Tomorrow Is Forever

Gwen Bristow’s 1943 novel, Tomorrow Is Forever, was probably timely in its rousing pro-war sentiments, but the International Pictures 1946 version of it seems out of place, rah-rah propaganda promoting a world war which was already over. A so-called “women’s picture”, it’s sad, gloppy and sentimental and yet – it could have been written and directed with believably earned emotional payoffs in mind.

Tomorrow Is Forever begins during WWI. Elizabeth (Claudette Colbert) and John (Orson Welles) are happily married when he volunteers togo to war. He isn’t gone terribly long before Elizabeth’s boss, Lawrence Hamilton (George Brent) starts making subtle moves on her – and practically becomes a household fixture when John is declared dead and her son, Drew (Richard Long, in his first role), is born. Well off and sporting immaculate suits and ties, he convinces her to marry him and bring up children in his huge mansion, while the house she shared with John is sold to another family and is eventually abandoned (though locked up, I was glad to see).

Only – spoiler alert – John didn’t die. With a disfigured face (fixed with plastic surgery), John first wants to die and then, in shame, doesn’t want to return to the U.S. This is the first completely unbelievable plot point: John doesn’t want to come home to Claudette Colbert?

Skip ahead twenty years; John now returns to the states with a new name – Kessler – an Austrian accent, a beard, a limp and a delightful orphan girl (Natalie Wood, seven years old and in her first real film role). He’s a chemist and he goes to work for – unbelievable plot point #2 – Elizabeth’s husband, Lawrence. Lawrence invites Kessler to his house for dinner and – unbelievable plot point #3 – Elizabeth doesn’t immediately recognize her former husband (the distinctive Orson Welles voice alone would have tipped her off). Kessler has the further indignity and sad experience of conversing with his grown-up son, Drew. With Germany having invaded Poland, Drew is eager to join the service, making Elizabeth distraught at the thought that she may lose two men in her life to war.

It’s unfortunate that Tomorrow‘s plot is so contrived because the talent involved is formidable and Welles’ understated acting in the family scenes can bring a tear to the most jaded eye. When Elizabeth finally admits to herself that Kessler is her former husband, the conflict becomes whether she’ll divulge the deception to her present family – a conflict ridiculously resolved in the last three minutes of the film in unbelievable plot point #4 (which I won’t divulge here – though I’m certain it’s not worth watching the film for).

Tomorrow is also hampered by Max Steiner’s heavy score which rarely stops, at every step telling, pummeling, warning the audience what emotion they should be feeling. It’s, in short, very annoying, as is the case with so many ’40s and ’50s Hollywood films. Early talkie (i.e. pre-code) films demonstrate that silence can be golden.

Tomorrow Is Forever was previously only available as a burn-on-demand disc from MGM, but has been recently released on Blu-ray.

—Michael R. Neno, 2018 Oct 07