Today We Live

In the one and only film Gary Cooper and Joan Crawford made together, unless you count their joint cameo in It's A Great Feeling, it's one very old fashioned wartime soap opera set in the United Kingdom during World War I and then in France.

Howard Hawks maybe was the wrong director for this film. It might have been better handled by someone like Frank Borzage or George Cukor where they might have made the tender romantic lines believable. I don't think anyone would have believed Joan Crawford as British. Elegant she does look however in those gowns she was famous for in her early films.

Joan shouldn't be blamed for not sounding British. The story involves a mixture of British and American characters. But in checking out the entire cast list, I found only three of them were actually born across the pond and another born in Australia. Where was the fabled Hollywood British colony in this film.?

Gary Cooper is an American aviator who takes over Joan's estate following the death of her father. She's already involved with fellow countryman Robert Young who's in His Majesty's Navy. Also around is her brother Franchot Tone who gives the best performance in the film. As we all know this was Tone's first film with the woman who became his wife in a couple of years.

The romance is pure soap opera with Joan going back and forth from Cooper to Young and back. You know that someone is going to have to do the decent thing. If you're interested you can watch the film for who does.

Courtesy of Hawks's earlier masterpiece and from Mr. Howard Hughes came some nice aerial footage from Hell's Angels. Aviation enthusiasts if there willing to sit through the drama will get a real treat with all the vintage World War I aircraft.

It's too bad Cooper and Crawford did not get something better. Of course Gary later worked with Howard Hawks on Sergeant York and Ball of Fire. Now those are films not to be missed.

This film was hopelessly miscast. Why have Americans playing Brits especially when none can master the accent? But, that is one of the reasons to watch especially as Miss Crawford often forgets, or doesn't even try to attempt to be English, in places... sometimes in mid sentence. You can also laugh at the stilted attempts at English Dialogue - "Sister, Mine". "Officer now. Navy. Now I can ask her.". "Feelings Anne. Can't change love.". There's also some clumsy scenes but this was made in 1933 so we were only just out of the silent age so some over dramatic, over egged, over acted scene's are to be expected.

Yet, and despite this being a pot-boiler of a love triangle with war and Anglos-American relations as it's background, it is enjoyable for some still superb acting, the way the three main characters a loved by the camera and are give back warmth and honesty in return. Never been a big fan of Joan Crawford but she looks good and (if we forget she is supposed to be British) gives a good performance.

The sort of film you watch to look at both the good and the bad of cinema at the time and it gives you plenty to talk about later. And remember Crawford and Franchot Tone met for the first time when making this film. he became her second husband two years later.

This early Hawks' film has many of the themes that will frequently appear in all his filmography, like friendship between men or the professional skill as a mean of survival in dangerous situations. After a weak start the movie takes off during the plane and boat attacks, when Joan Crawford's character is somehow left aside. All in all, her character appears more like a nuisance than anything else. Her first appearance during the tea scene is promising but from there on she'll lack the mannish qualities of other Hawks' females. It is clear that the love interests all through the film are between Cooper, Tone and Young. Claude's blindness reminds other physical impediments of Hawksian heroes. This film, however, closes with a display of self sacrifice and heroism seldom seen in the director's universe. There's also some unusual appearance of religious elements. Although a film "d'epoque", Hawks cannot help turning the material into a modern piece. Some fine scenes, like the aviator instructing the neophyte gunman about the dangers of throwing up, or the wake of the dead cockroach are a true landmark of the director's imaginary, and a clear proof of his ability to turn any material into his own.

Despite some very glossy MGM B&W photography, as shown in the good print of this film aired by TCM, and some attractive sets and very Adrian-created costumes for JOAN CRAWFORD, TODAY WE LIVE is a film as generic as its title. It's hard to distinguish from any other triangle romance except that the war background gives it added interest.

The script is a strange affair. It's hard to believe that JOAN CRAWFORD and GARY COOPER would openly declare their deep love for each other after exchanging a few glances across a cup of tea. In the very next scene they're hopelessly in love, with Crawford feeling guilt because she's the fiancé of ROBERT YOUNG.

Young's brother is the carefree FRANCHOT TONE (who walks off with the earlier scenes in the film), while ROBERT YOUNG gets his chance to do a fair share of emoting later in the film as his role expands. It's nice seeing these well-known actors at an early stage in their budding careers and still in their prime.

For GARY COOPER fans this is nothing special, but Crawford's admirers will find that she was at the height of her photogenic, sculptured beauty despite some odd dress designs by Adrian that don't suggest anything but the studio's line of glamor during the early '30s. She wears a boldly designed dress with a strange wing collar that has to be seen to be believed. It's hilarious! And that's just so she can pour tea with some dignity.

The actors all speak in clipped lines. "Good girl," says Franchot Tone on several occasions, trying to sound like Colonel Blimp, I suppose. And the others too adopt a strange way of clipping phrases so they sound more British. Very funny.

It goes into darker territory in the later war scenes and there director Howard Hawks seems more at home. But for a film in which the Joan Crawford character was added as a last minute script change, she certainly gets her fair share of footage and dominates the first forty-five minutes. But the love angle is certainly a strange one. She treats Cooper with rude indifference several times during their first meeting although his behavior is that of the perfect gentleman. Shortly thereafter, she confesses she's in love with him. That's the movies for you.

This love story set during WW I, is a pretty boring affair despite of the casting of a young Gary Cooper and a Beautiful Joan Crawford.There seems to be no Chemistry between the two leads.Robert Young as the third part of the triangle is perhaps a bit old for his role,but pulls it off quite well.The only real chemistry with Crawford has the actor playing her brother,Franchot Tone, he gives perhaps the best performance in the movie together with Cooper's sidekick Roscoe Karns. Crawford and Tone fell in love during the shooting of this movie and it shows quite clearly in their scenes together.The aviation scenes are what really saves this movie.They're excellently made considering the vintage of this film.Too bad the rest of the story is so boring.