There's Always Tomorrow (1955)

When a toy manufacturer feels ignored and unappreciated by by his wife and children, he begins to rekindle a past love when a former employee comes back into his life.

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Bernard C. Schoenfeld (screenplay), Ursula Parrott (story)

Stars:

Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Norma Miller Vale
Fred MacMurray	...	Clifford Groves
Joan Bennett	...	Marion Groves
William Reynolds	...	Vinnie Groves
Pat Crowley	...	Ann
Gigi Perreau	...	Ellen Groves
Jane Darwell	...	Mrs. Rogers
Race Gentry	...	Bob
Myrna Hansen	...	Ruth
Judy Nugent	...	Frances (Frankie) Groves
Paul Smith	...	Bellboy
Helen Kleeb	...	Miss Walker
Jane Howard	...	Flower Girl
Frances Mercer	...	Ruth Doran
Sheila Bromley	...	Woman from Pasadena

Storyline

Clifford Groves, toy manufacturer, is in full charge at the factory but feels left out and taken for granted by his wife and children at home. Alone and depressed, he meets old flame Norma, and one thing leads to another. While their relationship is still fairly innocent, his son Vinnie sees them together and suspects the worst. It's time for tortured souls behind rain-streaming windows...

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Plot Keywords:

toy factory | los angeles california | remake | based on novel | toy | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 March 1956 (UK)

Also Known As:

Es gibt immer ein Morgen

Filming Locations:

Apple Valley Inn - Apple Valley Inn Road, Apple Valley, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris named it as one of his 10 favorite films in the 2002 BFI Sight & Sound Poll.

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Goofs

Near the end of the film, Cliff bumps the toy robot on the table, starting it walking towards the camera and he walks back to the shop window. The camera starts tracking forward and as the toy robot is walking forwards out of the shot, bottom left, the shadow of the camera falls across the toy robot.

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Quotes

Marion Groves: At my age a birthday is only a time to turn all mirrors to the wall.

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Connections

Featured in Perspectives on the American Family: Allison Anders on Douglas Sirk's 'There's Always Tomorrow' (2008)

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Soundtracks

Blue Moon
(uncredited)
Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Played on one of the toys and heard as a theme throughout the film

User Reviews

Heaven does not allow everything.

Coming,in Sirk's career ,just after "All that Heaven allows" ,it looks like its twin movie.Unlike "Written on the wind" or "Imitation of life" or "Magnificent obsession" ,it's not melodrama.It's closer to realistic psychological drama.More than the lingering charm of a romantic past (Blue Moon/You saw me standing alone/Without a love of my own),Sirk focuses on the selfishness of the children.Remember in "All that Heaven..." how the son and the daughter could not admit that their mother (of the upper class) should fall in love with a gardener and how they bought her a TV set where she only could see the reflection of her loneliness.Here the boy's attitude is not far from that: a spoiled child -as his sisters are- ,only concerned by his studies and his love affair,he does not care if his papa has become a nine-to-five man ,useful only for the dough he brings home,a life no more exciting than that of the toy robot he sells.Barbara Stanwyck 's role recalls the 1953 effort "all I desire" : the return of the woman,be she legitimate or a former flame.But in "there's always tomorrow",one can notice one of the permanent features of melodrama though: the woman who turns her back on love and becomes a successful businesswoman (or star) (see also the end of "written on the wind" "imitation of life" or Stahl's "only yesterday")