Tomorrow We Live (1943) (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Aug 19, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
George KingRelease Date(s)
1943 (June 18, 2024)Studio(s)
British Aviation Pictures/British Lion Films (Indicator/Powerhouse Films)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: A-
Review
Not to be confused with director Edgar G. Ulmer’s 1942 film of the same name, Tomorrow We Live (1943) is a British production set in Nazi-occupied France. It’s interesting to compare it with the very similar Commandos Strike at Dawn (1943), included in Imprint’s recent Directed by John Farrow set. Despite its misleading title, that likewise ensemble film operates from the same basic premise, though set in Nazi-occupied Norway. Farrow’s film avoided wartime Hollywood clichés with that picture, whereas Tomorrow We Live curiously emulates them. Though handsomely mounted, the film is unmemorable with little to recommend it.
John Clements stars as “Jean Baptiste,” a French Résistance fighter with knowledge about a nearby submarine base and thus trying to reach England with the valuable information and to join the Free France forces there. Arriving in St. Pierre-le-Port, a small occupied town near Saint-Nazaire, he hides out in the home of accommodating middle-aged Madame L. Labouche (Yvonne Arnaud).
The French there tolerate the Nazi presence, many secretly working for the Underground, helping downed Allied flyers get back to England. Others, such as barmaid Germaine Bertan (Judy Kelly), lured by financial reward, secretly collaborate with the enemy. Baptiste is initially attracted to Marie (Greta Gynt), daughter of town mayor Pierre DuSchen (Godfrey Tearle), but turns against her in the mistaken belief she’s too cozy with the town’s Nazi kommandant. In fact, she’s one of the key members of the local Résistance. Ironically, Baptiste then begins dating Germaine, unaware that she’s a collaborator.
Tomorrow We Live is handsomely produced with elaborate if overdone sets, including a big cave interior where the local Underground is based; it resembles Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Everything is slightly exaggerated—too many berets and baguettes, cobblestone streets and the like, but still impressive. Less successful is the casting, with nearly all the French characters played by British actors, though the majority of Germans are played by Germans and Austrians, including a young Hebert Lom in a small role. Of course, everyone speaks English and the signage is an inconsistent mixture of English (most of the time), French, and German (only occasionally). Clements and Gynt are okay in the leads, but Godfrey Tearle is one of the most emphatically English actors of all-time; he’s good, but hard to completely accept as a Frenchman. In more the Hollywood manner than the British one, the Nazis are a mixture of incompetents and sadists.
Making the strongest impression by far is Yvonne Arnaud, the single French person in the cast. The best scene in the film has her talking about being added to a list of townsfolk to be executed, and her monologue is emotionally powerful. In turn, one is reminded of Casablanca (1942), a Hollywood film whose entire cast was European, most refugees, with but three exceptions (Humphrey Bogart, Dooley Wilson, and Joy Page). That added enormously to that picture’s authenticity and visceral impact. In Tomorrow We Live, it’s mostly English actors play-acting. Both films feature a defiant singing of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem; it’s infinitely more powerful in Casablanca even though in Tomorrow We Live the stakes are much higher. In Casablanca, real tears run down the faces of those singing it; in Tomorrow We Live, the British cast mouthing it barely know the words.
A strangely condescending tone further damages the film, slightly, the French referred to in a text prologue as “a little people, an unimportant people.” Say what?
Another 4K restoration, Indicator/Powerhouse Films’ Blu-ray of Tomorrow We Live is an impressive 1.37:1 standard black-and-white release, with notably inky blacks and excellent contrast. The LPCM mono audio is supported by optional English subtitles and the disc is Region-Free.
Supplements consist of a new audio commentary track by Josephine Botting and Robert Murphy; a video essay by critic Pamela Hutchinson about actress Greta Gynt; a 2005 BEHP audio interview with composer Roy Douglas; and an image gallery.
For this review, we received check discs only. The booklet packaged with the final release includes a new essay by Philip Kent, archival interviews and articles, contemporary reviews, and film credits.
Tomorrow We Live is interesting enough to maintain interest; at 85 minutes it’s not overly long, but except for Yvonne Arnaud’s supporting performance, nothing about the film is particularly memorable.
- Stuart Galbraith IV