Customer Reviews

Today We Live [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm surprised at the negative reviews here regarding "Today We Live". The triangle between Joan, Franchot Tone as her brother and Robert Young as their childhood friend is so touchingly and sensitively directed and rendered by these actors, I don't see how anyone could fail to be moved by it. Joan is beautiful as never before--and never again--she is really at her most stunning here. There's an electrifying shot of her staring gloomily out a rainy window, turning her head slowly toward the camera to peer through an open bedroom door at Robert Young that you have to see to believe. And except for a few stagey moments, she is always convincing, and--as one reviewer pointed out about another of her films--was generally more natural and contemporary than her peers. Young also was never this good, and Franchot Tone nearly walks away with the movie. Gary Cooper as the love interest is interesting, and the sexual theme about not waiting for marriage is very modern and daring for the time. Somehow, Joan looks even more beautiful to me in the trenchcoats and uniforms she wears as a nurse in the British army than she does in her Adrian gowns, perhaps because the starkness of the drab clothing reveals her beauty by contrast. The weirdest thing about the film is the "language" spoken by Joan, Young, and Tone, completely lacking in pronouns. No one ever says "I", "You", "He", "She" or "We". They just start each sentence with the verb or adjective! I guess that's a Faulkner trademark? But Joan's performance can make you tear up, especially when she is maternally comforting Robert Young who is getting a little shell shocked, promising to be his girl in order to hold him together, even though she is in love with Gary Cooper! It's the usual Crawford formula---and yet it is moving. For all her staginess, Crawford has an earnest streak, something vital and desperate to connect --that makes her presence more compelling than everyone around her. Ironic, as she seems to be remembered instead for hammering the life out of her performances by overplaying the lady (a trait she acquired in her later film roles). Not true here. Joan and the rest of the cast are all quite effective. Anyway, if you are a fan of Joan's, give this movie a chance. I doubt you will be disapointed.

I first saw "Today We Live" about 8 years ago (when I was just beginning to discover the wonderful world of Miss Joan Crawford) and I watched it right after "Sadie McKee" (my very favorite movie) and figured that it would be rather similar. After all, Joan made so many pictures for M-G-M during the '30s with very similar plots and storylines, however "Today We Live" is nothing like any of Joan's other pictures. It's a complete original and I mean that in both a good and a not-so-good way.

"Today We life," is not one that I'm crazy about at all. I've seen it a few times and each time I have to force myself to finish watching it because it's so boring. Was Joan supposed to have a British accent? I couldn't tell. The story is Joan's signature M-G-M love-triangle formula but it seems like someone left it on the rinse cycle a little too long because everyone's all wet. This is a war-era movie, maybe that's why I don't like it; those movies never worked out too well for Joan. Skip this and go straight to Joan's next picture, "Dancing Lady," one of her very best!!

As you probably know by now, this is a DVD-R (not a movie DVD, it's a burned DVD minus R). Warner Bros. Home Video over the next couple of years will be rolling out most (if not all) of Joan's movies from their vaults that have not yet made their way onto home-video. This is great and it's also not so great. First of all, it's obscene how these crooked sellers are charging such exorbitant amounts for these movies. Keep in mind that they are not licensed or authorized to sell these movies as they are not official resellers or distributors. Second, The WB Shop (Warner Bros.' only official e-commerce site) isn't a very good company either. I have purchased from them several times and always had a rather poor experience. I recommend getting the movies on Amazon (directly from Amazon as some of the prices are starting to go down somewhat). And if that is not possible (or if you want to save some money) you can almost always find this on TCM (just do a search on tv-now dot com to find out when Joan's next picture will be on).

It's unfortunate that the people who are making all of this money off of Joan's good name are not thinking about the viewers and I am certain that Joan would not be happy about this in the least as she always felt that her movies were for her public. As a fan who owns every single Joan Crawford movie I am always glad to share my collection with everyone because that is exactly what Joan would have wanted.

I am reviewing the product here, not the wisdom of paying the price posted for it. This film is a Warner Archive product made on demand on DVD-R consisting of the finest material Warner Brothers currently has in its vault, but with no restoration done especially for this release. There are no scene selections - you can only go forwards and backwards in ten minute intervals. You can buy this product directly from Warner Brothers for just under twenty dollars, or you can buy it in a bundle with five other Gary Cooper films for a greatly reduced price. The case in which this and all Warner Archive products are shipped is quite sturdy. The artwork is nothing to write home about, but neither is it amateurish looking. Now for the details of the film itself.

This film could have been great with some adequate dialogue and character development. For some reason the makers of this film seemed to believe that because three of the main characters were supposed to be British that it was necessary that they speak in incomplete sentences, usually missing pronouns, and that they speak as though tranquilized. They all still sound American, they're just having half of every conversation.

Bogard (Gary Cooper) is an American aviator who takes over a British estate during World War I before the Americans enter the fray because the current residents can no longer afford it since the father is in the military at the time. The daughter, Diana (Joan Crawford) moves into one of the servant's quarters and her brother Ronnie (Franchot Tone) and their lifetime friend Claude (Robert Young) join up with the British forces and ship out to France. The development of the romance between Bogard and Diana consists (onscreen) of exactly one bike ride in which Bogard declares his love and Diana's one word sentences make her seem disinterested. However, at the end of the ride she says rather emotionlessly that she loves Bogard. The two might as well be using semaphores to communicate, the conversation is that wooden.

Diana goes to France to help the war effort, with her brother and childhood sweetheart seeing naval action nearby. While in France her brother breaks the news to her that Bogard is dead. Based on that information she then makes a rash decision that she later regrets when Bogard shows up at her door, very much alive and aghast at what he finds.

On the other hand, the action sequences, both in the air and on the sea, are extremely well done and photographed. It's just a shame when a fine cast, such as this film had, all have their performances put in a straight jacket. The one thing that even the director couldn't do was put a complete damper on the chemistry between Franchot Tone and Joan Crawford. This is the film where they fell in love, and their scenes together show it, even though they are playing brother and sister here.

This film is actually about a 2.5/5, but I am rounding up because of the outstanding cast and the action scenes. I notice that the old out-of-print VHS copies of this film are selling for twenty dollars. Quite frankly I just don't see the selling power of this one.

I had the opportunity to see only a small part of this film weeks ago and was knockout by Joan's beauty, portrayal and vulnerability. I went straight to the Amazon sales and found it only available in VHS at an extraordinary price for the tape. I want to demand this film treat in DVD so this beautiful black and white Crawford and Gary Cooper romance of yore be preserved in my home and others' for a long, long time. A old film buff I was enthralled by the beauty of the crisp film and relationship of the characters.

Today We Live (March 3, 1933) (Studio: MGM)
Runtime Listing: 110
Color/BW: Black and White
(Joan played: Diana "Ann" Boyce-Smith)
Brief Synopsis:
An aristocratic English girl's tangled love life creates havoc during World War I.
Joan's brief comments on this film: I was extremely uncomfortable with a British accent...

"Today We life," this is one that I am not crazy about at all. I've seen it a couple of times and each time I have to force myself to finish watching it because it's so boring. Was Joan supposed to have a British accent? I couldn't tell. The story is Joan's signature M-G-M love-triangle formula but it seems like someone left it on the rinse cycle a little too long because everyone's all wet. This is a war-era movie, maybe that's why I don't like it; those movies never worked out too well for Joan. Skip this and go straight to Joan's next picture, "Dancing Lady," one of her very best!! And who in their right mind would pay thirty for this? Lemme know because I got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell them.

Warner Archives Shop sells every one of their Warner Archive DVDs listed by Amazon sellers for $19.99 or $9.99 specials when buying 5 or more such as THE GARY COOPER 6 DVD COLLECTION from which this comes. You can also download the films for $14.99. As customers, you should be aware of this fact. Warner sells to anyone and even gives quantity discounts and free shipping on orders of $60.00 or more.

Diana Boyce-Smith, an aristocratic English girl, tries to do her part at home while her father fights at the front during the early years of the World War; she rents the family home to an American studying in England whose name is Bogard and there is an inevitable romance in the era of WWI. Joan Crawford seems awkward playing with a less than expert English accent; the part was actually a total figment of the scenarist's imagination: the original Faulkner story contained no women whatsoever! Gary Cooper is restrained, sympathetic and fairly believable in this; he and the great character actor Roscoe Karns seem to have the only genuine touches. Director Howard Hawks endowed the film with period detail; the air shots were esteemed in their day and the shots at sea are superb. This story was drawn by William Faulkner; this was his first literary effort transferred to the screen and it was done rather uneasily. Faulkner handled the dialogue (which sounds like short, urgent telegrams, instead of dialogue between people), himself.

la storia non è gran che,ma Gary cooper è sempre all"altezza;un po" gigione nei momenti leggeri,ma capace di espressioni intense nel momento del dramma. Di più non posso dire perchè non so l" inglese e faccio fatica a capire i dialoghi.