Today We Live

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Today We Live
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1933
length 115 minutes
Rod
Director Howard Hawks
script William Faulkner , Edith Fitzgerald , Dwight Taylor
production Howard Hawks for MGM
music William ax
camera Oliver T. Marsh
cut Edward Curtiss
occupation

Today We Live is an American film by Howard Hawks that tries to combine elements of the love triangle and the war film . The main roles are played by Joan Crawford and Gary Cooper .

action

Mid-1916. England and Germany were at war when the rich American Richard Bogard bought a stately home in Kent. His move in forces the previous tenant Diana “Ann” Boyce-Smith to move out. Although the young woman has just learned of her father's death in battle, she treats Richard with the utmost courtesy and moves to the neighboring guest house without complaint. Shortly thereafter, Diana says goodbye to her brother Ronnie and her childhood best friend, Claude Hope, who both go to war. Claude, who has always loved Diana, asks her for her hand as soon as the war is over. Diana gladly agrees, only to fall in love with the charming Richard soon after her fiancé leaves. Richard now also wants to join the army and he also proposes to Diana, who, however, eludes the decision by leaving for France, where she meets Ronnie and Claude. She registers as a volunteer in the ambulance of a field hospital. The situation becomes more complicated when Diana receives news that Richard has died on a training flight.

Just as Diana is about to surrender to Claude, who is on the verge of a dangerous enemy flight, the news comes that Richard is not dead at all. The two lovers meet secretly, but again Ann eludes a final decision due to a hasty departure. In the meantime, Richard meets Claude and the two men go on a dangerous mission with Ronnie. Claude loses his sight in the process. Diana finally decides to stay with Claude out of a sense of duty and tearfully says goodbye to Richard. When Claude is informed of Diana's true feelings by Ronnie, the two men decide to sacrifice themselves for Richard and Diana's happiness. They find an honorable death in battle while the two lovers embrace and begin a happy future.

background

Joan Crawford had risen to become one of the biggest MGM stars in the late days of the silent film and had found many fans, especially through the portrayal of ambitious young women struggling to get to the top of society from the bitterest poverty. In mid-1932 she was loaned to United Artists at her own request for the lead role of Sadie Thompson in Rain . When she returned to MGM, however, no suitable script was found. The studio, which was contractually obliged to pay Crawford a high weekly fee, whether or not they actually worked, eventually forced Howard Hawks to force the character of Diana Boyce-Smith into the script for Today We Live . The script is based on the short story Turn About by William Faulkner , which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post and was read by Howard Hawks. Howard Hawks, who as a trained pilot had a great passion for the subject and had made The Dawn Patrol , one of the best war films in 1930, bought the rights to the story. Faulkner, who was hired as a scriptwriter for MGM, wrote the script in July 1932 within a few days.

Filming should begin in the fall of 1932 and the studio initially wanted Phillips Holmes to play the lead when producer Irving Thalberg suddenly asked Faulkner to add a suitable role for Joan Crawford to the script. Status of Crawford as a major star led to some personnel changes and so was at the end of Gary Cooper by Paramount Pictures hired to Crawford to ask a partner of equivalent importance to the side. Filming was slow and dragged on until the spring of 1933. The dogfights were filmed at March Field, California, with General Douglas MacArthur as technical advisor. Hawks also used sequences from Howard Hughes Hell's Angels as well as recordings that he had shot but not used for Start Into Twilight .

The story takes place in 1916/1917 and the women's fashion of the time differed significantly from the fashion that was current in 1933. Crawford, who has a reputation for being one of Hollywood's best-dressed actresses, wears costumes that are nowhere near authentic throughout the action. Crawford repeatedly introduces short skirts that go straight to the knee. In 1916 the hem length for society women was just above the ankle. Later in history, some Crawford coats and costumes have distinctly pronounced shoulder pads, but they weren't introduced to haute couture until 1930 by Elsa Schiaparelli and first introduced to Hollywood by Gilbert Adrian in the 1932 film Letty Lynton especially for Joan Crawford's wardrobe -Film was taken over.

In later years, the actress was not very fond of her performance:

"I was extremely uncomfortable with a British accent on" Today We Live ". But if a lady, directed by Howard Hawks, starred alongside Gary Cooper, Robert Young and Franchot Tone, then she shouldn't complain too much. "

Theatrical release

A first version had a running time of 135 minutes, which was unusually long for the time, which was cut down to 115 minutes after a few previews . The final cost was $ 663,000, which was the studio's average budget for an A production. The film flopped at the box office and grossed just $ 590,000 in the US, which was well below the average for a Crawford film. Abroad, the film made $ 445,000, which with a cumulative total result of $ 1,035,000 brought the studio a loss of $ 23,000 in the end. After Rain's previous financial failure , Crawford's career was now in serious danger.

Reviews

Most of the reviews were muted at best, criticizing the lack of logic in the plot and the anachronistic costumes used by Joan Crawford.

Mordaunt Hall wrote in the New York Times :

“Miss Crawford, who never convinces the viewer that she is English, gives a technically solid and serious presentation. [The movie] is vague and boring. "

Richard Watts Jr. was even more critical in the New York Herald Tribune :

"Today We Live" is optically an impressive and really dramatic film. [..]. The dogfights are extremely exciting, but such representations have now been seen on the screen so often that they are more or less the standard repertoire for this type of film. [..] Miss Crawford is very convincing, even if she doesn't necessarily look like someone called Boyce-Smith. [The film] spends most of the running time Robert Young and Franchot Tone gratefully sacrificing themselves to keep Gary Cooper happily ever after with Miss Joan Crawford. In my opinion it was too big a sacrifice. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ I was extremely uncomfortable with a British accent in "Today We Live". But when a lady is directed by Howard Hawks and has Gary Cooper, Robert Young, and Franchot Tone to set her off she can't complain too much.
  2. ↑ Miss Crawford, although she never impresses one as being English, gives a steadfast and earnest portrayal. [The picture] is vague and cumbersome.
  3. ↑ Visually, "Today We Live" is handsome, striking and genuinely dramatic [..] The scenes of aerial warfare are enormously effective, but such scenes have been portrayed so frequently that they have become the commonplace of the photoplay [..] Miss Crawford is properly effective in her role even if she doesn't seem like someone called Boyce-Smith. [The film] devotes most of its efforts to permitting Robert Young and Franchot Tone to destroy themselves gallantly so that Gary Cooper may henceforth live happily with Miss Joan Crawford. It was my suspicion yesterday that their sacrifice was too great.