Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)

An elderly couple are forced to separate when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents in.

Director:

Leo McCarey

Writers:

Viña Delmar (screen play), Josephine Lawrence (based on a novel by),

Stars:

Victor Moore, Beulah Bondi, Fay Bainter

2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Victor Moore	...	Barkley Cooper
Beulah Bondi	...	Lucy Cooper
Fay Bainter	...	Anita Cooper
Thomas Mitchell	...	George Cooper
Porter Hall	...	Harvey Chase
Barbara Read	...	Rhoda Cooper
Maurice Moscovitch	...	Max Rubens
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Cora Payne
Minna Gombell	...	Nellie Chase
Ray Mayer	...	Robert Cooper
Ralph Remley	...	Bill Payne
Louise Beavers	...	Mamie
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Doctor
Gene Morgan	...	Carlton Gorman

Storyline

At a family reunion, the Cooper clan find that their parents' home is being foreclosed. "Temporarily," Ma moves in with son George's family, Pa with daughter Cora. But the parents are like sand in the gears of their middle-aged children's well regulated households. Can the old folks take matters into their own hands?

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Plot Keywords:

elderly | retirement home | second honeymoon | eavesdropping | car salesman | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1937 (France)

Also Known As:

The Years Are So Long

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 85 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though they play elderly parents who have been cast aside by their children, Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi were only 61 and 49, respectively, when this film was made.

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Goofs

After seeing the day's mail, Lucy sits forward, but in the next shot is leaning back.

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Quotes

Pa: It's been very nice knowing you, Miss Breckenridge.

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Connections

References Souls at Sea (1937)

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Soundtracks

"M-O-T-H-E-R"
(1915) (uncredited)
Written by Theodore Morse

User Reviews

McCarey's neglected masterpiece.

Only three things need be said about this exquisite film. Orson Welles said it could make a stone cry. Jean Renoir said that it proved that McCarey was one of the few directors who really understood people. Finally, Robin Wood-gay Marxist atheist- praised it as one of the few good films about old people.( The only other ones I can think of are Scorsese's short documentary about his parents, and- strange to say- Lynch's forthcoming film about the old fellow who drove a John Deere tractor 275 miles to visit his dying brother.) Wood also praised its Marxist critique of the capitalist system. However, its not so much "Marxist' as it is rooted in the best traditions of Catholic socialism, traditions that, judging by some of his later films, McCarey may not have fully understood. P.S. I just thought of two other fairly good films about the aged-Wrestling Ernest Hemingway and The Whales of August.