When Tomorrow Comes
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
John M. Stahl
Irene Dunne
Charles Boyer
Barbara O'neil
Onslow Stevens
Nydia Westman
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Philip Andre Chagal, a famous French concert pianist, is completing an American tour when he stops at a downtown cafe for lunch. His arrival creates a mild sensation at the restaurant because the waitresses, who are about to hold a secret union meeting, believe him to be a company spy. One of them, Helen, tries to trap Philip into admitting he is a spy and, impressed by her charm, he decides to attend the meeting. At the meeting, Helen delivers a fiery speech and Philip is enchanted by her dynamism. Also impressed is Holden, a union leader who is in love with Helen. After the meeting, Philip and Helen take a walk together, and Philip tells Helen that he has not worked for weeks, leading her to conclude that he is unemployed. Philip asks her to spend the following day with him, and learning that he has only seventy-two hours before he has to leave for France, Helen consents. On a borrowed sailboat, they cruise Long Island Sound until a sudden squall sends them to the shelter of a small wharf and Philip's country home. There, Helen finally learns her companion is a great concert pianist. As the strength of the storm increases, so does Philip's ardor, and Helen asks him to take her home. On the drive back, they are caught in a savage hurricane that forces them to take shelter in a church. Believing that they will not live through the night, Helen confesses her love for Philip who tries to tell her something, but she refuses to listen. In the morning, they are rescued and taken to a camp where Helen learns that Philip is married, and that his wife is waiting for him at the camp. Trying to run away, Helen boards the nearest bus and is trapped in traffic and offered a ride by Philip, who is driving with his wife Madeleine and his mother-in-law. In the car, Helen discovers that Madeleine has become deranged because of the loss of a child several years earlier. Sensing Philip's love for Helen, Madeleine goes to her and declares that she will never let Philip go. Playing on Helen's sympathy, Madeleine wins her promise never to see Phillip again. The night that Philip is to sail for France, he asks Helen to join him, and with a broken heart, she refuses, bidding him a tearful farewell.
Director
John M. Stahl
Cast
Irene Dunne
Charles Boyer
Barbara O'neil
Onslow Stevens
Nydia Westman
Nella Walker
Fritz Feld
Greta Meyer
Harry C. Bradley
Milton Parsons
Constance Moore
Jerry Marlowe
Doris Weston
Frances Robinson
Bobbe Trefts
Helen Lynd
Myrtis Crinley
Kitty Mchugh
Florence Lake
Dorothy Granger
Mary Treen
Inez Courtney
Helen Mackellar
Helen Brown
Ruth Warren
Dorothy Appleby
Virginia Sale
Mira Mckinney
Claire Du Brey
Greta Granstedt
Diana Gibson
Jane Barnes
Sally Payne
Jenifer Gray
Claire Whitney
Mary Field
William Davidson
Addison Richards
Tom Dugan
Howard Hickman
Frank Darien
George Humbert
Wade Boteler
Milburn Stone
Emmett Vogan
Jack Arnold
Stanley Taylor
Gordon Jones
Otto Hoffman
James Flavin
Harry Holman
Dick Winslow
Philip Trent
Edward Earle
Bob Homans
Hally Chester
Jr. George Offerman
Eddie Acuff
Stanley Blystone
James Morton
Ed Peil Sr.
Charles Sherlock
Ray Nichols
Delmar Watson
Sonny Bupp
Mickey Kuhn
Tommy Bupp
George Billings
Payne Johnson
Jack Gardner
Gaylord Pendleton
John Harmon
James Eagles
George Burton
Edward Keane
John Dilson
Landers Stevens
Alden Chase
Ed Stanley
Natalie Moorhead
Margaret Mcwade
Doris Rankin
Grace Goodall
Gladys Blake
Maude Allen
Lillian Elliott
Crew
Bernard B. Brown
James M. Cain
Milton Carruth
R. A. Gausman
Howard Greer
Ray Hoadley
Joe Lapis
Joseph A. Mcdonough
John J. Mescall
Martin Obzina
Jack Otterson
Charles Previn
John M. Stahl
Dwight Taylor
Vera West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Wins
Best Sound
Quotes
Trivia
It was reported that at least 21 writers worked on the script, which was incomplete when production began.
Notes
The working titles of this picture were A Modern Cinderella and Give Us the Night, and it was based on the unpublished James M. Cain story "A Modern Cinderella." According to the Call Bureau Cast Service, Charles Boyer's character was originally named Charles and Madame Durand's Mrs. Dumont. News items in Hollywood Reporter note that at least twenty-one writers worked on the script. Among them were Aben Kandel, Charles Kaufman and John F. Larkin. The script was incomplete when production began. The film won an Academy Award for Best Sound Recording. In 1957, Douglas Sirk directed June Allyson and Rossano Brazzi in Interlude, another Universal version of the James M. Cain story, and in 1968, Kevin Billington directed Oskar Werner and Barbara Ferris in Interlude, a British version of the story.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1939
Released in United States 1939
