Barbara Stanwyck & Fred MacMurray, as a designer & toy maker, who’re additionally previous flames in 1956’s “There’s All the time Tomorrow.”

Director Douglas Sirk actually flipped the script with
1956’s There’s All the time Tomorrow.
Sometimes, Sirk’s cinema forte was slick however subversive cleaning soap operas that
starred 40-sh femme movie divas that confronted life’s adversity and society’s
disapproval.

“There’s All the time Tomorrow” could appear to be one other Ross Hunter produced cleaning soap with  veteran stars, however Douglas Sirk’s important tackle post-war life cuts by way of the suds.

There’s All the time Tomorrow is sort of a male model of All That Heaven Permits, which Sirk
directed the yr earlier than. As a substitute of a likeable however more and more depressing feminine character like Jane Wyman’s small city widow, this time it is Fred MacMurray as
a devoted husband and father who feels trapped by his middle-class existence.
Whereas Wyman’s widow unwittingly creates strife with an affair with a youthful
man, Fred’s toy creator causes suspicion amongst his older kids when an previous
flame involves city on enterprise. In each instances, their kids react with
self-centeredness and self-righteousness. And in each movies, the privileged,
overbearing son is performed by William Reynolds! In Heaven, he’s Ned; in Tomorrow,
he’s Vinnie. In each roles, he’s good, as a result of Reynolds’ characters behave
so badly you may need to toss stuff at your display.

Like Jane Wyman in “All That Heaven Permits,” director Douglas Sirk casts one other likable star, Fred MacMurray, as a personality not content material with their lot in life.

Whereas there’s an attraction between each MacMurray’s sad
Cliff Groves and Norma Vale, she is extra life like, as an affair would wreck
his pleased household. Norma is performed by Fred’s frequent co-star, Barbara Stanwyck.

Cliff appears to take pleasure in his profession, although he jumps by way of lots
of hoops to please his boss and shoppers; at residence he is feeling stressed. Whereas
he loves his spouse and household, Cliff feels second greatest. There’s All the time Tomorrow appears to mock the ’50s sitcom-style household,
the place they appear unbearable at occasions, whereas Fred is affected by a scarcity of
consideration. Spouse Marion is performed by pretty Joan Bennett. Whereas I am positive she was
directed to behave this fashion, Joan’s Marion comes off like a fancy parody of the
glamorous and saintly sitcom spouse of ’50s TV. She’s essentially the most stylish of Stepford Wives, with pat solutions for her
husband’s complaints, treating him like a toddler, insisting he take a scorching bathtub
after a tough day, or that he not keep out within the cool night time air, lest he catch
chilly!

Joan Bennett, forged as the right spouse, Marion Groves, in “There’s All the time Tomorrow.”

Vinnie is a clear reduce, crew reduce bully, who lords it over his
sisters, snaps at his girlfriend, and takes verbal jabs at his father. Ellen, the
center sister, is performed by Gigi Perreau as a typical precocious ‘50s teen,
girlish with grownup pretensions. The youngest daughter, Frances, appears to wish
all her mom’s consideration and is actually annoying. These actors because the Groves
offspring actually carry out as Sirk directed. Within the showdown scene, when the
two older kids confront Stanwyck’s visiting ex-flame, Perreau has an outburst
begging Stanwyck that is fairly placing.

Gigi Perreau has an emotional second because the daughter, in 1956’s “There’s All the time Tomorrow.”

After all, that is Sirk’s sly criticism of post-war good
households, as seen on tv and movie. In truth, the film would not decide the
father for contemplating an affair in any respect. By the movie’s finale, the household lastly
appears to comprehend the daddy wants a little bit TLC, but Cliff nonetheless appears melancholy
as he sees Norma’s airplane depart within the night sky. She is proven brushing away
tears in her airplane seat.

Fred MacMurray’s Cliff feels re-ignited after reuniting with previous flame Norma, performed by Barbara Stanwyck, in 1956’s “There’s All the time Tomorrow.”

Fred MacMurray, sometimes bland to me, is well-cast because the
very best movie father. In lower than 5 years, Fred can be star within the TV fave, My Three Sons, the place he all the time appeared
half asleep. Right here, he isn’t afraid to be unlikable. Whereas Cliff is an effective man,
it is by no means definitively declared whether or not he has each proper to be irritable at
his residence life, or is that this a defective notion? I took it that he sees his
household state of affairs clearly. Did he miss a chance to vary his life for
extra happiness? Or was he about to make an enormous mistake, over a uninteresting patch in his
life? Fred has an in-depth character to play and he does so with authority. 

Barbara Stanwyck as Norma Vale in 1956’s “There’s All the time Tomorrow.” That is considered one of Barbara’s greatest middle-aged roles, because the warmly sympathetic ex-flame.

As for Barbara Stanwyck, this function on this movie was a change
of tempo for her. Like her pal and up to date, Joan Crawford, Stanwyck
performed a whole lot of robust cookies from mid-career onward. In contrast to Joan, Barbara did not
turn into a caricature. The identical yr that Joan had considered one of her greatest roles and
movies with Autumn Leaves, Stanwyck
had the identical as Norma Vale in There’s
All the time Tomorrow. Barbara’s character is genuinely heat and charming,
life like and makes no apologies for being a profession lady. She’s genuinely
enthusiastic about Cliff’s life and is lastly life like about their attraction
going any additional. Like Crawford, Stanwyck was almost 50 right here. Barbara presents
herself as a trendy lady, however not afraid to look her age.

And like Crawford in Autumn Leaves, Stanwyck will get an enormous scene in There’s
All the time Tomorrow to tear into! When Cliff’s kids come to confront her,
Stanwyck’s Norma would not grovel for his or her forgiveness, which might have been typical
of the period. As a substitute, the would-be “different lady” rails on the ingrates for
taking their father without any consideration. Barbara is fairly
convincing in her fury!

Barbara Stanwyck’s “different lady” faculties her ex-flame’s kiddies on respecting their uncared for dad, in 1956’s “There’s All the time Tomorrow.”

There are a selection of scenes the place Douglas Sirk creates temper
and emotion with digicam set ups, symbolism, and extra. The one which surprised me
was when Norma visits Cliff at work, breaking off the potential for an affair.
When she leaves, his newest creation, Rex the Robotic is bumped and begins
mechanically strolling, proper off the display!

“There’s All the time Tomorrow” advantages vastly from having two of the golden period’s  most naturalistic stars, Fred MacMurray & Barbara Stanwyck, because the mature leads.

Possibly the rationale this movie is lesser recognized is as a result of it was
not considered one of Sirk’s splashy Technicolor ‘50s extravaganzas. Why wasn’t it
filmed in coloration—as a result of it wasn’t about rich people, sporting a parade of Jean
Louis costumes? Was it as a result of there wasn’t a photogenic younger co-star, like
Rock Hudson? Regardless of the case, There’s
All the time Tomorrow is a superbly drawn black and white movie, as an alternative of a
vivid film oil portray, directed by Douglas Sirk. Like Sirk’s different work,
there are some ahead considering observations about mid-century American life.

William Reynolds, who so ably performed the surly son in each “There’s All the time Tomorrow” AND “All That Heaven Permits.”

Right here’s my take a look at considered one of Sirk’s greatest, All That Heaven Permits, with Jane Wyman & Rock Hudson:

https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2020/10/all-that-heaven-allows-1955.html