It Happened Tomorrow
| It Happened Tomorrow | |
|---|---|
Original film poster
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| Directed by | René Clair |
| Produced by | Arnold Pressburger |
| Screenplay by |
Dudley Nichols René Clair Helene Fraenkel (add'l dialogue) |
| Based on |
One-act play: "The Jest of Haha Laba" by Lord Dunsany Unproduced screenplay: Hugh Wedlock Howard Snyder Ideas: Lewis R. Foster |
| Starring |
Dick Powell Linda Darnell Jack Oakie |
| Music by | Robert Stolz |
| Cinematography | Archie Stout |
| Edited by | Fred Pressburger |
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Production
company |
Arnold Pressburger Films
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
It Happened Tomorrow is a 1944 American fantasy film directed by René Clair, starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell and Jack Oakie, and featuring Edgar Kennedy and John Philliber.
In the 1890s, Lawrence Stevens (Dick Powell) is an obituary writer unhappy in his job, who is given, by a ghostly deceased newspaper man named Pop Benson (John Philliber), a newspaper that has tomorrow's news. He uses the paper to write stories and get the scoop on other reporters; but this also brings him under suspicion by Police Inspector Mulrooney (Edgar Kennedy), who wants to know how Stevens always seems to know what's going to happen and where, mainly a robbery at a theater's box office during a performance. Stevens and his new girlfriend Sylvia (Linda Darnell) – half of a clairvoyant act with her uncle Oscar Smith (Jack Oakie) – have a number of adventures, until her uncle mistakenly thinks that Stevens has consorted with his niece in her boarding house room. The uncle attempts to intimidate Stevens into marrying her, not knowing that Stevens has come to him to ask for her hand.
Stevens gets another newspaper from Pop Benson, intending to use it to pick horses at the racetrack, to win enough money to get married. Unfortunately, he also reads a story about his own death that night, so he and Sylvia get married immediately and head off to the track with her uncle. Stevens bets on winner after winner, amassing $60,000, which is then stolen on their way back to town. They give chase but are arrested for speeding.
Stevens tries his best to avoid the hotel lobby where his death is supposed to take place, but circumstances keep pushing him in that direction. He spots the man who stole his money and chases him on foot through the streets and over the rooftops, until they both fall through the chimney that leads to the very hotel lobby he's been trying to avoid. A gunfight breaks out, and the thief is shot and killed. Because he has Stevens' wallet on him, he is at first identified as the newspaperman, and his newspaper prints an erroneous story saying that their star reporter has been killed. When a reporter finds out the truth, the newspaper has already hit the streets; and it is this edition that Pop had given him.
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Wikipedia