Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

utgard14 Dick Powell plays a reporter who is given a newspaper that correctly predicts the headline for the following day, allowing him to get the scoop on all the big news stories. This brings him more problems than he bargained for. Interesting, charming, sometimes funny fantasy that falls short of greatness because it lacks some 'kick.' I'm not sure why it was necessary to make the story take place at the turn of the 20th century. I think it would have worked better in a contemporary setting, particularly given the things going on in the world at the time. Still, it's enjoyable with a good cast. Powell is always likable and Linda Darnell is lovely. I even liked Jack Oakie and I'm not always a fan. As others have pointed out, the '90s TV series Early Edition used a similar premise. Not set in the same time period, of course.

dougdoepke 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.

theowinthrop A sort of fantasy counterpart of the contemporary Ernst Lubitsch film HEAVEN CAN WAIT, while parts of IT HAPPENED TOMORROW are set in the 1940s, at a vast family get together for the 50th Anniversary of patriarch Dick Powell and matriarch Linda Darnell, the bulk of the film is set in the same 1890s setting as the Lubitsch film. As it is directed here by Rene Clair, he probably enjoyed the mixture of nostalgia and fantasy (in this same period he also did I MARRIED A WITCH with Veronica Lake and Frederick March).Powell is a newspaper man who has finally been promoted from doing obituaries to reporting events by boss George Cleveland. He and some chums (including George Chandler) are celebrating his promotion when he has a conversation with the oldest employee of the paper, the newspaper morgue attendant (John Philiber). Philiber is pointing out that in every age there was a sense of a future which we now accept as part of the past, but that to know the future is not a blessing. After all, if you know the future, that includes all the bad things as well as the so-called good things. Powell, emboldened by some drinking and optimism at his promotion, feels Philiber is wrong and insists that he'd love to know the future. Powell and his friends go out to a nearby theater/bar for entertainment, and they see a mentalist act of Jack Oakie (complete with fake Italian dialect) and his niece Darnell. Powell is attracted to Darnell, and begins making a pest of himself and his intentions to Oakie. Later he actually does take Darnell back to her rooming house. The when walking home he is stopped by Philiber, who presents him with the "evening" newspaper. But Powell does not realize that the newspaper is special. The next day he reads it and finds it is the evening paper of the next day, and it's events predict the incidents of that day - specifically the robbery of a theater that Dame Nelly Melba is singing at.Powell is to meet Darnell for lunch, but takes her to the theater, and he witnesses the aftermath of the robbery. He then goes to the newspaper and presents the story, but the police (led by Edgar Kennedy) naturally are suspicious of Powell, and think he was in cahoots with the robbers. The end result is that both Powell and Darnell are under police suspicion "until they prove their innocence".What follows in the film is the incredible complications regarding foretelling the future in a newspaper and maintaining a good reputation with your employer, the authorities, and the general public. Powell and Darnell are soon forced to reveal what they know of the future (real or fake) to the Police to avoid arrest. Powell is also forced to rely on the increasingly mysterious Philiber who is not showing up at work, and only shows up to present the newspaper of the next day (or read it) to Powell.It is a very amusing film, reminding us again that Powell was a good comic actor when given good material. The crazy fight in the film's conclusion, based on his knowledge of what he believes is his fate, is excellent because he can take chances since he knows his current activities have nothing to do with what or where his fate is tied to. So are his actions that are driving Jack Oakie crazy, first in disturbing a pretty successful mentalist act (Sig Ruman is a representative of Barnum and Bailey trying to sign him up), and then apparently compromising Darnell's reputation, and then in going to the racetrack and winning four impossible horse race bets in a row. Darnell is good too, giving support to Powell (although she can't believe in his crazy source of inside information), to the point that she too predicts an event for the benefit of the Police. Kennedy is in his element, slow burning as he can't figure out how Powell knows so much in advance and is not a criminal. And several side faces in the cast remind us of another Paramount comic genius active at that moment: Preston Sturgis. Jimmy Conlon, Robert Dudley, Kennedy, Darnell, and Powell all appeared in Sturgis films in their time. Here they show that Clare could also depend on their work.In the series ONE STEP BEYOND, there was an episode about a newspaper reporter in Boston who predicted the Krackatoa Explosion in 1883 and then (possibly) McKinley's assassination in 1901. That episode treated this entire problem far more seriously, as the reporter involved never really recovered from the freak fame he momentarily got in 1883. But this film fantasy treats the matter more lightly, but still makes one really question the full value of the possibility of predicting the future. It also reminds one of Goethe's famous comment: "Be careful of what you want...you may get it!"

ferbs54 And you thought "The New York Times" was the best newspaper that you could get your hands on? Well, then, just take a look at the paper that turn-of-the- century reporter Dick Powell gets a hold of, in the 1944 comedy/fantasy "It Happened Tomorrow." This sheet gives all the news that's fit to print a full day BEFORE the news actually happens! Imagine the possibilities for news scoops and gambling! But, oh...what happens if you should read your own obituary on page 1? Anyway, that's the setup for what turns out to be an absolutely charming little film, featuring classy production design and a first-rate cast. Powell, mustachioed here for a change, is extremely charismatic as our leading man; Linda Darnell, all of 23 in this film, is sweet and oh-so beautiful as the bogus seeress he becomes involved with; and Jack Oakie gives an extremely likable and high-energy performance as Linda's uncle (almost a reprise of his hilarious Benzino Napaloni from 1940's "The Great Dictator"). Fans of old-timey movies will be happy to note such famous character actors as Edgar Kennedy, Sig Ruman and Edward Brophy also gracing this fine cast. With its sweet "Twilight Zone"-ish story and upbeat moral of the undesirability of knowing the future, this is even a movie that adults can watch with the kiddies. While perhaps not in the same league as the previous year's turn-of-the-century fantasy "Heaven Can Wait," this is a film that should still manage to prove a winner for most viewers. It is also available on a new, crisp-looking DVD that only adds to the pleasure.