When Tomorrow Dies

I noticed that this interesting little period piece had garnered one star in my local TV guide, which I thought was bit unfair. This is not a film of any cult status, its production values are primitive, even for the mid 60's, its acting fair to middling at best. But it seems to have fallen directly in that fault line of the angst between 1950s suburban 'utopia' and what would come after in the cultural revolutions (and wars) of the late 60s and forward. It has a peculiarly 'Canadian' tint, mostly in the self deprecating and cynical breviary of the professor to whom the housewife, Gwen, becomes romantically attracted. It nicely develops the theme of the bored housewife, seeking emancipation while grittily trying to hold on to dreams and values of her youth. Viewers will see all kind of visual references to mid century architecture and ornaments, in all their mundane 'glory'. Their are few nice ones, though, in the Vancouver UBC Campus of that era, the TR2, Corvette Convertable. Gwen and her daughter, Elaine, look extremely attractive as well, in the rather cramped fashion of the time. As slice of modern history of a time and place, I found it intriguing.

My expectations weren't very high with this being rated lowest of Larry Kent's Vancouver Trilogy according to IMDB . I'd seen the first two, The Bitter Ash, and Sweet Substitute. They were good but flawed, suffering from low budgets and other compromises. Being curious, I really felt compelled to see When Tomorrow Dies despite my low expectations. Immediately I was drawn into the dreamlike sequences and was hooked. Much like in Sweet Substitute, Kent's sets are like time capsules of 1960s interiors and esthetics. The interiors are very reminiscent of my childhood home. What can I say about the story without spoilers? This is the type of story that might be more at home in 1970s feminist films. In a way it could be seen as a woman's midlife crisis and her coming to terms with it. Technically, my only problem was with the voice soundtrack. The voices were extremely loud at times, yet would go soft and unintelligible at others. Even when loud it was difficult to understand some dialog. Hopefully in the future this can be addressed. The music however, as in the other two Vancouver Trilogy films, was excellent.