is also known as Prisoners of Hope.

Contents

Plot

Emily Blair, born into a very wealthy family in Blairtown, becomes deaf after contracting meningitis. She has left home, trying in vain to find a cure for her deafness, but is now returning to Blairtown. Before leaving, she was engaged to Jeff Stoddard, but put the wedding on hold because of her illness and the following hearing disability.

On her return home, she shares a taxi with Dr. Merek Vance, who also grew up in Blairtown, but under less fortunate circumstances. He works as a physician in Pittsburgh. Merek's first impression of Emily is that she is a terrible snob, and he is surprised to learn that she can read lips.

Emily is unaware that her former fiancé Jeff and her younger sister Janice have fallen in love with each other. Jeff is reluctant to tell Emily about his new relationship, feeling sorry for her.

Merek is unaware that he is summoned back to his hometown to help Dr. Weeks, Blairtown's only physician, in trying to cure Emily's deafness. Merek has a record of curing deaf patients in the past. When Merek learns the reason for his being summoned there, he is disappointed, but agrees to help as a favor to Dr. Weeks.

At a dinner at the Blair residence that evening, Merek tells Emily what he really thinks of her, and it turns out his father used to work in one of the Blair factories, but was fired right before Christmas one year. Merek still remembers how Emily stared at him at the company's Christmas gathering.

Emily is not keen on the idea of letting Merek use her as a "guinea pig", but since she has exhausted all her other alternatives, she eventually agrees to let him try to cure her.

The treatment begins, and Merek tries to cure Emily not only of her deafness, but also of her snobbery. She gains the respect of some of the factory workers, the Gallos, when she helps the doctor treat their child, Tommy. Merek starts to change his view of Emily, and tells her not to marry Jeff, as she has planned.

Upon their return to the Blair residence, Merek accidentally sees Jeff and Janice together, and understands that they are an item. He keeps the discovery to himself, and doesn't reveal anything to Emily.

Some time later, Merek concludes that his treatment is not working, but he tells her that he has fallen in love with her, despite her snobbish manners. Emily doesn't believe he is sincere, and they stop the treatment altogether and Merek goes back to Pittsburgh.

Since Jeff still hasn't told Emily about his love for Janice, Emily starts planning for their wedding again. She hears of a new treatment that Merek has successfully tested on rabbits, and asks him to return and try it on her too. Reluctantly, Merek agrees, but when Emily is given the serum, she falls into a coma.

Devastated, Merek goes back to Pittsburgh. When Emily eventually wakes up from her coma, she discovers that she has gotten her hearing back. She overhears Jeff telling Janice that he loves her, but she also understands that she herself is in love with Merek. Emily then goes to Pittsburgh to confess her love for Merek, and they reconcile. [2]

Cast

Production

The film was based on the last novel of Rachel Field. Field died on 15 March 1942, when the story was being serialised in a magazine; it was published in May. [3] The book became a best seller. [4] [5] Paramount bought the film rights for $75,000, outbidding Warner Bros and David O. Selznick. They originally announced George Stevens would direct. [6] Susan Hayward was announced early on to play one of the two sisters. [7] Loretta Young and Joel McCrea were then named to play the other leads. [8] Talbot Jennings was reported as working on the script. [9] Irving Pichel was assigned to direct. For a time Veronica Lake was mentioned as Young's co-star [10] but Hayward ended up playing the role.

In September McCrea dropped out to do war work and was replaced by Franchot Tone. [11] Jane Murfin was then working on the script. The film was meant to start production in November. Then Alan Ladd was invalided out of the army and became available for the role; Tone was dropped and replaced by Ladd. [12] Hedda Hopper reported in her regular column around this time that "when Loretta Young and Alan Ladd played in China together, he swore he'd never make another picture with her. That's all forgotten now." [13]

Raymond Chandler signed a long-term contract with Paramount in late 1943 and he was put to work on the script. [14]

Filming took place in December 1943 through to January 1944.

Loretta Young later said she "never made any contact" with Ladd as an actor:

He wouldn't look at me. He'd say, "I love you..." he'd be looking out there some place. Finally, I said, "Alan, I'm he-ere!!"... I think he was very conscious of his looks. Alan would not look beyond a certain point in the camera because he didn't think he looked good... Jimmy Cagney was not tall but somehow Jimmy was at terms with himself, always. I don't think Alan Ladd ever came to terms with himself. [15]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times said the film had "taken a provocative idea and treated it conventionally." [16]

The film was a hit at the box office. [17]

Adaptations

Ladd and Young reprised their roles in a one-hour adaptation of the film for Lux Radio Theatre on May 21, 1945. [18] It was introduced by guest producer Preston Sturges. On June 10, 1946, Lux Radio Theatre broadcast a second adaptation, this time with Olivia de Havilland and John Lund in the lead roles. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Hayward</span> American actress (1917–1975)

Susan Hayward was an American actress best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelley Winters</span> American actress (1920–2006)

Shelley Winters was an American film actress whose career spanned seven decades. She won Academy Awards for The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and A Patch of Blue (1965), and received nominations for A Place in the Sun (1951) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). She also appeared in A Double Life (1947), The Night of the Hunter (1955), Lolita (1962), Alfie (1966), Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), and Pete's Dragon (1977). In addition to film, Winters appeared in television, including a tenure on the sitcom Roseanne, and wrote three autobiographical books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veronica Lake</span> American actress (1922–1973)

Constance Frances Marie Ockelman, known professionally as Veronica Lake, was an American film, stage, and television actress. Lake was best known for her femme fatale roles in film noirs with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, her peek-a-boo hairstyle, and films such as Sullivan's Travels (1941) and I Married a Witch (1942). By the late 1940s, Lake's career began to decline, due in part to her alcoholism. She made only one film in the 1950s, but made several guest appearances on television. She returned to the big screen in the film Footsteps in the Snow (1966), but the role failed to revitalize her career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Ladd</span> American actor (1913–1964)

Alan Walbridge Ladd was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in films noir, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Whispering Smith (1948) was his first Western and color film, and Shane (1953) was noted for its contributions to the genre. Ladd also appeared in ten films with William Bendix.

<i>This Gun for Hire</i> 1942 film by Frank Tuttle

This Gun for Hire is a 1942 American film noir crime film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, and Alan Ladd. It is based on the 1936 novel A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Farrow</span> Australian film director (1904–1963)

John Villiers Farrow, KGCHS was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, in 1942 he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for Wake Island, and in 1957 he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Around the World in Eighty Days. He had seven children by his wife, actress Maureen O'Sullivan, including actress Mia Farrow.

<i>Moon Over Miami</i> (film) 1941 film by Walter Lang

Moon Over Miami is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Walter Lang with Betty Grable and Don Ameche in leading roles and co-starring Robert Cummings, Carole Landis, Jack Haley and Charlotte Greenwood. It was adapted from the play by Stephen Powys. This was previously adapted into a 1938 film titled Three Blind Mice directed by William A. Seiter and starring Loretta Young, Joel McCrea and David Niven.

<i>Broadway</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by William A. Seiter

Broadway is a 1942 crime drama musical film directed by William A. Seiter and starring George Raft as himself and Pat O'Brien as a detective. The supporting cast features Janet Blair and Broderick Crawford.

<i>The Badlanders</i> 1958 film by Delmer Daves

The Badlanders is a 1958 American western caper film directed by Delmer Daves and starring Alan Ladd and Ernest Borgnine. Based on the 1949 novel The Asphalt Jungle by W. R. Burnett, the story was given an 1898 setting by screenwriter Richard Collins.

<i>Island of Lost Women</i> 1959 film by Frank Tuttle

Island of Lost Women is a 1959 American independently made black-and-white castaways melodrama film, produced by George C. Bertholon, Albert J. Cohen, and Alan Ladd, that was directed by Frank Tuttle and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film stars Jeff Richards, Venetia Stevenson, John Smith, Alan Napier, Diane Jergens, and June Blair. The film's storyline borrows details from Shakespeare's The Tempest and more contemporaneously the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet.

<i>Boy on a Dolphin</i> 1957 film by Jean Negulesco

Boy on a Dolphin is a 1957 American romantic adventure film theatrically released by 20th Century-Fox. It is set in Greece and shot in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope. It was directed by Jean Negulesco and produced by Samuel G. Engel from a screenplay by Ivan Moffat and Dwight Taylor, based on the 1955 novel of the same name by David Divine.

<i>The Glass Key</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by Stuart Heisler

The Glass Key is a 1942 American film noir based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The picture was directed by Stuart Heisler starring Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. A successful earlier film version starring George Raft in Ladd's role had been released in 1935. The 1942 version's supporting cast features William Bendix, Bonita Granville, Richard Denning and Joseph Calleia.

<i>The Accused</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by William Dieterle

The Accused is a 1949 American melodrama film starring Loretta Young and Robert Cummings. It was directed by William Dieterle, produced by Hal Wallis, and written by Ketti Frings, based on Be Still, My Love, a 1947 novel written by June Truesdell. Wendell Corey appears in principal support.

<i>The Carpetbaggers</i> (film) 1964 film

The Carpetbaggers is a 1964 American drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk, based on the best-selling 1961 novel The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins and starring George Peppard as Jonas Cord, a character based loosely on Howard Hughes, and Alan Ladd in his last role as Nevada Smith, a former Western gunslinger turned actor. The supporting cast features Carroll Baker as a character extremely loosely based on Jean Harlow as well as Martha Hyer, Bob Cummings, Elizabeth Ashley, Lew Ayres, Ralph Taeger, Leif Erickson, Archie Moore and Tom Tully.

<i>Saigon</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Leslie Fenton

Saigon is a 1948 American crime film directed by Leslie Fenton starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, in their fourth and final film together. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures and was one of the last films Veronica Lake made under her contract with the studio. Ladd and Lake made four films together; This Gun for Hire and The Glass Key, both in 1942, The Blue Dahlia in 1946 and Saigon. While the earlier films all proved to be big box office successes, Saigon did not do as well financially. Ladd continued to remain one of Paramount's top male stars, while Lake's career was in decline. By the end of 1948 her contract with Paramount had expired and the studio chose not to renew it.

<i>Lucky Jordan</i> 1942 film by Frank Tuttle

Lucky Jordan is a 1942 comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Alan Ladd in his first leading role, Helen Walker in her film debut and Sheldon Leonard. The screenplay concerns a self-centered gangster who tangles with Nazi spies.

<i>Calcutta</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by John Farrow

Calcutta is a 1947 American film noir crime film directed by John Farrow, and written and produced by Seton I. Miller. The drama features Alan Ladd, Gail Russell and William Bendix.

<i>Salty ORourke</i> 1945 film by Raoul Walsh

Salty O'Rourke is a 1945 American sports drama film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Alan Ladd, Gail Russell and William Demarest. Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it was nominated for an Academy Award in 1946.

<i>China</i> (1943 film) 1943 film by John Farrow

China is a 1943 film directed by John Farrow and starring Loretta Young, Alan Ladd and William Bendix. Ladd's character David Llewellyn Jones, wearing a fedora, a leather jacket, khakis and a beard stubble, was an inspiration for Indiana Jones. Aside from Tala Birell as one of Jones' paramours at the beginning of the film, the entire supporting cast is Asian, including Philip Ahn and Richard Loo.

<i>Because of You</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Joseph Pevney

Because of You is a 1952 American drama romance film noir directed by Joseph Pevney and starred Loretta Young and Jeff Chandler. This film was surprising in that it showed a provocative "sexy side" of Miss Young, quite different from her usual dignified brunette "nice girl" part.

References

  1. ↑ "French box office for 1946". Box Office Story.
  2. ↑ "And Now Tomorrow". Turner Classic Movies Database.
  3. ↑ "Rachel Field, 47, Novelist, is Dead: 'All This and Heaven, Too' Was Based on Life of Great-Aunt – Stricken in Los Angeles Wrote Children's Books, She Won Medal for Juvenile Volumes, 'Time Out of Mind' Among Works". The New York Times. March 16, 1942. p. 15.
  4. ↑ "Books: 43 Books Top 100,000 Mark in 1942 Sales Butcher". Chicago Daily Tribune. December 30, 1942. p. 14.
  5. ↑ "The Best Sellers Of the Week". New York Times. September 14, 1942. p. 13.
  6. ↑ "Screen News Here and in Hollywood: Paramount Pays $75,000 for 'And Now Tomorrow,' Late Rachel Field's Last Novel 'In This Our Life' to Open. Film Based on Pulitzer Prize Novel at Strand – Premiere for 'Kipps' on May 23". New York Times. May 8, 1942. p. 27.
  7. ↑ Schallert, Edwin (April 20, 1943). "Drama and Film: Susan Hayward Likely Lead in Field Drama Diana Lewis Chosen for 'Cry Havoc;' 'America's Children' Aimed Abroad". Los Angeles Times. p. 21.
  8. ↑ "Drama and Film: McCrea to Act Doctor Role in Field Story Laughton Will join Cast of 'Dragon Seed;' Lon McCallister Set for Film at 20th Scheuer". Los Angeles Times. August 10, 1943. p. 11.
  9. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K. (August 10, 1943). "Drama and Film: McCrea to Act Doctor Role in Field Story Laughton Will join Cast of 'Dragon Seed;' Lon McCallister Set for Film at 20th". Los Angeles Times. p. 11.
  10. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K. (September 8, 1943). "Screen and Stage: 'Mr. Jordan' to Return Sans Bob Montgomery Claudia Drake Cast as 'Great Love' of Goebbels in Forthcoming Movie". Los Angeles Times. p. A10.
  11. ↑ "Screen News Here and in Hollywood: Lukas Is Named for 'Address Unknown' – E.G. Robinson to Star in 'Once Off Guard' New Laughton Film Due ' The Man From Down Under,' Topical Drama, Will Open at Globe Theatre Today". The New York Times. September 25, 1943. p. 10.
  12. ↑ "Screen News Here and in Hollywood: Alan Ladd Will Have Lead Role in 'And Now Tomorrow' – 'Sahara' Opens Today". New York Times. November 11, 1943. p. 28.
  13. ↑ "Screen and Stage: Hedda Hopper Looking at Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. December 16, 1943. p. 12.
  14. ↑ "Screen News Here and in Hollywood: Lowell Gilmore Is Named for Role in 'Dorian Gray' – Fox 'Happy Land' Opens Today". The New York Times. December 8, 1943. p. 33.
  15. ↑ Funk 2015, p. 236.
  16. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K. (November 21, 1944). "Deaf Heroine Motivates Paramount Screen Play". Los Angeles Times. p. 11.
  17. ↑ Funk 2015, p. 233.
  18. ↑ "Two Local Soldiers, WAC On 'Curtain Time' Tonight". Youngstown Vindicator (Ohio). May 21, 1945. p. 9. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Monday Selections". Toledo Blade (Ohio). June 10, 1946. p. 4 (Peach Section). Retrieved May 13, 2021.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.