Review: When Tomorrow Comes
Blu-ray: When Tomorrow Comes (1939)
Irene Dunne plays Helen Lawrence, a waitress at a restaurant who is something of an activist, encouraging her fellow waitresses to join a union and strike for more money and better conditions. A ‘modern woman’.
A very handsome French man comes in one day and as she serves him. They are attracted to one another. He follows her to the union meeting and they agree to have a date the next day. Its only when she returns to his house that she discovers he’s Philip Andre Chagal (Charles Boyer) and is a rich and famous concert pianist. She also notices a lot of photographs of a woman dotted about.
On their next date they are stuck in a heavy storm and have to sleep in a church. Philip tells Helen he is married.
The next day Philip wants Helen to meet his ‘mad’ ‘unhinged’ wife Madeline. Helen doesn’t want to and ends the relationship but she still ends up having to meet her.
This is quite an odd story, and so similar to Jane Eyre, where Helen is Jane, Philp is Mr Rochester and Madeleine his wife, mad Mrs R. It also boasts one of the most unsatisfactory ‘Is that it!?’ endings we’ve seen at 60MW.
However, this is yet again, another worthwhile releases from Powerhouse Films. No other company releases truly great older films, ones we certainly would never have the chance of seeing or enjoying.
Fantastic (despite the annoying non-ending!).
INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES
- 2K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with academic and curator Eloise Ross (2024)
- Stormy Weather (2024, 20 mins): writer and critic Geoff Andrew assesses When Tomorrow Comes and its place within the career of producer-director John M Stahl
- The Mark of Cain (2024, 21 mins): critic Michael Brooke discusses the great hard-boiled crime novelist James M Cain, whose 1938 magazine serial A Modern Cinderella inspired When Tomorrow Comes and its two remakes
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
- Script gallery: complete dialogue and continuity screenplay
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition exclusive 40-page booklet with a new essay by Pamela Hutchinson, an archival interview with John M Stahl, a look at author James M Cain’s reaction to the film, a pair of archival promotional pieces in which actors Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer each profile their co-star, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited edition of 3,000 copies for the UK
Review by Tina from a disc kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.
