DVD Corner

It Happened Tomorrow Blu-ray Review

“It Happened Tomorrow” is a quirky 40’s comedy.

Based on pre-existing material and scripted by Dudley Nichols and Rene Clair (who also directs), “It Happened Tomorrow” revolves around a newspaper obituary writer (Lawrence) who desires more from a career standpoint. He gets his wish when the mysterious elderly newspaper employee Pop hands him a paper for tomorrow’s news. Now that he knows about future events, Lawrence sees this as an opportunity to further his career (which it does). At the same time, knowledge of the future puts Lawrence and his new lady love Sylvia in danger.

1944’s “It Happened Tomorrow” is a bit of an unknown film in these modern times which is a shame as it’s actually quite a delightful and surprisingly ahead of its time sci-fi/fantasy comedy. The “be careful what you wish for” story about knowledge and fate not only makes for some well crafted comedic sequences, but it also proves to be quite influential in that this preceded fantastic stories of a similar ilk such as the entirety of “The Twilight Zone” and even shades of “It’s A Wonderful Life” (Pop is sort of Clarence esque). One can argue that the plot could have been explored more and that the mystery of Pop could have been revealed, but I think the ambiguity of the story makes it more appealing. If this were a drama, I could see it needing to be more developed. Since it’s a comedy, however, I think the events that do transpire fit the comedic nature of the script.

Although there is some stiff acting from some of the supporting players, leads Dick Powell and Linda Darnell are terrific as Lawrence and Sylvia. They play off each other exceedingly well and have great on screen chemistry.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.33:1 1080p. How does it sound? The print has been restored from a 4K scan and the results are a crisp new print of the B&W film.

Audio Track: LPCM 2.0. How does it sound? I wish I could say the audio is as impressive as the picture quality, but alas, no. It’s a little too snowy and muffled for my liking. The dialogue is never hard to hear or anything like that, but the quality is disappointing.

The only extra is a “It Happened Tomorrow” trailer.

May 20, 2021 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Comedy Movie, Dick Powell, It Happened Tomorrow Blu-ray Review