O Tempo é uma Ilusão

It seems that this is a much sought after and rarely diffused film - and it is now available on DVD. Picture quality not bad at all considering the time it was made and plot generally quite lighthearted if not unduly mystifying. I was expecting something a little more spicy with a bit of time-travel involved - but was not too disappointed in the end as the actors' performances are good and the subject matter is quite original. I would therefore recommend it to all who love comedy fantasiies but without going over the top about it .

I first saw this film in the year of it's release in 1944 when I was 14 years old. I haven't seen it since I was in my early thirties and I am now in my middle seventies so perhaps I am viewing it through a rosy glow. I enjoyed Dick Powell as an actor once he got rid of playing in those silly musical films (42nd St type, etc)and rate this one a good comedy to compare at the side of his tougher vehicles like "Farewell My Lovely". His early death robbed the screen of an actor who hadn't yet fulfilled his potential. A pity there aren't more films like this one instead of the constant cycle of sex and violence with which the film industry is now preoccupied.

Reporter Stevens (Powell) is tipped off to tomorrow's headlines by mysterious Pop Benson (Philliber) before the events happen. At the same time, Stevens is romancing lovely Sylvia (Darnell) who is part with her uncle (Oakie) of a phony occult stage act.

It's Twilight Zone material given a humorously light touch by the masterful Rene Clair, (And Then There Were None {1945}). Considering the final screenplay comes from as many as 7(!) writers, it's surprising the result holds together as well as it does.

A key point is watching such a spooky, noirish premise treated humorously, at times even bordering on the farcical. But the gimmick works surprisingly well, thanks also to a number of plausibly intelligent twists. Then too, Powell gets into the swing with a lively, engaging performance. And what a slice of eye candy is the sweetly innocent Darnell, a long way from her usual tough cookie specialty.

The premise amounts to an imaginative twist on the old concept of fate. The suspense comes from waiting to see how fate will play out. If you think about it, you see why the portent had to be couched as a newspaper headline. Otherwise the ending would have to be quite different.

Anyway, it's an entertaining movie, unusual for the unorthodox treatment. Still, it's that light touch that separates the material from the sci-fi pack for our post-Twilight Zone era.

Certainly, the best reason to watch "It Happened Tomorrow" is that it is fun to watch, with an interesting premise, a story and characters that are pleasantly exaggerated to just the right degree, and a good pace that keeps things moving. But it's not without a point, either, and by keeping things from ever getting too serious, it's rather effective in its implied observations.

The likable Dick Powell and the appealing Linda Darnell work well together, giving solid performances without trying to get more out of their characters than they should. Jack Oakie is nicely cast as the boorish uncle of Darnell's character, and he gets some very good moments.

The premise of reading tomorrow's news is certainly familiar in other forms and from other pictures, but it is the kind of interesting idea that always works well when it is in good hands. René Clair has the right feel for it, keeping things light most of the time, and adding some creative details. The story is often very clever in showing the ways that the advance knowledge both influences and misleads the characters.

The story moves fairly quickly, with some good period detail. It's an enjoyable movie and also, without being heavy-handed or obtrusive, illustrates some worthwhile ideas.

There were many 'screwball comedies' in the 1930s and 1940s, and this film could probably be described as 'a comic screwball ghost film'. The French director Rene Clair evidently found it more convenient to be in America during the Nazi occupation of France, and this was a film which he shot there in English. I saw the DVD in a French issue, and the French subtitles did no justice at all to the racy colloquial English spoken in the film. Dick Powell, with his quirky laconic humour tinged with despondency (one imagines him going home after shooting to a lonely Scotch), is perfectly cast as a young journalist who wants to know tomorrow's news today. The old codger who kept the archives for the newspaper, eerily played by John Philliber, dies and comes back as a ghost to hand Powell the next day's paper in advance, and he does so several times. This leads to wildly incalculable results, including Powell being accused of murder and trying to escape his own murder of which he has read the report. Powell falls for the glamorous Linda Darnell, jealously protected by her uncle Jack Oakie, and there is a big tussle over her. It is all very lively and very jolly, and although it is not sophisticated, the implications are profound, as the nature of time is under serious consideration, however light-hearted the story may be. The film is adapted from a play by Lord Dunsany.