“TOMORROW’S NEWS TODAY!”

By Raymond Benson

One wonders if Bond villain Elliot Carver (Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997) ever saw the 1944 comedy-fantasy, It Happened Tomorrow. Carver’s evil plot involved making bad news happen so that his newspapers could scoop the headlines before other media outlets even learned about the events. “Tomorrow’s News Today!” was his slogan.

In the fanciful and entertaining It Happened Tomorrow, a newspaper man receives tomorrow’s news today, allowing him to write the piece and get it ready to go to the presses before the incident occurs.

French filmmaker René Clair had come to Hollywood in the early 1940s after working for a time in the U.K. He made a handful of pictures for different studios, namely I Married a Witch (1942) and And Then There Were None (1945). In-between those notable titles came It Happened Tomorrow, which was based on an unproduced screenplay by Hugh Wedlock and Howard Snyder, as well as a stage play, The Jest of Haha Laba,” by Lord Dunsany. A new script, by Clair and Dudley Nichols, with additional dialogue by Helene Fraenkel, ensued, and the picture was greenlit by producer Arnold Pressburger. The resulting delightful film was a modest success in the USA and did extremely well overseas.

Journalist Larry Stevens (Dick Powell) is astounded when kindly “Pop” Benson (John Philliber), an older employee at the newspaper, gives him a copy of tomorrow’s edition before it has gone to press. A frontpage article with Stevens’ by-line concerns a robbery at an opera theater. Figuring that he has nothing to lose, Stevens asks Sylvia Smith (Linda Darnell) on a date to the opera. Sylvia is half of a mind-reading act with her Uncle Oscar (Jack Oakie), but even she admits that it’s a lot of hooey. Sure enough, though, the robbery occurs, Stevens writes it up—and Police Inspector Mulrooney (Edgar Kennedy) suspects that Lawrence was in on the crime. As time moves forward, Stevens receives even more future editions of the newspaper, so he continues to pursue the stories before they happen. Eventually, of course, he is unable to explain to his boss, the police, and even his girlfriend how this is possible. When a headline predicts Larry’s own death, things become complicated!

This whimsical, cautionary tale is well directed and cleverly written. Cinema buffs might liken it to the works of Frank Capra (who had originally been attached to the project) or Preston Sturges. Dick Powell carries the picture with confidence and humor. The actor was just beginning to transition out of musical-comedy roles into more serious ones (Murder, My Sweet was released the same year). While Powell displays his good-natured comic talent in It Happened Tomorrow, there are hints of the pathos and thoughtfulness to come. Jack Oakie is always hilarious, as is Edgar Kennedy. Linda Darnell is easy on the eyes, to be sure, but her role is perhaps the only underwritten aspect of the movie. Still, there are plenty of laughs and a potent message to boot.

The Cohen Media Group has issued a marvelous Blu-ray restoration from a 4K scan. It looks wonderful, despite a few instances of artifacts and scratches. There are optional subtitles for the hearing impaired, plus the theatrical trailer. Alas, there are no supplements.

It Happened Tomorrow should appeal to fans of fun, time-bending fare such as Groundhog Day. Recommended.

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