Make Way For Tomorrow & The Awful Truth

Make Way For Tomorrow and The Awful Truth

In the year 1937, Leo McCarey directed two films. One flopped and disappeared for seventy years. The other won him the Academy Award for Best Director. When receiving the Oscar, he said “Thanks but you’ve given it to me for the wrong film…” This double-header was a chance to see both films together and the cinema club audience unanimously agreed with McCarey; that while ‘The Awful Truth’ may be an entertaining comedy, it is ‘Make Way For Tomorrow’ that is the masterpiece! A film
about an elderly couple was never destined to do well at the box office, however, its power should not be underestimated, because by the time the last frame melts away, don’t be surprised if you feel like your heart has just been wrenched out of your body. It is a traumatic film, and yet a rich one, with vivid characters, pulsating with honest beauty. What does one do with the elderly when there is nowhere for them to go? What do their children do and at what cost? The film holds up a mirror to all those watching it where, although we may feel disgust at the behaviour of the grown-up children of the elderly couple, we also feel discomfort at the fact that we understand the children and even may identify with them. The film challenges us in a way that demands a response. It is a difficult challenge, one that most would prefer to ignore, but one that invites us to look into ourselves and what we believe in to hazard an answer.

The Awful Truth appears like fluff after such an experience, but this fluff won McCarey THE Academy Award. And it is rather impressive that a screwball comedy could affirm marriage through its depiction of the lead characters’ ‘divorce’. Witty, elegant, romantic, and funny, this seems the perfect definition for what “comedy” should be. Leo McCarey was a practicing Catholic who would later give us films like “Going My Way” and “An Affair to Remember,” but in these two films of 1937, we already see a master at telling great stories, be they comedy or tragedy, yet in both the ability to reflect themes crucial to building a culture of life.

Warning: The reflections below are full of spoilers. The aim is to share these insights with all who are inspired to watch these films and help to draw out even more from the experience. So watch the films first and read the reflections afterwards…

IN THIS POST

*Marriage in McCarey by Pablo Vila

*A Reflection on ‘Make Way For Tomorrow’ by Benard Chedid

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Marriage in McCarey – A Reflection by Pablo Vila

Despite being entirely different in style, watching Leo McCarey’s “Make Way for Tomorrow” and the famous “The Awful Truth”, makes us realise that they are complementary in having something good to say about marriage. For much of the movie, “Make Way for Tomorrow” shifts us uncomfortably in our seats as it makes us reflect on our own families, the selfishness we display, focusing on our own interests and at times neglecting our parents, grand parents or older relatives, treating them as an inconvenience. They may sometimes not understand our “modern” ways, get in the way, or frustrate us for a variety of reasons. The characters in the movie are not stereotypes but to some degree reflect us and our increasingly busy and insular lives (especially in the world of today). Yet the elderly couple (and the kind shopkeeper) display different qualities to the younger generations. Despite their continued mistreatment they treat their children and their families lovingly, keeping a secret to protect their grand daughter or allowing a son to think he is fulfilling the wish of his mother in sending her to the ‘old person’s home’. The movie reinforces the need to respect the older generations in our families but also highlights the sanctity of marriage. It is a gift that carefully looked after, is just as beautiful in senior years as it was the day a couple got married, even if the world no longer sees it in this way.

Bouncing along with gags and laughter, one may be forgiven for taking away images of cute dogs and witty one liners from “The Awful Truth” but the movie shows what can happen between a couple when suspicion and mistrust take hold and the lure of superficiality grabs us. For all their lies, jealousy and scheming, the couple know in their heart of hearts that they love each other and committing to their marriage is something firm in a world of distraction, temptation and transience. We also get a hilarious glimpse of the theme that true love is worth fighting for. The two movies reinforce different themes about marriage but show us that through all the twists and turns of life, love can withstand and even flourish.

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A Reflection on ‘Make Way For Tomorrow’ by Benard Chedid

I watched a movie recently called, Make Way for Tomorrow and I am still thinking about it nearly a week later. This movie really got under my skin and is still aggravating me, not because it is bad, on the contrary, it is one of the finest movies I have ever seen, but because of what I saw. What I cannot get over and what aggravated me so much that I wanted to walk out of the room or throw the TV through the window was the middle-aged children’s treatment of their parents. An elderly couple (Barkley and Lucy Cooper) default on their mortgage and lose their home. Their five children agree to take them in but the grandfather ends up with one child in one state and the grandmother has no option but to live with another child in another state, separating them for the first time in their married life. Then the children play hot potato; don’t hold the parents for too long or you’ll be stuck with them, quick it’s your turn to put them up.

The characterisation was so authentic, the dialogue so genuine and even the thought processes of the children somewhat discernible, that you just knew that what was happening in that family is what happens all the time in real life. There is no escaping the fact that people can throw their elderly parents off to some state or religious institution to care for, because they get in the way of their daily lives. I don’t mean when a parent is sick and needs specialised care, which the child may not be able to provide, and so for the parent’s welfare they are put in a nursing home. Shouldn’t a line be drawn however when the parent is old and frail and needs basic support but most importantly, wants some company and to be involved in the lives of his or her children and grandchildren and yet is viewed as a nuisance?

The film has a slow pace, after all the two protagonists are in their seventies, but this is a good thing as we are drawn into the lives of Barkley and Lucy Cooper, seeing things from their point of view. They talk slowly, move slowly and act slowly but by no means are they slow! They know what is going on around them, they see their children and grandchildren as they really are and their spirits are strong, with Barkley constantly on the lookout for a job, in order to be reunited with his wife. The film is difficult to watch because it is not your typical Hollywood film with the viewer being coached what to think, there is no deus ex machina to save the day or some action to distract the audience. Instead the film demands the time and energy of the viewer to stay engaged throughout. Characters are presented realistically meaning there are no villains or heroes but real people trying to cope with the pressures of daily life, some doing it well, others not so well.

This film is most definitely worth a watch, especially considering that it was made in 1937 but feels so fresh and relevant today. Perhaps it may soften some hearts in the audience and allow them the opportunity to connect with their ageing parents. If it does, please let me know, it might compensate for the fact that it has been nearly a week since I watched the film and I still can’t get it out of my head.