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20 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
This Day and Age, 12 September 2000
Author: lugonian from Kissimmee, Florida

MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (Paramount, 1937), directed by Leo McCarey, ranks one of the very best dramas from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and one I never get tired of watching whenever it plays on television. No longer available on any local TV channel, MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW had frequent revivals on American Movie Classics, from its premiere June 20, 1994 until its final air date, April 3, 1999. So far, it's never been distributed on either video cassette or DVD. Yes, MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW is sad, moving, but so very true to life dealing realistically about coping with old age. Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi (in possibly the best film role in her entire career) play an elderly couple who lose their home and find that their adult children are finding excuses NOT to take them in. A situation that even rings true even in today's society.

Leo McCarey won an Academy Award as Best Director that year for the comedy THE AWFUL TRUTH (Columbia), starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. McCarey was reported to have said that he had won for the wrong movie. He was hinting that he should have won for this one. I agree. As much as THE AWFUL TRUTH is a fine movie in its own right, MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW is a far better movie, dramatically anyway. In support here are Fay Bainter (in a rare unsympathetic role); Thomas Mitchell (who is the only one of the children to know how selfish he has been while the others refuse to realize it themselves), Porter Hall, Barbara Read (as the adolescent granddaughter) and Elisabeth Risdon. While this movie does not have top box-office names, it consists of character actors in leading parts. Victor Moore, usually in comedic supporting parts or leads in program productions (better known as "B" movies), is fine in a rare dramatic role, but is overshadowed by Beulah Bondi, whose performance is excellent as well as moving. Although she plays a woman possibly in her late 70s, she was actually 45 when she did the film. Sadly, this very fine movie did not receive a single Academy Award nomination. If a nomination was to be had, it definitely would go to Bondi as Best Actress. Her closing scene at the train station bidding husband Moore farewell, with the underscoring of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," is not to be missed either.

The plot might sound trite in print, but to see it is to appreciate the kind of movie that can never be remade in the same manner as the original nor come anywhere near to great film making. (***1/2)

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14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
It'll make you call your mother, that's for sure, 7 May 2002
9/10
Author: marcslope

One of the few American movies to look seriously (and reasonably honestly) at old age, this 1937 melodrama won wonderful reviews, but apparently it was so sad that audiences couldn't bear to look at it. While McCarey was justly celebrated for his sensitive direction, let's start with the shrewd, shaded screenplay, where nobody's entirely good or bad: The children do mean well, but let selfishness intervene; the aged parents are victims, but they're also unavoidably inconvenient and occasionally annoying. It is, unfortunately, a timeless topic -- parents turning into dependent children, children turning into their parents' parents, and the government yammering ineffectually about the problem decade after decade.

McCarey spins the tale out with subtle humor -- just a wink from Victor Moore, a visual aside by Beulah Bondi, says more than several lines of dialogue would. Plus, this is a couple whose passion has survived the years; they can't keep their hands off each other. The notion's a bit hard to swallow, perhaps a contrivance to tilt the viewer's sympathies more in their direction and away from the thoughtless middle-aged kids. But it does work dramatically and makes the last 20 minutes or so almost unbearably poignant. And the last shot, of Bondi, is unforgettable; it's up there with Garbo in "Queen Christina."

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14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
An honest-to-God tearjerker..., 10 May 2002
8/10
Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

An elderly couple lose their home and their grown children don't want them around, so where can they turn? After a creaky start, this thoughtful film becomes absorbing and very touching. It thankfully never resorts to feel-good measures: the oldsters are not painted as saints (in fact, Beulah Bondi's "Ma" is realistically nagging and nosy) and their kids are completely selfish (which is entirely believable). The picture has one of the most haunting endings that I can recall, and it's even more powerful to consider how timely it all is (and how this situation still rears its ugly head today). An emotionally gripping, wistful, memorable movie. ***1/2 from ****

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Overlooked...? Indeed!!!, 29 November 2001
10/10
Author: emhughes

I cannot believe that this movie did not receive any Academy Awards! I give it "All T's", for touching, tender, terrific, and tearfully timeless!!! Why it continues to be overlooked and not made into a video behooves any Beulah Bondi fan and people like me that have had the privilege of catching it tucked away between 2am infomercials on other stations. Get it on the shelf in the video stores! I've been looking for it for years! Can you say, "Bitter batter baby buggy bumpers" to your spouse as lovingly as these two lovebirds did in that 1937 classic? Romeo, Juliet, Scarlett and Rhett can't hold a light to 'Pa' and 'Ma' Cooper!

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
You know old trees just grow stronger...., 4 March 2007
10/10
Author: dbdumonteil

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

... Old rivers grow wider every day

But old people just grow lonesome

John Prine, "Hello in there".

My favorite MacCarey drama,better ,IMHO,than his beloved works such as "Going my way" "the bells of St Mary's" "An Affair to remember".

Its influence was important in Europa ,notably in France (René Allio's "La Vieille Dame Indigne" ) or in Italy (Luigi Comencini's "Buon Natale,Buon anno;Vittorio de Sica's "Umberto D" ).

Unforgettable scenes:

The bridge game during which the old lady gets in the way.The sound of her rocking-chair,the phone call,the children ashamed of their mum,all rings true,all leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

The letter ma sent to pa :"I cannot read anymore,you'll read the rest when your glasses are fixed " the old man's buddy says as the news become more and more depressing .One should notice here McCarey's skills;a tearjerker maker would have shown us through the home for aged people,but the sentences of the letter are much stronger than the pictures "This is a lovely place" the daughter-in-law keeps repeating.

The last afternoon together ,the last hours which are all the more precious .The tenderness the director feels for his characters is infinite.Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi shine during this extraordinary romantic final: coming back to the chic hotel where they spent their honeymoon,they won't return to their selfish children's home for one last meal (what kind of beast could enjoy such a feast?).In the hotel,they dance and there's that magic moment : the conductor,realizing these old people cannot adapt themselves to the new jazzy rhythms ,asks his musicians to play "let me call you sweetheart".

The ending is one of the saddest I know.Whereas Frank Capra would have probably gathered the whole family in the station,or had Thomas Mitchell arrive at the last minute when the train moves off,McCarey refuses any happy end.Hence the failure of the movie when it was released.

Make way for tomorrow indeed! There are very revealing shots of New York with the skyscrapers and the cars which run faster and faster ,leaving the old by the wayside.And however these sacred lines had warned us before the tragedy began:" honor thy father and thy mother",written on an ominous sky.

Waiting for someone to say

Hello in there,

Hello (J.P.)

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Overlooked gem., 24 March 1999
9/10
Author: Matthew-35 from Los Angeles

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

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
What a Movie, 17 March 2003
8/10
Author: gelashe from New York City

Luckily I taped this years ago when it was on cable. Seeing Beulah Bondi (a great actress) and her film husband as an elderly couple is truly heartwarming. After they lose their home and are farmed out separately to their selfish children, they meet in the city for the day to be with each other. As they are looking in the window at the new car dealership and the salesman mistakes them for an older couple with money, and winds up taking them for a ride. I remember him driving them to a restaurant in a hotel and having drinks where they did over 50 years ago. The bartender tells the manager and they make it a special occasion for them. All I can say is that if this is released on VHS - I'm buying it.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
No aging parent should go through this treatment, 25 December 1999
Author: SkippyDevereaux from Parkersburg, West Virginia

One of the greatest tear-jerkers of all time. The sad tale of how two parents lose their house and not one of their children will let their own parents live with them. I agree, Miss Bondi deserved to win the Oscar that year but what else can I say about that subject. If you ever get to see this film, bring along a box of tissues. Make that two.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Another great movie missed for DVD or VHS, 27 September 2003
10/10
Author: Zaxdax from Toronto

This movie was made in 1937 and though dated in some ways, some of the social conscience could be the same as today. Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi are wonderful as the old couple who have to leave their home because they are old and not able to keep their house up. Their children all have excuses as to why they can't stay with them. Also in the movie is Thomas Mitchel (Scarlett's father in Gone with the Wind) The story is heartbreaking, yet all too real and could even happen today. This is another great movie that should have made it at least to VHS. You can see it has high votes, so looks like lots of people liked it. Unfortunately, its very seldom on the TV. I'd even settle for it being on TV, but haven't seen it listed on TV for about 10 years. Too bad for those of us who would have enjoyed seeing it any time we liked if we had it on DVD or VHS.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
love this movie, 21 June 2007
10/10
Author: mbguinsler from United States

This is one of my favorite movies. I have watched it twice on the old movie channel, but would love to have my own copy. Ms Bondi's acting is wonderful and Mr. Moore has such a gallant attitude with her. I love the little poem she recites in the movie and would like to have someone give me its title if known. Every married couple should watch this movie. After my second viewing of this movie I researched Ms. Bondi on this site and was astonished how young she was at the time of the shooting of this film. I then went on to rent as many of her films as I could find. What an great talent she was. It saddens me to know that so many of these marvelous old films will be lost. If anyone can tell me where I can get a copy of this movie on tape or DVD please contact me. Thanks

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