There's Always Tomorrow [Masters of Cinema] [DVD] [1956]

.., if Douglas Sirk’s 1956 melodrama is anything to go by, is a frustrating, put-upon, (self-enforced) conformist one. Fred MacMurray’s mid-life crisis-suffering ('Sure I’m happy’) LA husband, father and toy designer, Clifford Groves, has his 'idyllic’ existence shattered when Barbara Stanwyck’s ex-work colleague, now career woman (clothes designer) Norma Vale, reappears in his life two decades down the line. Sirk’s film is a typically passionate, emotive piece of cinema, not entirely free of cinematic cliché, but with enough perceptive (and often ironic) commentary on comfortable 1950s US life and man’s (and, indeed, woman’s) place in society (and the home) to make it a highly engaging watch. It’s also an impressive visual experience, Russell Metty’s evocative black-and-white cinematography capturing the period and mood nicely, as well as including some marvellous cinematic touches.For me, what lifts Sirk’s film above other more 'run of the mill’ melodramas are the performances of MacMurray and Stanwyck, reunited 12 years after their legendary performances in Billy Wilder’s noir, Double Indemnity, and here delivering characters just about as far removed as you could imagine from the sharp-talking Walter Neff and femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson. MacMurray, admittedly not the most versatile of performers, is just about perfect as the staid businessman-husband, a 'taken-for-granted’ family man, shaken out of sterility by Stanwyck’s (in a performance of great emotional restraint) returning, and secretly infatuated, Norma. There are many great scenes between the pair, including that where Groves reveals to Norma his latest 'invention’ (and metaphor for his own existence), Rex The Walkie-Talkie Robot Man, and that where Norma’s 'secret’ photo is revealed (to the recurring Blue Moon theme). Elsewhere, an almost unrecognisable (physically and character-wise) Joan Bennett impresses with a wonderfully restrained performance as Groves’ unsuspecting, accepting wife, Marion, as does Pat Crowley as the feisty, but trusting, 'daughter-in-law’-to-be, Ann. Sirk captures the latent family frictions (over dinner) brilliantly even if William Reynold’s performance as the resentful son, Vinnie, strays a little into OTT melodrama at times and some of the film’s plot machinations are a little fanciful.There are also plenty of nice cinematic touches here, such as the film’s opening with the introductory title of 'Once upon a time, in sunny California…’ subverted by the sunshine state then being engulfed in a downpour; the continuing rainy theme as Norma, at an emotional highpoint, stands by a window down which streams water; Clifford, at a point of despair, raising a newspaper to block out a family photo and the 'full circle’ narrative device of Gigi Perreau’s ‘gossiping’ daughter Ellen laying on the carpet to face the camera to relate her latest 'adolescent emotional trauma’.Much to admire, therefore, and, in MacMurray, a (very different type of) performance to rank with those he gave in Double Indemnity and The Apartment.The 2010 Masters of Cinema DVD is a fine transfer and includes a 40-page booklet on the film and an interesting hour-long documentary on Sirk in which he talks about his philosophy of film-making.

This is an overlooked gem by Douglas Sirk, a truly original and great director, who brought European subtlety and irony to the American melodrama and managed to convey deep emotions and social conscience within the conventions of Hollywood in the 40s and 50s. Fred MacMurray -here at his very best- manufactures toys and has ended up being himself a sort of toy in the hands of his proper and apparently ideal family. Just a provider for his wife and daughters and son, that totally ignore his needs and take him for granted. Caught in a hellish suburbian bliss, an unexpected encounter with an old friend from his youth, that secretly always loved him (magnificent Barbara Stanwyck), seems to give him a new lease on life. ¿But can he escape and find happiness with her, putting aside his familly? Sirk's alertness and fine direction, with a camera that makes meaningful every movement and every frame, carries the story with masterful hand to its ironic and deeply satisfying finale. Excellent transfer of the beautifully photographed b&w film. The interesting extras are plenty and the booklet meaty, as we have come to expect from this fine series by Eureka. Highly recommended.

I saw this movie as a kid and always remembered it but didn't understand why until I caught it, when an adult, on t.v. Even then I wasn't well versed in the movies of Douglas Sirk.I now know that I saw many of his movies years ago,(but didn't connect them), and each one left an impression that still lingers. This film was probably his most intimate and, whilst understated: b&w photography, (not box office at that time...yet an example of superb cinematography - comparable to Sweet Smell of Success), about 'little' people - their regrets and dreams; it is actually an incisive analysis of the emasculation of the, (american/universal?), middle-aged male, taken for granted by his family - loved - yes but not known/understood/noticed by his children or busy/controlling wife.This film could have been corny in lesser hands but wasn't and remains, 50+ years later, pretty relevant in it's themes and still isn't dated. Admittedly the opening credits are typical '50s melodrama and, when viewing it, it's not until about 10 minutes in you realise that this is not what you expected from what has just gone before.This is, undoubtably, Sirk's masterpiece, (but you can argue over that), however it is the players that elevate Sirk's work to perfection.Can anyone identify a performance of Fred MacMurray's that equals this? (His 'Double Indemnity' was brilliant admittedly; yet here he hits many more layers of human emotion).Barbara Stanwyck: probably the most versatile of american Hollywood actresses, gives us a masterclass performance here; she underplays, to absolute perfection - saving the sparks until they really, really matter.With 'The Lady Eve' & 'Double Indemnity' this is her finest performance.Joan Bennett: one of her very best performances in which she superbly nails the emasculating wife, (to Fred), jealous bitch, (to Barbara) and suffocating matriarch to her children.Definitely a contender for one of Hollywood's best 1950's dramas.

I love Douglas Sirk's films. This one is bizarrely in black and white and whilst not as highly dramatic with as much happening as "Written on the Wind" or " All that Heaven Allows" it does have brilliant performances by Barbara Stanwyck paired again with Fred MacMurray with whom she has made several films including " Double Indemnity" If you like Sirk's other films you will want to catch this as well.