I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)

Director:

Daniel Mann

Writers:

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

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 | Alcoholic | Divorce | Broadway | Hollywood

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

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
Tol Avery	...	Fat Man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mary Bear	...	Wife (uncredited)
Larry J. Blake	...	AA Member (uncredited)
Nesdon Booth	...	Pawnbroker (uncredited)
Veda Ann Borg	...	Waitress (uncredited)
Peter Brocco	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Henry Brock	...	Stagehand (uncredited)
Budd Buster	...	Streetcar switchman (uncredited)
Timothy Carey	...	Derelict (uncredited)
Harry Cody	...	Stagehand (uncredited)
Lucille Curtis	...	Stage Mother (uncredited)
Jack Daly	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Robert Dix	...	Henry (uncredited)
Joe Duval	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Ralph Edwards	...	Himself (uncredited)
Kay English	...	Dress designer (uncredited)
Stanley Farrar	...	Movie director (uncredited)
Jerrilyn Flannery	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Nightclub patron (uncredited)
Joel Fluellen	...	The porter (uncredited)
Gail Ganley	...	Lillian Roth, age 15 (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	Restaurant Cashier (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Party guest (uncredited)
Elizabeth Holmes	...	Stage Mother (uncredited)
Bob Hopkins	...	MC (uncredited)
Sonny Howe	...	Acrobatic Dancer (uncredited)
Anthony Jochim	...	Paul - Butler (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Alcoholics Anonymous Patient (uncredited)
Marc Krah	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Frank Kreig	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Henry Kulky	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Eddie Lee	...	Chinese Grocer (uncredited)
George Lloyd	...	Studio messenger (uncredited)
Alyn Lockwood	...	Stage Mother (uncredited)
Herbert Lytton	...	Streetcar conductor (uncredited)
Nora Marlowe	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Nightclub Waiter (uncredited)
Eve McVeagh	...	Ethel (uncredited)
Cheerio Meredith	...	Elderly lady (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Dock Worker (uncredited)
Jimmy Ogg	...	Usher (uncredited)
Kenneth Patterson	...	Audition director (uncredited)
George Pembroke	...	Husband (uncredited)
Voltaire Perkins	...	Mr. Byrd (movie producer) (uncredited)
Florence Ravenel	...	Stage Mother (uncredited)
Vernon Rich	...	Club manager (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Man in TV audience (uncredited)
George Selk	...	Switchman (uncredited)
Robert R. Stephenson	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Ruth Storey	...	Marge Belney (uncredited)
Charles Tannen	...	Audition stage manager (uncredited)
Bill Walker	...	Porter (uncredited)
Harlan Warde	...	Stage manager (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Robert Williams	...	Stagehand (uncredited)
Bernadette Withers	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Jeane Wood	...	Stage Mother (uncredited)

Directed by
Daniel Mann

Writing credits
Lillian Roth		(book) and
Mike Connolly		(book) and
Gerold Frank		(book)
Helen Deutsch		(screenplay) and
Jay Richard Kennedy		(screenplay)

Produced by
Lawrence Weingarten	....	producer

Original Music by
Alex North

Cinematography by
Arthur E. Arling		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harold F. Kress

Art Direction by
Malcolm Brown
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Hugh Hunt
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Helen Rose

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup creator

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Al Jennings	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Wesley C. Miller	....	recording supervisor (as Dr. Wesley C. Miller)

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Music Department
Johnny Green	....	music supervisor
Charles Henderson	....	arranger: Miss Hayward's songs
Charles Henderson	....	conductor: Miss Hayward's songs
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator: Alex North (uncredited)
Robert Tucker	....	vocal coach (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1978) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

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:

Deleted from the movie was Susan Hayward singing "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" (music by Ray Henderson, lyrics by Sam Lewis and Joe Young). Miss Hayward's prerecording was first released by MGM Records on a contemporary five-selection EP. In 2004, the ditty was included on the complete soundtrack CD, issued by Film Score Monthly.

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 Sweet Bird of Youth: Chasing Time (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Sing You Sinners

You'll Be Optimistic Tomorrow After Seeing this Film

One of the best pictures ever made showcasing the talent of the brilliant Susan Hayward.

Miss Hayward was never better as Lillian Roth. Her drunk scenes are unbelievably realistic. Just ask any alcoholic.

Susan Hayward was equally matched by the terrific supporting performance of Jo Van Fleet as her mother. Van Fleet would win the coveted Oscar that same year (1955) for "East of Eden." I'll never understand why. She was far better as Katie Roth.

Hayward, who did her own singing, did very well. It is even said that Lillian Roth tried to emulate Hayward, when trying to make a comeback.

The film co-stars Ray Danton as Hayward's ill-fated finance, whose death from an apparent rapidly growing brain tumor, sets Roth on a downward spiral. Don Taylor, who would later become a director, is effective as Wallie, the guy who Roth marries when she is dead drunk. Richard Conte steals the show as the brutal Tony, who takes Roth for a ride, before she dumps him in California.

Eddie Albert, in one of his greatest roles, is terrific as Burt McGuire from AA. A recovering alcoholic, still hesitant about life, he acted beautifully in some memorable scenes.

Hayward's singing and dancing, especially in the number, Sing You Sinners from the Vagabond King, is marvelously staged.

Susan Hayward began her long trek in playing troubled women in the 1947 hit Smash-Up: The Story of A Woman. Both she and Eddie Albert got great experience for their parts, 8 years later, in this fabulous movie.