Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)

An American World War I soldier, whose disfigured face is reconstructed by Austrian plastic surgeons, returns home after twenty years, but no one recognizes him, his widow is married to another man, and his son is a grown young man.

Director:

Irving Pichel

Writers:

Gwen Bristow (by), Lenore J. Coffee (screen play) (as Lenore Coffee)

Stars:

Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, George Brent

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Claudette Colbert	...	Elizabeth Hamilton
Orson Welles	...	John Andrew MacDonald / Erik Kessler
George Brent	...	Lawrence Hamilton
Lucile Watson	...	Aunt Jessica Hamilton (as Lucille Watson)
Richard Long	...	Drew Hamilton
Natalie Wood	...	Margaret Ludwig
John Wengraf	...	Dr. Ludwig
Sonny Howe	...	Brian Hamilton
Ian Wolfe	...	Norton
Joyce Mackenzie	...	Cherry Davis (as Joyce MacKenzie)

Storyline

Elizabeth and John say goodbye as John leaves to go to war. When World War I ends, Elizabeth receives a telegram that John has been killed in action. She finds comfort in Larry and they marry. John returns 20 years later, disfigured, with a new identity, Erik, and an adopted daughter, Margaret. John/Erik and Elizabeth accidentally meet and he learns that he has a son, Drew. John must then decide whether or not to reveal his true identity.

---

Plot Keywords:

face bandage | photograph | melodrama | orphan | death | 

---

Taglines:

WITHIN A WOMAN'S HEART - YESTERDAY is gone.... TODAY cannot last.... and only TOMORROW is forever!

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

January 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mañana es vivir

Filming Locations:

RMS Queen Mary - 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,300,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$3,250,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

International Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The same year, Richard Long was directed by (and co-starred with) Orson Welles in the film noir The Stranger. In both films, Long played an idealistic young man (from America) while Orson Welles spoke with a thick German (in this film, Austrian) accent.

---

Goofs

Lucile Watson's name is misspelled "Lucille" in the opening credits.

---

Quotes

John Andrew MacDonald: Would you take away the father he has, only to tell him his real father is dead, and leave him with no father at all?

---

Connections

Featured in Too Young to Die: Natalie Wood - Die Macht der Prophezeiung (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Till We Meet Again
(1918) (uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Played when John tells Elizabeth he must leave and often throughout the picture

User Reviews

The Saddest Movie I Know

It's interesting to compare the hero's sacrifice in Tomorrow is Forever with the hero's in Casablanca. Rick (Bogart) leaves Ilsa in Casablanca to her husband for the good of the world, and for a cause he believes in (fighting the Nazis) -- a cause he will participate in. But John/Erik (Welles), while he leaves Elizabeth for the good of the same cause he fervently believes in, can not participate. He is crippled and sickly from the First World War (he is probably emasculated, as well). Unlike Rick, he can neither reveal his identity or his love for the woman he left behind -- even though she may know it. He only says openly that the cause is all. But, unlike Rick, he is lying within himself. Elizabeth is the abiding passion in his life, his only possibility of emotional fulfillment. Yet, even so, the world comes first. And he sacrifices for this cause to the point of his own non-existence. It is truly the greater sacrifice. It is a wonderfully acted film, which makes the lost love of John and Elizabeth the most poignant I have ever shared as a movie viewer.