Tomorrow's Youth

Divorce: 30's Style!

This was a rather unusual film for it's time period, covering divorce and all, but gets bogged down somewhat sidetracked in the "Awww! Look how cute the kid is, and look what shenanigans he's up to now!" theme it takes in the middle. A society wife finds his husband getting into a car with the atypical 'other woman', the woman takes Junior far far away, with an agreement that Junior will spend 6 months at each of his parent's place. Now, at this point it's actually a riveting drama, a kid town between his two parents! Mom is just barely making it with his son! But when he returns to his Father's well-to-do place, well, the whole thing almost becomes Annie, with the cute tyke getting a comedic relief tutor, and the kid gets up to no-good running away to play baseball.. that kid is just too darn cute!! It somewhat turns around when the kid falls off a wall, and has 'spinal injuries' (read: a light fever) forcing his Mother to come back to visit Father. They start to reconcile.. problem is, the mistress is still in the father's life… This is actually well acted, with the lead kid actor doing quite the capable job with the adults in the film. The main problem with this film as I said before, is that this doesn't know which direction it wants to go, which hinders the film considerably.

Martha Sleeper goes with son Dickie Moore to see her husband, John Miljan at his office. He's leaving to go for the weekend with his girlfriend, Gloria Shea. Young Dickie asks some pointed questions that cause Miss Sleeper to consider divorce. On the advice of her lawyer, she separates, taking Dickie with her. Eventually, however, Miljan gets the boy for six months. He hires Franklin Pangborn (aka "that big sissy") as his tutor.

With the rise of the Production Code, this movie could not be as frank as earlier movies about divorce could be. Instead it casts the players in stock roles: the villain (Miss Shea); the clueless stiff (Miljan); and the wronged and noble victim (Miss Sleeper), with a little child to eventually lead them. It disapproves of all the things the Code demanded disapproval of, with a stock reconciliation. Despite real talent among the players (including Jane Darwell as the Irish cook), director Charles Lamont seems to be best at directing the sequences with large numbers of children, which are a lot of fun. As a serious drama, though, it lacks much of a sense of reality.

Cute seven-year-old Dickie Moore (as Thomas "Junior" Hall) is with his mother Martha Sleeper (as Ellen Blair Hall) when she catches husband and father John Miljan (as Thomas "Tom" Hall) leaving his New York law office with a blonde affair. The couple is granted a court separation, with young Dickie scheduled to spend six months with Ms. Sleeper, followed by six months with Mr. Miljan. This is a trial custody arrangement, as the couple prepares for divorce. Mother and teacher are upset when the little Moore has to go live in father Miljan's mansion, but they follow court orders...

Unfortunately, there is no scene showing Dickie Moore unpacking his goldfish...

While with his father, young Moore must deal with baths administered by "big sissy" Franklin Pangborn (as Thornton), who is engaged as his tutor. Apparently, sweet and motherly Jane Darwell (as Mary O'Brien) doesn't do baths. Meanwhile, Gloria Shea (as Jane Holsworth), the blonde who dated dad in the opening scene, tries to play "mama" to Moore. She wants to be a wealthy socialite, but Moore wants his real mother and father to get back together. "Tomorrow's Youth" depends on stable marriages. It looks like production code made sure the seventh commandment was followed.

** Tomorrow's Youth (2/5/35) Charles Lamont ~ Dickie Moore, Martha Sleeper, John Miljan, Franklin Pangborn

This film features a young and cute Dickie Moore and, not surprisingly, he plays a kid whose parents are about to become divorced. I say not surprisingly because this is about the fourth film I've seen the kid in when the parents marriage is on the fritz. For some reason, this kid just kept getting these roles--probably because he was so cute and the family problems made you want to take care of the kid yourself! The film begins with his rich dad chasing after some tart instead of "going on business in Boston". However, Moore and his mother see dad and the marriage is doomed. Soon they are legally separated and the divorce is practically a foregone conclusion.

After this, the way this effects the boy's life is shown. He lives half-time with mom and half-time with dad. Things seem best with mom, though they lack the beautiful home and cash that dad has. That's because dad is busy working and an annoying tutor (franklin Pangborn) manages to smother the kid and make him miserable. And, in addition, dad's slut, I mean "girlfriend", makes sure to be there as often as possible, as she doesn't want anything to get in the way of her marrying this sugar-daddy.

By the end of the film, the divorce has finally made its way to court. Up until this point, the film was pretty good in the way you could see the impact of a divorce on a kid. However, the courtroom scenes are just dumb. First, before the judge finally clears the court, the lawyer for the father is WAAAY out of line and the defense attorney seems sound asleep. No judge would allow such shenanigans in a divorce case--the lawyer is just ridiculously written. When the lawyers are finally shut up and the kid is allowed to speak, you think it would improve, but it actually gets worse. The movie manages to become really dumb and schmaltzy...believe me! But, not so bad that it ruins the film.

Overall, the story idea is very good but the ending sucks. It's worth seeing, but not exactly a must-see film, that's for sure!

Tomorrow's Youth from Monogram Pictures has little Dickie Moore being shuttled back and forth between separated parents John Miljan and Martha Sleeper. Sleeper caught Miljan with Gloria Shea and the divorce proceedings were on.

Miljan "engaged" a tutor for little master Moore in the person of the familiar fuss budget Franklin Pangborn. Pangborn played what was gay stereotypes back in the day. But it was only in this film that Moore out rightly calls him "a big sissy". It was business as usual for Pangborn who just smothers this kid with this regimented schedule of nap times.

The ending which takes place in divorce court is just plain sentimental slop. This truly does not hold up well and LGBT people will be really offended with what Franklin Pangborn plays here.