''Forever and a Day'' is a 1943 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

, a collaborative effort employing seven directors/producers and 22 writers, with an enormous cast of well-known stars.

Background

In March 1940 Cedric Hardwicke initiated plans for a movie made without remuneration by British writers, directors and actors/actresses, intended to honor their homeland's spirit and to benefit war relief charities, with RKO Studios financing the production costs of the film with a $300,000 budget: it was estimated that had the film's '' pro bono'' participants been salaried the film would have cost $6 million (the actors and actresses appearing in the film were reportedly paid $60 a week as mandated by Equity – their pay may have been routinely donated). The film – whose first working title was ''Let The Rafters Ring'' with ''This Changing Time'' and ''Forever and a Day'' both later put forward as possibilities – had its original projected completion date of 1 June 1941 negated by the screenplay not being completed until April 1941. W. P. Lipscomb – who was paid $10,000 – wrote this screenplay, reportedly drawing on the brainstorming sessions of a committee of writers musing on a scenario proposed by

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engli ...

. This scenario, attributed by Stevenson to an unpublished novel he'd written, overtly reprised the scenario of ''

Cavalcade A cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback, or a mass trail ride by a company of riders. The focus of a cavalcade is participation rather than display. Often, the participants do not wear costumes or ride in formation. Often, a cav ...

'' (1933), the first British film to emphatically find favor with the American film industry and moviegoers, which had outlined the personal history of the families resident in a London townhouse within the context of the historical events of 1899 to 1929. To accommodate a large cast of British-born stars ''Forever and a Day'' had an extended timespan of 136 years (1804-1940), and was filmed – with minimal advance publicity – in May–December 1941. The film's first episode – directed by

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wife ...

and starring his wife Anna Neagle as well as

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning ...

and

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man'' (1933), he appeared in such highly regarded films as '' ...

– was filmed in two weeks in May 1941, with Neagle and Rains reprising their roles in the second episode completed – under Robert Stevenson's direction – in June. The film was then dormant for several months due to scheduling issues with its projected stars: Ronald Colman and

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the h ...

had offered to appear in the film but they were disallowed by MGM from playing the focal couple of the third episode, that studio feeling it would lessen the impact of the upcoming Colman/Garson star vehicle '' Random Harvest''. The episode's director Victor Saville extended an invitation to British stage musical star

Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, Ma ...

, then in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

preparing for a Broadway role, to replace Garson (Saville had helmed the most successful films made by Matthews in her homeland in the 1930s): Matthews agreed to film Garson's intended scenes over three days in Hollywood in September 1941, playing opposite Ian Hunter whose services MGM had donated to cover for Colman (Hunter had been Matthews' leading man in one of her lesser films: '' The Man from Toronto'' (1933)). The fourth episode was set to film in the autumn of 1941 after

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

and

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

– the leading man and director – had completed the film '' Suspicion'': the availability of the episode's leading lady:

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

, was a non-issue, the actress being on suspension at Warner Bros. When the filming of ''Suspicion'' ran overtime preventing both Grant and Hitchcock from filming the fourth episode in September 1941

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...

replaced Grant as Lupino's leading man, with

René Clair René Clair (11 November 1898 – 15 March 1981), born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. He wen ...

replacing Hitchcock as director. Filming on the fifth episode – with

Edmund Goulding Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film '' Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwi ...

directing leading players Robert Cummings and Merle Oberon – began 27 November 1941, with the film as originally envisioned completed after the filming day of 1 December 1941: however the 7 December 1941

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawa ...

infused in Hardwicke the need to modify the film to reflect the direct involvement in World War II which Pearl Harbor made inevitable. When the film remained incomplete several months into 1942, RKO – who by then had spent $100,000 over the agreed $300,000 production costs budget – insisted the film be "wrapped" and made ready for release, assigning Frank Lloyd to direct Kent Smith and

Ruth Warrick Ruth Elizabeth Warrick (June 29, 1916 – January 15, 2005) was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on ''All My Children'', which she played regularly from 1970 until her ...

– both RKO contract players – in a "framing" segment set in 1941 which would open and close the film also popping up between the second and third episode. It was hoped that ''Forever and a Day'' could be released in November 1942: however the film would not be released until March 1943.''Philadelphia Inquirer'' 1 October 1942 "War Picture Plagued by Revisions: 'This Changing World' finally near completion" by Frederick C. Othman (UPI Hollywood Bureau) p.20

Plot

In World War II, American Gates Trimble Pomfret ( Kent Smith) is in London during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

to sell the ancestral family house. The current tenant, Lesley Trimble (

), tries to dissuade him from selling by telling him the 140-year history of the place and the connections between the Trimble and Pomfret families.

Partial cast

* Kent Smith as Gates Trimble Pomfret * Reginald Gardiner as Assistant Hotel Manager *

Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor.Obituary '' Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. He was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made s ...

as Archibald Spavin, hotel doorman * Arthur Treacher as Second Air Raid Watcher *

June Lockhart June Lockhart (born June 25, 1925) is an American actress, beginning a film career in 1930s & 1940s in such films at ''A Christmas Carol'' and '' Meet Me in St. Louis''. She primarily acted in 1950s and 1960s television, and with performances on ...

as Girl in Air Raid Shelter *

as Lesley Trimble * Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Mr. Dabb * Herbert Marshall as Curate in Air Raid Shelter *Charles Irwin as Corporal Charlie * C. Aubrey Smith as Admiral Eustace Trimble * Edmund Gwenn as Stubbs * Lumsden Hare as Fitch *

as Lieutenant William Trimble *

Dame May Whitty ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the British honours system and those of several other Commonwealth realms, such as Australia and New Zeala ...

as Mrs. Lucy Trimble * Gene Lockhart as Cobblewick * Anna Neagle as Susan Trenchard * Claud Allister as William Barstow *Alan Edmiston as Tripp, Pomfret's Lawyer *

as Ambrose Pomfret *

Clifford Severn Clifford Severn (September 21, 1925 – June 4, 2014) was an American cricketer and child screen actor. Clifford Severn was the son of Dr. Clifford Brill Severn (1890-1981). His parents emigrated from South Africa to Los Angeles after he was born. ...

as Nelson Trimble * Alec Craig as Ambrose Pomfret's Butler *

as Mildred Trimble * Reginald Owen as Simpson, solicitor * Ian Hunter as Dexter Pomfret *

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...

as Bellamy, Dexter's butler * Anna Lee as Cornelia Trimble * Buster Keaton as Wilkins, plumber's helper *

Montagu Love Montagu Love (15 March 1877 – 17 May 1943) was an English screen, stage and vaudeville actor. Early years Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Love was the son of Harry Love and Fanny Louisa Love, née Poad; his father was listed as accounta ...

as Sir John Bunn * Edward Everett Horton as Sir Anthony Trimble-Pomfret *Daphne Moore as Elizabeth Trimble-Pomfret *

Patric Knowles Reginald Lawrence Knowles (11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995), better known as Patric Knowles, was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he made his film debut in 1932, and played either first or second fi ...

as Trimble-Pomfret son * June Duprez as Julia Trimble-Pomfret *

Cecil Kellaway Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (22 August 1890 – 28 February 1973) was a South African character actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for '' The Luck of the Irish'' (1948) and '' Guess Who's Coming to Dinne ...

as Dinner Guest * Isobel Elsom as Lady Trimble-Pomfret *

as Jenny Jones, the maid * Wendy Barrie as Edith Trimble-Pomfret *Wendell Hulett as Augustus Trimble-Pomfret * Eric Blore as Charles, the butler *

as Jim Trimble * Merle Oberon as Marjorie Ismay * Emily Fitzroy as Mrs. Fulcher * Una O'Connor as Mrs. Caroline Ismay * Richard Haydn as Mr. Butcher * Odette Myrtil as Madame Gaby *

Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series '' The New Adventures of Sherloc ...

as Major Garrow * Elsa Lanchester as Mamie, the hotel maid * Ivan F. Simpson as Dexter, the hotel tenant * Anita Sharp-Bolster as Mrs. Garrow * Roland Young as Henry Barringer * Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Barringer *Marta Gale as Miss Garrow * Robert Cummings as Ned Trimble *

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...

as Captain Martin * Doris Lloyd as Trimble Maid * Helena Pickard as Trimble Maid * Connie Leon as wartime Londoner

Notes

External links

* * *
Review
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' by

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

(May 13, 1943) {{DEFAULTSORT:Forever And A Day (1943 Film) 1943 films 1940s English-language films Battle of Britain films American black-and-white films RKO Pictures films Films directed by Cedric Hardwicke Films directed by Frank Lloyd Films directed by Edmund Goulding Films directed by Victor Saville Films directed by René Clair Films directed by Herbert Wilcox Films directed by Robert Stevenson 1943 drama films Films with screenplays by Donald Ogden Stewart Films set in 1804 Films set in 1805 Films set in 1846 Films set in 1847 Films set in 1897 Films set in 1907 Films set in 1917 Films set in 1918 Films set in 1941 Films set in London Collaborative projects Napoleonic Wars films American World War I films American World War II films World War II films made in wartime Films produced by Victor Saville American drama films