Tomorrow, the World! (United Artists) (1944)

Prepared Review — Academy Awards — Features \\ Tomorrow—The World!" Is Challenging Entertainment! (Prepared Review) No more timely, mature or chal¬ lenging film has ever made its ap¬ pearance in our town than “To- mori'ow, The World!” Lester Co¬ wan’s magnificent new movie which opened at the . Theatre last night. We confess we went to see the film with some trembling and trep¬ idation. We had seen the play and remembered it pleasantly as a hard-hitting, plain-spoken drama that clothed one of the most burn¬ ing issues of our time in the pala¬ table trappings of entertainment. We were frankly concerned that the film version couldn’t be so out¬ spoken. This morning we are hap¬ py to admit that all of our fears were only the figment of night-be¬ fore-last’s hangover. Mr. Cowan has done more than well by “To¬ morrow, The World!” Beginning with a superb cast, straight through the details of pro¬ duction “Tomorrow, The World!” emerges as one of the truly out¬ standing film documents of our time. It deals with that problem which soon every thinking Ameri¬ can must face—and solve: what are we to do with the Germans, es¬ pecially the German children? The answer in “Tomorrow, The World!” is no glib passing out of a few pretty words. It cuts to the heart of an issue, which, if clum¬ sily handled may mean the repeti¬ tion of the fight against the forces of death and destruction in which we are now engaged. The story is delineated through the effect of a Nazi-trained youth upon a middle-class American fam- Skippy Homeier, phenomenal child star of Lester Cowan’s “Tomorrow, The World!” now playing at the . Theatre through United Artists release. 21A —I Cot. Mat (.15) ily with whom he visits. The boy’s lack of adjustment to the demo¬ cratic life; his flaunting of every decent principle of civilized living; his practice of the Nazi “morality” of prevarication, deceit, cheating— adds up to a straight-forward, ter¬ rifyingly true film. Fredric March and Betty Field who are co-starred in the film are superb as the lovers who find their romance and their very lives en- The Hollywood job which looks like a snap to the lay public is Betty Field’s nomination for the most difficult of all. The job is the posing for still pictures. “Stills,” as opposed to moving pictures, are those photographs for which the star of a film especially poses and which are used to decorate the pages of your local paper. Betty, who is an attractive star in Lester Cowan’s powerful drama, “Tomorrow, The World!” now at the . Theatre through United Artists release, claims that she would rather pitch hay than pose for the still cameraman. “At least I know what I’m doing when I’m in a play or a picture,” she explains. “I’m not myself—I’m the character I’m portraying. But for the still cameraman I’m just being Betty Field, and I don’t con¬ sider that particularly interesting to anyone, including the man who is taking the pictures.” Betty’s rebellion against what she considers the tyranny of the still camera came while she was sitting — and standing, reclining, posing and posturing — for Ned Scott, who takes still pictures for Cowan’s production. She was wear¬ ing something pink and filmy, which more or less revealed her undeniable charms. Scott, who dotes on such things, had scoured all of Hollywood for this particu¬ lar bit of flimsy and he aimed to get everything out of it. At his request Betty crossed her neat legs, allowed the negligee to drape open pleasantly and looked completely unhappy. “For goodness sakes,” wailed Scott,” You’re supposed to be in love in this picture. You’re happy about it!” Betty struggled briefly, looked happy, the camera clicked and she looked unhappy again. It went that way for several hours. Miss Field posed for love¬ ly stills and then relapsed into un¬ happiness. Scott tore his hair and coaxed and cajoled and got the pictures he wanted. That’s the way still men operate. “I’m still convinced,” said Miss Field,” this is the hardest part of an actress’ life. Miss Field co-stars with Fredric March in “Tomorrow,The World!” Others in the brilliant cast include Agnes Moorehead, Skippy Ho¬ meier, Joan Carroll and Edit An- gold. Rough Stuff! During the filming of “To¬ morrow, The World!” an over- zealous school teacher, assigned to watch over 12-year-old Skip¬ py Homeier, kept protesting that Fredric March was handling the boy too roughly in a scene in which March had to grab Skippy by the neck, carry him across the room and deposit him on a couch where he proceeded to throttle him. After two rehearsals, March turned to the teacher and said: “I’m really not being rough at all, Ma’am. It doesn’t hurt at all. Here’s the way I do it . . .” And with that he jumped off¬ set, grabbed the teacher in his arms, and went through the en¬ tire act with the surprised ma¬ tron—much to the delight of the entire company. It is not on record what the teacher thought! “Tomorrow, The World!” is now playing at the. Theatre. It is a United Artists release. Rudy Gives Up Scout Tour For Movie Role Because he had promised to play a part in Lester Cowan’s “Tomor¬ row, The World!” 12-year-old Rudy Wissler was forced to turn down a trip that every boy scout in America would have given his eye teeth for. Rudy recently won a nation-wide Scout radio contest with the prize a two weeks’ tour of various Ar¬ my and Navy camps. Just as^ he was about to depart on this trip, a call came from the studio and Rudy just had to report. Young Wissler plays a school boy of Polish descent in the Cowan production now at the . Theatre. Playing starring parts in the film are Betty Field and Fred¬ ric March. Fredric March, Joan Carroll and Betty Field talk over family matters in this happy scene from Lester Cowan’s smash hit film, “Tomorrow, The World!” now at the.Theatre through United Artists release. 11B—2 Col. Mat (.30) dangered by the kind of menace presented by the boy. Both stars display a degree of understanding of their roles which has not been matched in many a moon. Mr. March and Miss Field, have, in our humble opinion, given the greatest performances of their respective distinguished careers in “Tomor¬ row, The World!” Having seen the film, it is diffi¬ cult for us to believe that Skippy Homeier who plays Emil Bruckner in the film, a part which he first created in the stage production, is in real life a normal, healthy, hap¬ py American boy. The Broadway critics unanimously called the boy, among other things, “monstrous little brat,” “Nazi fiend,” etc. We can understand why, now. It is perhaps the highest compliment to an actor’s skill for a critic to be able to say he would have cheer¬ fully wrung the little so and so’s neck if he could have laid hands on him. We assure you that was our exact feeling. Young Skippy Homeier is one of the brightest young stars to appear on the hori¬ zon in a long, long time. We wager you’ll be seeing lots more of him We found ourselves equally en¬ thusiastic about Agnes Moorehead, Joan Carroll, Edit Angold and all the other members of the cast. They all do a top-notch job. Direction by Leslie Fenton and screenwritirg by Ring Lardner, Jr., are unbeatable. “Tomorrow, The World!” is the most important, the most enter¬ taining .film to come our way in so long it seems too good to be true. Don't, whatever else you do, miss this tremendous movie treat! Skippy Homeier tells of an airplane trip while Fredric March, Betty Field and Joan Carroll listen doubtfully. Scene is from Lester Cowan’s challenging film “Tomorrow, The World!” now at the . Theatre through United Artists release. Agnes Moorehead and Edit Angold complete an all-star east. 2C—3 Col. Mat (.45) Field Elects Still Posing As Toughest Movie Job Props For Movie Include Assortment of Oddities \ A character study of Skippy Homeier as the malicious problem child in Lester Cowan’s brilliant film “Tomorrow, The World!” now at the . Theatre through United Artists release. Fredric March and Betty Field are co-starred in the picture. 10B—2 Col. Mat (.30) The list of props gathered to¬ gether for any motion picture in¬ variably contains an assortment of oddities to be found in no place outside of Hollywood. Lester Co¬ wan’s “Tomorrow, The World!” high-tension drama starring Fred¬ ric March and Betty Field and now at the.Theatre through United Artists release, is no ex¬ ception to the Hollywood rule. Gathered together for the film version of the long running Broad¬ way success are such things as: Three identical oil paintings of the same man One acre of lawn that needs cut¬ ting One Nazi Youth uniform com¬ plete with dagger One set of chemical formulas for a high explosive One watch with seventeen jew¬ els and an illuminated dial Six books by a writer who never existed One portable radio that works And several hundred assorted gadgets ranging from a birthday cake with candles to a postman’s whistle. The three paintings were needed because Skippy Homeier, phenome¬ nal child star who is repeating his highly successful stage portrayal for the screen, has to slash the picture with his Nazi knife in both long shots and closeups. The long grass was dug up and brought to the studio for a scene in which Skippy tries to win his way into Fredric March’s good graces. It is Skippy, too, who wears the Nazi Youth uniform. The other items are used for various high points of the film. The ^ prop man swears that his hardest job was finding a portable radio. Those with tubes still working are rare. The Lady Packs A Mean Wallop! March for New Academy Award Fredric March, Academy Award winner in his own right for his portrayal of the title role in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” has taken up the cudgels for the younger set in Holly¬ wood life. In a letter to Walter Wanger, president of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, March cited the growing - importance of younger players in motion pictures and proposed that a special “Oscar” be awarded an¬ nually to the best of the junior thespians. March made his suggestion fol¬ lowing the completion of his role in Lester Cowan’s thrill-hit, “To¬ morrow, The World!” coming to the . Theatre on . . . through United Art¬ ists release. In the film he worked with two child stars, Skippy Ho¬ meier and Joan Carroll whose abil¬ ity was the spur for the letter. “Today’s screen youngsters,” he said, “are no one-picture discover¬ ies or bit players. They’re talented capable performers. Such young¬ sters as Margaret O’Brien, Jackie Jenkins, Roddy McDowell and oth¬ ers, as well as Skippy and Joan, are completely capable of carrying a picture by themselves, and are frequently doing just that. “Every other acting division, every craft or technical depart¬ ment connected with the making of motion pictures is honored at the annual Academy dinner with the presentation of an award to its outstanding representative. “There is no reason why these highly talented young actors and actresses shouldn’t be equally re¬ warded.” March pointed out that Shirley Temple is the only young screen player ever to win over grownups in the annual balloting for the Academy honors. Proof of the validity of March’s contention is offered in the Sunday Times of September 24, 1944, in a letter to the editor of the drama section from Thomas Morgansen. Mr. Morgansen points out the in¬ equity in the operation of the Academy Awards in overlooking younger players in the film capital and says, “. . . exceptional acting from whatever source deserves rec¬ ognition and the recognition such encouragement carries with it.” Then the writer of the letter goes on to cite examples of child stars whose performances have gone down in the history of the art of the motion picture. “Jackie Cooper’s impersonation of Skippy and Paramount’s version of “Huc¬ kleberry Finn” with Junior Durkin in the title role and Jackie Coogan as Tom Sawyer, recapture amus¬ ingly something of the escapades and trials of American boyhood. It was about this time, too, that the inimitable Jackie Searle first emerged in those consummate por¬ trayals of sneeringly superior brats ... Of more recent origin, Deanna Durbin’s “Three Smart Girls,” Freddy Bartholomew’s im¬ personation of “David Copperfield” and Shirley Temple’s lovable “Miss Marker” are probably too well known for elaboration. “Mr. March deserves commenda¬ tion for presenting a long overdue suggestion.” Got any ideas on this subject, readers? Betty Field, says Skippy Ho¬ meier who should know, packs a meaner wallop than Shirley Booth. For fourteen months, during the Broadway run of “Tomorrow, The World!” Miss Booth soundly slap¬ ped the 12-year-old actor ea^h night, and twice on Wednesdays , and Saturdays at matinees. Skippy appears in Lester Co¬ wan’s film production of the stage hit with Miss Field taking over Miss Booth’s role. They filmed the slapping scene and Skippy came up groggy. “Long shots, medium shots, closeups and all kinds of angles,” said Skippy. “Miss Field had to belt me in the kisser in each of the shots and she can really dish it out. Maybe it’s from getting hit so many times in one day, but my face feels a lot more sore than it did when I was getting hit only once in each performance on the stage.” Skippy plays a Nazi youth who disrupts an American household with Nazi-inspired tactics in “To¬ morrow—The World!” now playing at the . Theatre through United Artists release. The slap had a lot to do with curing him. Fredric March, Academy Award winner for his portrayal in “Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde,” shares star¬ ring honors with Miss Field. He is seen as Professor Michael Frame who sees his home almost destroyed by the machinations of the Nazi- trained youngsters. Others in the cast include Agnes Moorehead in one of her brilliant characterizations, Joan Carroll, outstanding child star, and Edit Angold, widely-known German ac¬ tress. Glamour Name Goes To Stars Stand-In The ancient Hollywood tradition that the names of all prospective stars must have a glamorous ring has been given final rites in Lester Cowan’s production of the stage hit, “Tomorrow, The World!” Skippy Homeier, who stole acting honors in the original stage pro¬ duction, retained his unromantic handle when making his film debut. But his stand-in makes up for Skippy’s lack of glamour. His name is Gaylord Doyle! Fredric March and Betty Field play starring roles in the film, which premieres now at the Theatre through United Artists release. Page Fourteen