If you've read my reviews on Hot Toasty Rag, you know my intense frustration about the Academy Awards of 1955. If you watch The Man with the Golden Arm or I'll Cry Tomorrow, you'll know why I have no respect for the Academy. Frank Sinatra and Susan Hayward gave not only the best performances of their careers but two of the best screen performances I've ever seen. Ernest Borgnine and Anna Magnani won the Oscars instead.
In I'll Cry Tomorrow, Susan Hayward stars as Lillian Roth, a real-life stage actress who became an alcoholic after tragedy ruined her happiness. Susan's pushy stage mother, Jo Van Fleet, taught her at an early age to put her tears off until later, so the show can go on. "Cry tomorrow. You've got all day to cry tomorrow," she says. Ironically, Jo won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1955, but for East of Eden, in which she walked through her fifteen minutes on the screen. Jo deserved a nomination, if not a win for I'll Cry Tomorrow.
The Lost Weekend was hailed as a realistic tribute to alcoholism, but I'll Cry Tomorrow is so much more realistic. In the former, Ray Milland is an alcoholic and methodically goes on a bender. He loses his temper and hallucinates, but that's pretty much it. I'll Cry Tomorrow delves into the reasons why someone would turn to alcohol, and the steps she takes to hide her addiction. It shows the gritty, the dirty, the raw. Susan doesn't just lock herself in a room for the weekend and cower from an imaginary bat. She talks to herself, wakes up in the gutter, begs for drinks in bars, and sabotages her career and alienates her family. These are raw, powerful scenes that make up a very emotional, moving film.
There's so much I love about this movie, and while almost all of those facets are credited to Suzy's performance, a great deal of credit goes to screenwriters Helen Deutsch and Jay Richard Kennedy. Adapted from Lillian Roth's autobiography, they show the audience a very natural and realistic slide into substance abuse. The film shows how alcohol can become someone's only friend; its not only understandable but relatable that Suzy lets her friend take over. She destroys herself slowly, and in showing Susan during her earlier, successful scenes, we can see the subtle changes in her behavior. In one of the famous clips, Susan is shown backstage on the verge of tears, but when she hears her musical cue, she steps into the spotlight with a grin on her face and sings "When the Red Red Robin. . ."
Richard Conte, Ray Danton, Don Taylor, and Eddie Albert play the men in her life, each with a purpose, and each giving such great performances, you'll never be able to see them in any other type of role. If you've never seen Susan Hayward in a film before, you'll probably think she's a God when you watch this movie. If you know her and love her as I do, this movie will confirm her Goddess status every time you watch it.
In I'll Cry Tomorrow, Susan Hayward stars as Lillian Roth, a real-life stage actress who became an alcoholic after tragedy ruined her happiness. Susan's pushy stage mother, Jo Van Fleet, taught her at an early age to put her tears off until later, so the show can go on. "Cry tomorrow. You've got all day to cry tomorrow," she says. Ironically, Jo won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1955, but for East of Eden, in which she walked through her fifteen minutes on the screen. Jo deserved a nomination, if not a win for I'll Cry Tomorrow.
The Lost Weekend was hailed as a realistic tribute to alcoholism, but I'll Cry Tomorrow is so much more realistic. In the former, Ray Milland is an alcoholic and methodically goes on a bender. He loses his temper and hallucinates, but that's pretty much it. I'll Cry Tomorrow delves into the reasons why someone would turn to alcohol, and the steps she takes to hide her addiction. It shows the gritty, the dirty, the raw. Susan doesn't just lock herself in a room for the weekend and cower from an imaginary bat. She talks to herself, wakes up in the gutter, begs for drinks in bars, and sabotages her career and alienates her family. These are raw, powerful scenes that make up a very emotional, moving film.
There's so much I love about this movie, and while almost all of those facets are credited to Suzy's performance, a great deal of credit goes to screenwriters Helen Deutsch and Jay Richard Kennedy. Adapted from Lillian Roth's autobiography, they show the audience a very natural and realistic slide into substance abuse. The film shows how alcohol can become someone's only friend; its not only understandable but relatable that Suzy lets her friend take over. She destroys herself slowly, and in showing Susan during her earlier, successful scenes, we can see the subtle changes in her behavior. In one of the famous clips, Susan is shown backstage on the verge of tears, but when she hears her musical cue, she steps into the spotlight with a grin on her face and sings "When the Red Red Robin. . ."
Richard Conte, Ray Danton, Don Taylor, and Eddie Albert play the men in her life, each with a purpose, and each giving such great performances, you'll never be able to see them in any other type of role. If you've never seen Susan Hayward in a film before, you'll probably think she's a God when you watch this movie. If you know her and love her as I do, this movie will confirm her Goddess status every time you watch it.