There’s Always Tomorrow

Once the best-known ex-wife in America, Ursula Parrott (1899 - 1957) was a prolific author, Hollywood screenwriter, and consistent headline-grabber during her colorful, unconventional life whose novels were adapted into many films. In 1956, the final Parrott adaptation to date graced the silver screen when Douglas Sirk directed his wonderful remake of the 1936 film There’s Always Tomorrow, this time starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in the lead roles. A black-and-white offering in a time of Technicolor, Parrott’s story of “the dullness that frequently goes along with married life” took on new meaning in postwar, suburban America, even though the story remained the same. Some reviewers noted how many films about neglected women had been made, and how novel it was to see the scenario turned on its head, with the husband feeling taken for granted by his wife and children. Introduced by Marsha Gordon. (Douglas Sirk, USA, 1956, 84 min., DCP)

Marsha Gordon is Professor of Film Studies at North Carolina State University, a recent Fellow at the National Humanities Center, and an NEH Public Scholar. She is the author of numerous books and articles, and co-director of several short documentaries.  Her latest book, Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott, was published with the trade division of University of California Press in April 2023. For seven years Marsha contributed to a monthly show, "Movies on the Radio," with NC Museum of Art film curator Laura Boyes and Frank Stasio, on 91.5/WUNC's “The State of Things.” She regularly introduces films, gives lectures, and participates in panels all over the United States and Europe.