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

Bogard: I suppose now that you're giving up your home, you're going away?
Diana: No. No. I've moved my things to the gardner's cottage on the place.
Bogard: Oh, I see.
Diana: Please don't worry about me, Mr. Bogard. I'll be quite alright.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Mouth 3 (2018)

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Soundtracks

Marianne
(uncredited)
Music by Fred E. Ahlert
Lyrics by Roy Turk

User Reviews

Talky melodrama of love triangle during World War I...

Despite some very glossy MGM B&W photography, as shown in the good print of this film aired by TCM, and some attractive sets and very Adrian-created costumes for JOAN CRAWFORD, TODAY WE LIVE is a film as generic as its title. It's hard to distinguish from any other triangle romance except that the war background gives it added interest.

The script is a strange affair. It's hard to believe that JOAN CRAWFORD and GARY COOPER would openly declare their deep love for each other after exchanging a few glances across a cup of tea. In the very next scene they're hopelessly in love, with Crawford feeling guilt because she's the fiancé of ROBERT YOUNG.

Young's brother is the carefree FRANCHOT TONE (who walks off with the earlier scenes in the film), while ROBERT YOUNG gets his chance to do a fair share of emoting later in the film as his role expands. It's nice seeing these well-known actors at an early stage in their budding careers and still in their prime.

For GARY COOPER fans this is nothing special, but Crawford's admirers will find that she was at the height of her photogenic, sculptured beauty despite some odd dress designs by Adrian that don't suggest anything but the studio's line of glamor during the early '30s. She wears a boldly designed dress with a strange wing collar that has to be seen to be believed. It's hilarious! And that's just so she can pour tea with some dignity.

The actors all speak in clipped lines. "Good girl," says Franchot Tone on several occasions, trying to sound like Colonel Blimp, I suppose. And the others too adopt a strange way of clipping phrases so they sound more British. Very funny.

It goes into darker territory in the later war scenes and there director Howard Hawks seems more at home. But for a film in which the Joan Crawford character was added as a last minute script change, she certainly gets her fair share of footage and dominates the first forty-five minutes. But the love angle is certainly a strange one. She treats Cooper with rude indifference several times during their first meeting although his behavior is that of the perfect gentleman. Shortly thereafter, she confesses she's in love with him. That's the movies for you.