Today We Live (1933)

During WWI, two officers, one a pilot and the other in the navy, compete for the same beautiful young woman.

Directors:

Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson (co-director)

Writers:

William Faulkner (story "Turn About"), Edith Fitzgerald (screenplay)

Stars:

Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Robert Young

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joan Crawford	...	Diana
Gary Cooper	...	Bogard
Robert Young	...	Claude
Franchot Tone	...	Ronnie
Roscoe Karns	...	McGinnis
Louise Closser Hale	...	Applegate
Rollo Lloyd	...	Major
Hilda Vaughn	...	Eleanor
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gene O'Brien

Storyline

The two lovers are living together and are not married as they hesitantly explain to her brother. They had made a promise as children to get married when they grew up, but they "didn't wait." It's an important plot point as it drives Cooper's actions when he discovers that Crawford and Young are living in sin.

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Plot Keywords:

screenplay adapted by author | officers club | padre | romantic triangle | war memorial | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 April 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Turn About

Filming Locations:

March Air Reserve Base, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$659,710 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The British torpedo boat shown represents a 40-foot Coastal Motor Boat designed by John I. Thornycroft & Company. A total of 39 were built for the Royal Navy by Thronycroft and other firms. Unlike that shown in the film. The torpedo was not launched by gravity. But was pushed back by long steel ram powered by a small cordite charge. And unlike as described in the film. The torpedo's motor was started by a tripwire connecting the torpedo with said steel ram (not upon contact with the water). One example of this class has survived. CMB-4, and is on display at the Imperial War Museum's facility at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England.

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Goofs

Although the story takes place in England, during the World War I period (1916), 'Joan Crawford''s hairstyles and clothes are all strictly contemporary, including some very striking Adrian creations that were the very trademark of the time and place when it was being filmed (Hollywood, 1933.)

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Quotes

Applegate: I never thought I'd live to see the day. There I was and the queen not two feet away. No further than from there to here and talking to me just like I was a sister. I never thought I'd live to see the day.

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Connections

Features Hell's Angels (1930)

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Soundtracks

Poor Butterfly
(uncredited)
Written by John Golden and Raymond Hubbell

User Reviews

For aviation film collectors . . .

The producers saved a lot of money on the action scenes. Most of the RAF combat footage was borrowed from Howard Hughes' epic, "Hell's Angels." The bomber that Gary Cooper and Roscoe Karns fly is a replica used with rear projection. The real one, a Sikorsky S-29, belonged to Roscoe Turner and was used as a stand-in for a German "Gotha" bomber in "...Angels." It was destroyed during a scene in which the aircraft was spun from 7,500 ft. by Hollywood pilot Al Wilson, while mechanic Phil Jones worked the smoke pots in the rear of the cabin. Wilson was unable to recover from the spin and, after shouting to Jones to bail out, left the aircraft. Jones apparently didn't hear the warning and rode the plane to his death in an orange grove in Pacoima, near present-day Whiteman Air Park. The camera crew was not prepared to catch the crash, so a JN-4 ("Jenny") was rigged with dummy wing-mounted engines and pushed over a Santa Paul bluff to recreate the Sikorsky's unplanned crash for the cameras.

The German fighters that Robert Young shoots down in "...We Live" were from the climactic air battle in "...Angels" and were flown by such legendary stunt pilots as Frank Clarke, Frank Tomick and Leo Nomis.

"...We Live" wasn't the only film to use "...Angels" aerial sequences. Others included "Cock of the Air" ('32), "Sky Devils" ('32), "The White Sister" ('33), "Crimson Romance" ('34), "Hell in the Heavens" ('34), "Suzy" ('36), "Ace Drummond" ('36), "Stunt Pilot" ('39) and "Army Surgeon" ('42).