THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW (1956) B/W 84m dir: Douglas Sirk

w/Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Joan Bennett, Jane Darwell, William Reynolds, Gigi Perreau

Another of director Sirk's intelligent, ironic soapers. In this one, MacMurray is a disaffected toy manufacturer afflicted with a self-absorbed wife (Bennett) and ratty kids. Then old flame Stanwyck reenters his life, and the fireworks begin. From Michael Stern's Douglas Sirk : "It is in its finality a chilling film --- a detailed examination of a man who, suddenly realizing his life has become a claustrophobic trap, struggles desperately to break away. His struggle only mires him deeper, his attempt to escape underlining the hopelessness of his life. To the extent that he develops a profound awareness of his condition, Clifford Groves (Fred MacMurray) of There's Always Tomorrow is a real tragic hero, trapped inside a petit bourgeois existence." Of course, Sirk uses the mise en scene (everything that's put before the camera --- look especially for the placement of mirrors and screens), the lighting, and the camera angles to express the character's entrapment. Stanwyck and MacMurray are both quite touching in their respective roles.