''Today We Live'' is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

romance

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

produced and directed by

Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter of the Classical Hollywood cinema, classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American ...

and starring

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

, Robert Young and

Franchot Tone Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...

."Today We Live (1933)."
''The New York Times''; retrieved September 18, 2012. Based on the story "Turnabout" by

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

, which appeared in the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' on March 5, 1932, the film is about two officers during World War I, who compete for the same beautiful young woman. Faulkner provided dialogue for the film, making it the only film version of his work that Faulkner co-wrote. Joan Crawford's character was added to the film to include a love interest. She met her future husband Franchot Tone on the set of the film. They married two years later.Quirk and Schoell 2002, p. 69.

Plot

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Diana "Ann" Boyce-Smith (

) is an English girl living on her father's estate in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. The estate is bought by a wealthy American, Richard Bogard (

), who seeks to move into his new property. Right as Bogard arrives, Ann and the house's servants find out that her father has been killed in action, but Ann projects calm and brave graciousness and moves to the guest cottage without complaint. Bogard finds her strength attractive and quickly falls in love with her. Meanwhile, her brother Lt. Ronnie Boyce-Smith (

) and Lt. Claude Hope ( Robert Young) are both British Naval officers going off to fight in the war. Ann believes she is in love with Claude, and consents to marry him. However, she soon realizes she is in true love when meeting Bogard. Though Bogard originally proclaimed his neutrality and indifference to the war, he soon joins as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

. Ann goes to London, and though Claude is unaware of Diana's true feelings for Bogard, Ann admits her feelings for Bogard to Ronnie. Ronnie advises her to tell Claude the truth, but Ann is intent on keeping her

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

pledge. Then Ronnie shows an announcement in the paper informing her that Bogard was reported

dead Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sho ...

during a training accident. However, there had been a mistake, and Bogard comes back unharmed. Though she is happy to see him, she disappears soon after he arrives. Bogard comes across a drunken Claude in a bar and takes him home—a home he shares with Ann. Bogard becomes jealous, and a rivalry for Ann develops between Bogard and Claude. Claude agrees to accompany Bogard on an air fight, and Bogard is surprised by Claude's expert shooting. Bogard takes a turn at Claude's shift on a boat, and Claude is blinded when hand-launching a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

against a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

. Ann learns of Claude's blindness and says a final goodbye to Bogard, but he realizes Diana and Bogard's true feelings for one another. Diana feels it is her duty to care for Claude, and when an aerial suicide mission comes up, all three men participate, with the outcome being that both Claude and Ronnie die in action, although their boat successfully makes a torpedo run. Their sacrifice allows Bogard to survive, and although Diana is sad to lose both Ronnie and Claude, she and Bogard are reunited.

Cast

As appearing in ''Today We Live'' (main roles and screen credits identified): *

as Diana "Ann" Boyce *

as Lieutenant Richard Bogard * Robert Young as Lieutenant Claude Hope *

as Lieutenant Ronnie Boyce-Smith *

Roscoe Karns Roscoe Karns (September 7, 1891 – February 6, 1970) was an American actor who appeared in nearly 150 films between 1915 and 1964. He specialized in cynical, wise-cracking (and often tipsy) characters, and his rapid-fire delivery enlivened many ...

as "Mac" McGinnis * Louise Closser Hale as Applegate * Hilda Vaughn as Eleanor * Eily Malyon as the Maid

Production

With the working titles, "We Live Again" and "Turn About", Howard Hawks purchased an option on Faulkner's short story, "Turnabout" of men in combat as a star vehicle for Phillips Holmes, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and later,

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

. Faulkner took only five days to write the film himself, but when Irving Thalberg, the vice-president of MGM studios at the time, insisted that Crawford be written into the script as she was contractually committed to a $500,000 salary, working or not, the first of many rewrites began. Faulkner created the role of Ann, who was involved in a love triangle. Hawks hated the studio interference in what he considered would have been a "man's picture", but found working with Crawford was pleasant. Although touted as a classic screen pairing, ''Today We Live'' was the only time Joan Crawford and Gary Cooper performed together. MGM marketed the film as a romance with the trailer focusing on the two stars, gushing on screen with the taglines, "The fiery head-strong personality of exquisite Joan Crawford" and "The calm strength, the eager romantic nature of handsome Gary Cooper." Once Crawford was signed, an effort to go for a similar star name led to Cooper coming on board, on loan from

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

two weeks after the projected date of principal photography, although some sources indicate that Cooper, Robert Young and Franchot Tone were Hawks' first choices. Press releases had touted that Crawford had insisted on Cooper as her co-star. Cooper was in a slight decline with two other "mediocre" films in release, and when the opportunity to work with Hawks came, it also aligned him with the mercurial Crawford, albeit in what he later would regard as a "misguided project". A series of rewrites with both Faulkner and other screenwriters along with the cutting of key opening scenes led to a confusing jumble of versions, as the original screen time of 135 minutes of a preview print indicates."Notes: Today We Live."
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: September 18, 2012. After obtaining General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

's help in reserving March Field in California, individual aerial sequences were shot although footage from

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

' '' Hell's Angels'' (1930) including the bomber mission, the "dogfight" sequence complete with the head-on collision of two aircraft, was merged into the final production print. Principal photography in both Culver City studio and location sites began in mid-December 1932 and wrapped in February 1933. After looking at rushes of the young actors that were integral to the background of the film, it was evident that their British accents were completely unconvincing and Hawks resorted to excising their scenes altogether and entering a new rewrite, focusing more heavily on Crawford's character, with no better results. The upper-class dialogue that once was considered "snappy" now appeared to be "Hemingwayesque" and combined with the ludicrous period outfits worn by the cast, especially Crawford's outlandish gowns, made it difficult for cast members to not consider the entire exercise a farce.

Reception

Although well received in a preview, ''Today We Live'' was a very different film in its final release form, and was almost universally panned, with ''Variety'' having a litany of complaints: "... the film was 20 minutes too long. Crawford was unconvincing, Hawks used too much aerial footage from 'Hell's Angels' (1930), the "Gowns by Adrian" were extreme and annoying, and the story was superficial ... " Mordant Hall in his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', was less strident, but noted the film was "at times vague and cumbersome. It possesses, however, the spark of sincerity, and its lack of clarity might be ascribed either to Howard Hawks's direction or to the script contributed by Edith Fitzgerald and Dwight Taylor, for there are sequences that are far too lengthy and others that would be considerably improved by more detail." A modern assessment was similarly damning, "... the melodrama is more clinging than the mud of the Marne."Evans 2000, p. 185.

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $590,000 in the US and Canada and $445,000 elsewhere resulting in a loss of $23,000.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Bret, David. ''Joan Crawford: Hollywood Martyr.'' New York: Da Capo Press, 2008. . * Chandler, Charlotte. ''Not the Girl Next Door: Joan Crawford: a Personal Biography.'' New York: Pocket Books, 2009. . * Evans, Alun. ''Brassey's Guide to War Films''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. . * McCarthy, Todd. ''Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood. Grove Press, 2000, First edition 1997. . * Meyer, Jeffrey. ''Gary Cooper: American Hero''. New York: William Morrow, 1998. . * Phillips, Gene D. '' Fiction, Film, and Faulkner: The Art of Adaptation''. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, 2001. . * Quirk, Lawrence J. and William Schoell. ''Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography''. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2002. . * Swindell, Larry. ''The Last Hero: A Biography of Gary Cooper''. New York: Doubleday, 1980. . * Thompson, Davis. ''Gary Cooper'' (Great Stars). New York: Faber & Faber, 2010. .

External links

* * * {{William Faulkner 1933 films 1933 romantic drama films American aviation films World War I aviation films Western Front (World War I) films Films set on the United Kingdom home front during World War I World War I naval films 1930s English-language films American black-and-white films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films based on short fiction Films based on works by William Faulkner Films directed by Howard Hawks Films set in England Films shot in California American romantic drama films Films with screenplays by William Faulkner 1930s American films English-language romantic drama films