Les amants du crime

The title sounds like a soap opera, and it kinda is, with some noirish touches. The first 30 minutes are familiar fare to any noir fan: ex-convict has troubles finding his way on the outside, meets a scheming blonde who only thinks of looking after Number One. At her place they run into her beau, who's none too pleased. Fists fly, and soon enough a shot is fired,hitting the boyfriend. We know it's the dame that did it, but since the ex-con was knocked out before the gun went off he doesn't know he's innocent. She doesn't clear things up for him, for obvious reasons. Fearing the worst, they hit the road together. From then on the melodrama takes over: she washes the bleach out of her hair, and becomes a reformed woman almost instantly. Love starts to bloom and they throw in their lot together. Will they ever find true happiness? At this point the movie lover who likes his noir hard-boiled might as well switch off. Those who sit out the rest of the movie either learn to care for the star-crossed couple or will feel cheated out of a good chase movie. I'm sort of on the fence about this one; both leads are engaging enough, but the story could have used more grit. Noir fans should try this one out, it has enough going for it, but be warned: Bonny And Clyde it ain't.

...for a suspenseful,absorbing,often moving film.

My favorite scenes are the very first ones:Bill/Mike leaving jail and discovering the outside world,struggling to adjust to something which is completely new for him.When he asks for three slices of cake ,everybody laughs at him,but we do not.This man spent 18 years in jail for something he had never done.

Steve Cochran and Ruth Roman (fresh from "strangers on a train") are a good pairing .The screenplay is not very new ,and sometimes verges on melodrama (M.Dawson's accident) but it's a well-constructed story of redemption (a double redemption) one can recommend to films noirs buffs.

I can't think of any other film from the pre-Moon Is Blue period that deals with so many tough social issues (without, of course, QUITE breeching the Production Code): prostitution, rape, pimping, and even premarital sex. Steve Cochran is excellent as a brooding ex-con on the run from a crime he didn't commit. Outstanding atmosphere, photography, and screenplay. Even the scenes in the lettuce fields are outstanding!

"Tomorrow Is Another Day" is an example of why I love TCM.

Included as part of the station's "Summer of Darkness" series, highlighting my favorite genre, film noir, "Tomorrow Is Another Day" aired at 10:45 pm. I had no intention of watching it, since I was tired and I'd already sat through two other movies in the series that evening: "The Gangster" and one of my all time faves, "Gun Crazy." But then the host started talking about how "Tomorrow..." is a "dark gem" in the noir canon and how it's relatively unknown, and I started to think about when I would ever have the chance to see it again and decided I had to sit down and watch the damn thing.

And man was I glad I did. A gem indeed, "Tomorrow..." stars Steve Cochran and Ruth Roman as a recently released con and a dance hall hostess, respectively, who move away from the city and set up house, only to find that his criminal past will not be left behind so easily. There's a whole sub genre of noir that involves flights from big cities into the open spaces of America and how those open spaces are no longer safe; the decay of urban environments will follow relentlessly, and the open spaces are even more dangerous because there are fewer places to hide. Cochran and Roman have incredible chemistry together, and the movie really makes you root for both of them, even though he comes across as perhaps a tad off his rocker.

In case I've oversold it, don't think this film is going to change your life. There's nothing groundbreaking to be found here. But it is a fresh surprise in a genre that's full of fresh surprises.

Felix Feist (who?) provides the playful direction.

Grade: A

This film screened at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on April 7, 1999. It was described in the American Cinematheque schedule as follows:

"TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY 1951, Warners, 90 min. Steve Cochran's an ex-con who's never been with a woman. Ruth Roman is a dime-a-dance dame with no use for sappy men. A hotel room, a dirty cop, a gunshot - the perfect jump-off for a fugitives-on-the-run love story. This virtually unknown noir is Felix Feist's masterwork, packed with revelatory set-pieces. Cochran was never more vulnerable, Roman never sexier. Imagine GUN CRAZY scripted by Steinbeck - it's that good."

I just saw this film, and I agree with every word of the above description.