Gangway for Tomorrow (1943)

Director:

John H. Auer

Writers:

Aladar Laszlo (story)
Arch Oboler (writer)

Release Date:

3 November 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Sensational Drama That X-rays the Secret Hearts of 5 "Ordinary" Men and Women!

Plot:

On the way to work, five defence workers contemplate their pasts and their own reasons for working. |

Plot Keywords:

French | Car Accident | Prison Warden | Weapon | Execution

Cast

Margo	...	Lisette Rene
John Carradine	...	Mr. Wellington
Robert Ryan	...	Joe Dunham
Amelita Ward	...	Mary Jones, Miss America
William Terry	...	Bob Nolan
Harry Davenport	...	Fred Taylor
James Bell	...	Tom Burke
Charles Arnt	...	Jim Benson
Alan Carney	...	Swallow
Wally Brown	...	Sam
Erford Gage	...	Dan Barton
Richard Ryen	...	Col. Mueller
Warren Hymer	...	Pete
Michael St. Angel	...	Jim Johnson - Mechanic
Don Dillaway	...	Frank Danielson - Mechanic

Runtime:

69 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Sweden:15

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Considering when it was made, this is a very effective propaganda piece

The film begins with a group of employees carpooling to work. It seems that they hardly know each other but they all work at the nearby defense plant. The driver breaks the usual silence by telling them that since they really don't know each other, he's been telling his wife stories about each of them. Now, he needed to confess this because the wife is insisting he invite them all to a party! From this point on, the film is a long series of flashbacks where you get to learn more about each character as well as why they are now working for the airplane factory.

I think that much of the impact of this film is lost today unless you understand the context. The United States was in the middle of WWII and Hollywood felt a strong obligation to aid in the war effort by producing films that encouraged the people at home to do their best to support their country. At the time, a film like this would have been quite popular and few would have second-guessed the producers and writers for making such a sentimental film. So it is in this context that I hope viewers watch this film--after all, it's easy to see the film as hard to believe now, but at the time this was timely and important.

As for the technical merits of the film, the script is rather interesting--with some of the vignettes being excellent and a couple being just okay. The acting is good and it's nice to see a young Robert Ryan in one of his first films as well as the reliable old character actor, John Carradine in one of his more "normal" roles.