It Happened Tomorrow (1944) on Netflix
Approved19441h 25mComedyFantasy
Newspaper man Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens gets tomorrow's paper from an old friend, Pop Benson. He falls for Sylvia Smith of a mind-reading act, and Inspector Mulrooney suspects him of a robbery.
- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb7.0/103,440 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes71%
Trailer
Plot summary
In the 1890s, Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens works as an obituary writer at The Evening News and wishes he could know the news before it happens. An elderly newspaper man, Pop Benson, hands him a copy of the next day's edition. After work, Larry and his colleagues watch a mind-reading act with Sylvia Smith and her uncle Oscar Smith. Larry is taken with Sylvia and arranges to see her again. When the paper's forecast and an advertisement come true, Larry reads a report of a theater box-office robbery under his own byline and writes the story ahead of the event. Inspector Mulrooney has him brought in over the robbery.
Cast
Show all 20 cast
- Fairfax Burgeras Minor Role (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
The ending, which hinges on a mistake in the newspaper from the future, had a personal connection for Clair: he was fired from his first job as a reporter when he made up a story which was the opposite of what actually happened.- Clair initially wanted Cary Grant for the lead role but wound up with Dick Powell, who was on the verge of altering his screen persona from a lightweight musical-comedy "juvenile" to a harder one, playing tough guy private detective Philip Marlowe in Murder My Sweet later that year.
- Frank Capra originally purchased the rights to the story and, finding the concept similar to a 20-year-old one act play by Lord Dunsany, bought that as well; going into the Army to serve in World War II, he sold both to Arnold Pressburger, who approached René Clair about directing.
