It Happened Tomorrow

(1944)
Directed by René Clair
Written by Dudley Nicholds, René Clair, from a story by Lord Dunsany
Starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie, Edgar Kennedy, John Philber
IMDB Entry

René Clair was in some ways ahead of his time. Nowadays, fantasy rules the movie roost, but it was very unusual to see in silent days and in early talkies.  Clair, however, had a penchant for fantasy and, in 1944, he directed a fantasy that is still a common theme today.

It starts at the 50th wedding anniversary of Lawrence and Sylvia Stevens (Dick Powell and Linda Darnell), where they reminisce about how the first met.  Lawrence is an obit writer for a newspaper who hopes to be a reporter some day. His fellow obit writer, Pop Benson (John Philber) tell him that time is an illusion and hands him a newspaper. He puts it in his pocket without reading it and goes to a vaudeville act featuring the Great Sigolini* (Jack Oakie), a mind reader, and his daughter Sylvia (Linda Darnell), who has a clairvoyance act. Lawrence is fascinated and asks Sylvia out.  She turns him down.

The next day, he realizes he has an advance copy of today's evening paper.* The headline indicates there will be a robbery. As he argues with his editor to cover the opera, Sylvia shows up. Lawrence takes her, and, sure enough, there's a robbery.

Police Inspector Mulrooney (Edgar Kennedy) thinks Lawrence is part of the gang. He's thrown in jail, and Pop Benson shows up to give him another newspaper that clears him. But when he asks for one more in order to bet on the races, things go bad.

The situation has been used before and has been used since, but this is a charming example. The final situation is handled cleverly with a twist that is quite logical. There's also a subtle nod to Sylvia's supposed clairvoyance at the end.

Dick Powell made a career out of being charming and is excellent here.  Linda Darnell was a former child star who was a moderate success once she grew up, but who never made it to being a major star. Still, she's quite good here. Jack Oakie always plays the same time: a brash and wisecracking midwesterner*** and doesn't fail to amuse. Edgar "slow burn" Kennedy is hard to recognize in his Keystone Kop makeup. Marx Brothers foil Sig Ruman has a small part as a promoter.

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*Real name Oscar Smith

**A little explanation for the younger readers. For many years, there were morning and evening newspapers. In New York, for instance, the Times was a morning paper and the Post was an evening one.  Evening papers had the breaking news of the day, including the late sports scores. Once TV news became a thing, evening papers started struggling: TV would be even more up to date. Some papers converted to morning papers; others failed. I'd be surprised if there were any in operation nowadays.

***Even when he's the head of Bacteria.