Film Snail

7.3

Forever and a Day

NR·1943·104m

Drama

History

Drama

History

Summary

In World War II, American Gates Trimble Pomfret is in London during the Blitz to sell the ancestral family house. The current tenant, Leslie Trimble, tries to dissuade him from selling by telling him the 140-year history of the place and the connections between the Trimble and Pomfret families.

Cast

Kent Smith

Gates Trimble Pomfret

Reginald Gardiner

Assistant Hotel Manager

Victor McLaglen

Archibald Spavin

Billy Bevan

Wartime Cabby

Arthur Treacher

Second Air Raid Watcher

Ruth Warrick

Lesley Trimble

C. Aubrey Smith

Eustace Trimble

Edmund Gwenn

Stubbs

Ray Milland

Bill Trimble

May Whitty

Lucy Trimble

Gene Lockhart

Cobblewick

Anna Neagle

Susan Trenchard

Claude Rains

Ambrose Pomfret

Jessie Matthews

Mildred Trimble

Reginald Owen

Simpson

Ian Hunter

Dexter Pomfret

Charles Laughton

Bellamy

Cedric Hardwicke

Mr. Dabb

Anna Lee

Cornelia Trimble-Pomfret

Patric Knowles

Trimble-Pomfret Son

Edward Everett Horton

Anthony Trimble-Pomfret

Isobel Elsom

Lady Trimble-Pomfret

June Duprez

Julia Trimble-Pomfret

Wendell Hulett

Augustus Trimble-Pomfret

Ida Lupino

Jenny Jones

Brian Aherne

Jim Trimble

Merle Oberon

Marjorie Ismay

Una O'Connor

Caroline Ismay

Nigel Bruce

Major Garrow

Elsa Lanchester

Mamie

Robert Coote

Blind Officer

June Lockhart

Girl in Air Raid Shelter

Roland Young

Henry Barringer

Gladys Cooper

Mrs. Barringer

Robert Cummings

Ned

Donald Crisp

Captain Martin

George Kirby

Wartime Newspaper Vendor

Doreen Munroe

Wartime Londoner

May Beatty

Wartime Londoner Cook

Connie Leon

Wartime Londoner

Joy Harington

Wartime Bus Conductor

Herbert Marshall

Curate in Air Raid Shelter

Buster Keaton

Wilkins

Ernest Grooney

Hotel Manager

Harry Allen

First Cockney Air Raid Watcher

Aubrey Mather

Man in Air Raid Shelter

Ethel Griffies

Wife of Man in Air Raid Shelter

Halliwell Hobbes

Doctor

Montagu Love

Sir John Bunn

Cecil Kellaway

Dinner Guest

Wendy Barrie

Edith Trimble-Pomfret

Queenie Leonard

Maid

Eric Blore

Charles

Emily Fitzroy

Ms. Fulcher

Richard Haydn

Mr. Fulcher

Odette Myrtil

Madame Gaby

June Tripp

V. A. D. girl

Ivan F. Simpson

Dexter

Crew

Director

Robert Stevenson

Director

Victor Saville

Director

René Clair

Director

Edmund Goulding

Director

Frank Lloyd

Director

Cedric Hardwicke

Director

Herbert Wilcox

Writer

Charles Bennett

Writer

C. S. Forester

Writer

Donald Ogden Stewart

Writer

Claudine West

Writer

John Van Druten

Writer

Peter Godfrey

Writer

Gene Lockhart

Writer

Alan Campbell

Writer

James Hilton

Writer

R.C. Sherriff

Writer

Christopher Isherwood

Writer

Keith Winter

Writer

Alice Duer Miller

Writer

Norman Corwin

Writer

Jack Hartfield

Writer

Lawrence Hazard

Writer

S.M. Herzig

Writer

Michael Hogan

Writer

W.P. Lipscomb

Writer

Frederick Lonsdale

Writer

Emmet Lavery

Reviews

barrymost

December 6, 2021

A young American goes to London to sell the ancestral family home, and he spends the night listening to the Germans dropping bombs on the city while the current tenant tells him the entire history of the old mansion. Turns out, "this old house" has quite a backstory!

Almost every famous British performer took part in this well-done wartime tribute. Kent Smith and Ruth Warrick are the two leads. Just a small sample of the rich cast includes Herbert Marshall, Charles Laughton, Ray Milland, Dame May Whitty, Ida Lupino, Claude Rains, Elsa Lanchester, Roland Young, and Robert Cummings. I repeat, that was a small sample. It was really a brilliant touch having top names stars playing bit parts. It's fun, but nearly impossible, to try to spot everyone.

Very engaging tale takes you back to a very different time, giving you a pleasant escape from life on a dreary afternoon. Told almost an anthology form, the script is thoughtful and well-written.

This production was apparently the brainchild of Sir Cedric Hardwicke. The cast and crew donated their time and talent, and were not paid for their services. The project took a long time to get off the ground, and by the time filming began, several potential contributors had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts, including Cary Grant, Ronald Colman, and Alfred Hitchcock.