Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)

Director:

Leo McCarey

Writers:

Viña Delmar (writer)
Josephine Lawrence (novel)

Release Date:

7 October 1937 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An elderly couple are forced to separate when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents in.

Plot Keywords:

Elderly | Based On Play | Based On Novel

Cast

Victor Moore	...	Barkley 'Pa' Cooper
Beulah Bondi	...	Lucy 'Ma' Cooper
Fay Bainter	...	Anita Cooper
Thomas Mitchell	...	George Cooper
Porter Hall	...	Harvey Chase
Barbara Read	...	Rhoda Cooper
Maurice Moscovitch	...	Max Rubens
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Cora Payne
Minna Gombell	...	Nellie Chase
Ray Mayer	...	Robert Cooper
Ralph Remley	...	Bill Payne
Louise Beavers	...	Mamie
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Doctor
Gene Morgan	...	Carlton Gorman

Also Known As:

The Years Are So Long (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Though they play elderly parents who have been cast aside by their children, Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi were only 61 and 49, respectively, when this film was made.

Quotes:

Pa: Two old-fashioneds, for two old-fashioned people.

Soundtrack:

LET ME CALL YOU SWEETHEART

Overlooked gem.

Beulah Bondi gave her greatest performance as a mistreated elderly mother in this bittersweet, highly underrated Leo McCarey gem. Oscar should have noticed. (Actually, McCarey did win the Best Director Oscar that year, for the screwball comedy "The Awful Truth" - also written by Vena Delmar. In his acceptance speech, McCarey thanked the Academy, but said "you've given me this for the wrong film" - referring to "Make Way For Tomorrow.") Believe it or not, Bondi was only 48 at the time of filming, only four years older than the actors playing her children. A marvelous performance, and a lovely film