I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Daniel Mann

Writers:

Lillian Roth (book) and
Mike Connolly (book) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

Filmed on location; inside a woman's soul.

Plot:

Deprived of a normal childhood by her ambitious mother, Katie (Jo Van Fleet), Lillian Roth (Susan Hayward)...

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Hollywood | Broadway | Alcoholic | Divorce

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 13

3:30 PM

TCM

Cast

Susan Hayward	...	Lillian Roth
Richard Conte	...	Tony Bardeman
Eddie Albert	...	Burt McGuire
Jo Van Fleet	...	Katie Roth
Don Taylor	...	Wallie
Ray Danton	...	David Tredman
Margo	...	Selma
Virginia Gregg	...	Ellen
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Jerry (as Don Barry)
David Kasday	...	David as a child
Carole Ann Campbell	...	Lillian as a child
Peter Leeds	...	Richard Elstead
Tol Avery	...	Joe - drunk party guest
Anthony Jochim	...	Paul (butler)
Jack Daly	...	Cab driver

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PA (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Lillian Roth was disappointed that MGM did not ask her to sing for Susan Hayward on the soundtrack. Concurrently with the movie's release, Epic Records issued an album of Lillian reprising tunes associated with her eminent career in vaudeville, on Broadway and in Hollywood. The LP used the same title -- "I'll Cry Tomorrow" -- as Miss Roth's 1954 autobiography (co-written with Mike Connolly and Gerold Frank, plus the 1955 biopic. Lillian did not sing the film's promotional theme song (music by Alex North, lyrics by Johnny Mercer), a mournful ballad sung by Susan Hayward, backed by Johnny Green and His Quartette, initially issued on a 45 by MGM Records.

Goofs:

Continuity: Lillian sits at a desk and begins to write a suicide note on a pad of paper. When she rises from the desk to walk to the window the pad of paper, as well as the pen, are nowhere in sight.

Quotes:

[alcoholic Lillian is desperate for a drink - mother drops the glass bottle on the floor, shattering it]
Lillian Roth: OH! Look what ya did! And ya DID IT ON PURPOSE! You're still trying to make me do what you want, to be what you want! I can't be anything except what I am! Look, look what did you drop that bottle for? What are you trying to do, drive me crazy? Go on, GET THE BOTTLE! GET IT NOW!
Katie Roth: All right! All right! All right, it's my fault, huh? I made you become an actress, you didn't want to, all right. I've been a bad mother, you had to support me, all right! All right! ALL RIGHT, EVERYTHING! Just this, and for once in your life you're gonna hear it...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in An Early Frost (1985) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe

Hayward shows actressy grit playing alcoholic Lillian Roth

Well-intentioned movie based on singer/actress Lillian Roth's memoir about her troubled life before finding success, battling with her mama (Jo Van Fleet) and later nearly destroying her own career with an addiction to booze. The scenario isn't as tidied-up as one may expect, and pathos are kept to a minimum. In the lead, Susan Hayward isn't a revelation--vulnerability doesn't come easily to her--but neither is she overtly melodramatic, and Helen Rose's Oscar-winning costumes keep her looking every inch the star (this is a movie-star vehicle, after all). The best performance is given by Eddie Albert as a counselor from AA. So-called 'woman's picture' is professionally-assembled and has several strong scenes. **1/2 from ****