(1943)
4
Craig Butler
Forever and a Day is practically an embarrassment of riches, with a huge cast that ranges from the instantly famous to the "I-don't-know-his-name-but-he's-in-everything." Unlike later cameo-laden extravaganzas like Around the World in 80 Days or The Greatest Story Ever Told, the use of such recognizable faces is rarely distracting; these people are cast in parts that are appropriate for them, even when their roles are so brief (Edmund Gwenn, Arthur Treacher) as to be limited to two or three lines. With so many stars from which to choose, each individual viewer will likely have his or her own favorite performances, but there's a great deal to be said for Gladys Cooper proving, in a rare sympathetic role, that she was capable of much greater range than she was typically allowed to demonstrate onscreen; for Ida Lupino's feisty but indecisive Jenny; for Edward Everett Horton's typically bumbling father; and for Claude Rains' villainous Pomfret patriarch. The film's "more is more" approach applies to its startling roster of directors and writers; if this approach means that these artists don't make as individual a contribution as we've come to expect of them, they still manage to create a film that is surprisingly cohesive, given the many hands involved.
Forever and a Day on AllMovie
Forever and a Day (1943)
