Now and Forever

Now and Forever (1934)

Freewheeling wanderer Jerry Day and his beautiful wife Toni are at odds over their lifestyle. Jerry can't accept responsibility, but Toni yearns for a family and a settled life. Then the Days 'rediscover' Jerry's young daughter Pennie, who has been living with his rich deceased wife's family. Pennie appears to be just what Jerry needs to mend his swindling ways and lead a straight life. Then a corruptible influence enters his life.

Date of release
1934-08-31
TMDB
6.8 / 10 (24)
Runtime
1h 22m
Genres
Drama
Director
Henry Hathaway

Casting

Interesting facts

Now and Forever is a 1934 American crime drama film directed by Henry Hathaway. The screenplay by Vincent Lawrence and Sylvia Thalberg was based on the story "Honor Bright" by Jack Kirkland and Melville Baker. The film stars Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, and Shirley Temple in a story about a small-time swindler going straight for his child's sake. Temple sang "The World Owes Me a Living," introducing the future standard. The film was critically well received. Temple adored Cooper, who nicknamed her 'Wigglebritches'. This is the only film in which Lombard and Temple appeared together.

Production

Shirley Temple was loaned out to Paramount by Fox Films for $3,500 a week in what would be her second film at Paramount. It would also be the first film in which a stand-in (Marilyn Granas) was hired for Temple. Temple had a good rapport with the adult crew, especially Gary Cooper, who bought her several toys and made a number of sketches for her.

In the film, Temple sings "The World Owes Me a Living", a version of which also featured in a Silly Symphonies animation of The Ant and the Grasshopper in the same year.

Hathaway had directed Shirley Temple before, in To the Last Man (1933) starring Randolph Scott and Esther Ralston and released the previous year. Despite having a memorable role in which her doll's head is shot off right in front of her, the then 5-year-old Temple was not cited in the credits.

The film was originally made with a different ending, in which Jerry and Toni drive alongside the train tracks as Pennie and Mrs. Crane depart on the train. Jerry succumbs to his gunshot wound en route, and Toni takes over the wheel, steering the car over an embankment and killing herself as well. The ending was re-scripted and re-filmed by Paramount to match the lighter tone of the rest of the film.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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