Watch It Happened Tomorrow For Free

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A lot of people seem to think that if a film has some humor in it, then it's a comedy. I quite disagree, and this film is a good example. Yes, there's a goodly share of humor here, but really, the film is a fantasy. It's sort of a different take on the old time travel theme, although here it's only a 24 hour trip for a newspaper reporter who gets into some odd adventures through reading the next day's newspaper today (got it?). But rather than call it a comedy, I prefer to look at it as a story that doesn't take itself too seriously.What makes this picture work so well is the cast. Reportedly, Cary Grant was wanted for the lead, and I certainly can see him in it. But Dick Powell does very nicely. Personally, the Powell films of this time period are improving as he moved from light comedy into drama; you might say that for him this was a transitional piece.I've never thought much of Linda Darnell, but she does quite nicely here as the corny female half of a fortune telling act, and as the love interest for Powell.Jack Oakie is quite entertaining as the uncle of Darnell, and the other half of the fortune telling act.A number of familiar faces fill in the supporting cases, including Edgar Kennedy, but I found John Philliber -- who brings the future newspapers to Powell -- to be most interesting here. I wasn't at all familiar with him, but apparently he did more work in the theatre than in films.This is a very entertaining film. Recommended. You'll have a few laughs, but if you think about it, it's NOT exactly a comedy.

Reporter Stevens (Powell) is tipped off to tomorrow's headlines by mysterious Pop Benson (Philliber) before the events happen. At the same time, Stevens is romancing lovely Sylvia (Darnell) who is part with her uncle (Oakie) of a phony occult stage act.It's Twilight Zone material given a humorously light touch by the masterful Rene Clair, (And Then There Were None {1945}). Considering the final screenplay comes from as many as 7(!) writers, it's surprising the result holds together as well as it does. A key point is watching such a spooky, noirish premise treated humorously, at times even bordering on the farcical. But the gimmick works surprisingly well, thanks also to a number of plausibly intelligent twists. Then too, Powell gets into the swing with a lively, engaging performance. And what a slice of eye candy is the sweetly innocent Darnell, a long way from her usual tough cookie specialty.The premise amounts to an imaginative twist on the old concept of fate. The suspense comes from waiting to see how fate will play out. If you think about it, you see why the portent had to be couched as a newspaper headline. Otherwise the ending would have to be quite different.Anyway, it's an entertaining movie, unusual for the unorthodox treatment. Still, it's that light touch that separates the material from the sci-fi pack for our post-Twilight Zone era.

The film begins as a 50th anniversary celebration is about to begin. The husband (Dick Powell) and wife (Linda Darnell) are arguing, as he wants to tell all the assembled guests his big secret. What follows is a flashback showing his reasons for success.Decades before, Powell is a struggling young reporter celebrating his promotion at the newspaper. He'll no longer be writing obituaries but feature stories. As he and his co-workers celebrate, he begins talking about what he'd be willing to give if he could see into the future. Well, oddly, the old man in charge of the paper's morgue (where they keep records and back issues) tells him he can. A bit later, the old guy gives him a paper--a paper that ends up being for tomorrow! And, naturally, the things in the paper all later come true that day! Each day, the old man shows up with the following day's paper and gives it to Powell--who naturally becomes a sensation on the paper.This is a dark side to all this, however. Because he has inside information the police think that he's a crook--he just knows too much. Also, the old man tells Powell that no matter how wonderful this new gift is, it WON'T bring him happiness. Well, Powell doesn't seem to care and continues taking the papers--until he sees his own death in the next day's paper!! What is poor 'ol Powell to do?! This is especially troubling because he's planned on winning a fortune at the race track---but you can't enjoy the money if you are dead! There's a lot more to the story, but I'll leave that for you to see for yourself.So is the film worth seeing? Yup. It's fun and quite clever. Sure it isn't very deep, but sometimes it's nice to see a light comedy that has such modest pretensions. Well worth seeing.By the way, this film was expertly directed by the famous French director, René Clair. During the occupation of France and the Nazi years, several directors (including Clair and Fritz Lang) came to Hollywood to continue making films. In addition, if you love silent comedies look closely at one of the gamblers late in the film--one of them is Snub Pollard and sporting a very different sort of mustache.

Playing with time in marvelous ways, this sparkling comedy defies the very idea of "spoilers." Not only do the first five minutes foretell the ending by showing Powell and Darnell celebrating their 50th anniversary (the rest is flashback), but every single sequence begins with a revelation of how it will end.The witty screenplay, credited to seven writers, is drenched in references to time. Oakie and Darnell are music hall clairvoyants (bad ones who predict Bryan will be president, meaning the story is probably set in 1899). The key character, Powell, is an obituary writer who is handed tomorrow's newspaper by the spectral archivist who tells him, "Time is only an illusion." So, time after time, we know tomorrow's headlines, and time after time, they turn out to be accurate-- but all are cleverly set up as conundrums. Each time, the headline seems impossible or illogical given the preceding circumstances, so our curiosity is repeatedly piqued — and never disappointed. We can't wait to see how it plays out, because the script is so smartly written that what really matters—in this film and in life-- is not simply what happens to us, but how it happens.Time is the subject, but this movie also plays brilliantly with space. It compares with films like "The Third Man" and "Alexander Nevsky" in the way it makes use of maximum depth of field. Busy backgrounds remain in focus for a reason: action is going on, contributing to the sense of a whole world in motion. The screen has to be watched closely, ever inch of it; in fact, the film needs to be watched twice (time and again?) to really appreciate all the talent behind it.