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6.2/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Men of Tomorrow remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you're looking for some lost cinematic masterpiece, *Men of Tomorrow* isn't really it, but it's a pretty fascinating time capsule. People who love early British talkies and seeing mega-stars before they were famous will find some real charm here. Anyone expecting a modern pace or crisp sound will probably turn it off after ten minutes. 😴
The plot is basically about this Oxford student named Allan who gets expelled because he wrote a sassy article criticizing the university. Honestly, the school officials seem way too sensitive, even for the 1930s.
He marries his sweetheart Jane, but then things go sideways when she becomes the main breadwinner. His ego just totally collapses. 🙄
It's funny how quickly his pride turns him into a moping child. You can almost feel the movie trying to convince you to feel bad for him, but I just wanted to shake him by the shoulders.
Unlike the much sharper marital drama you get in The Divorcee, this one feels a bit more creaky and dated in its views on marriage. Still, Jane is a great character who clearly deserves better than this guy.
There's this one scene where a professor is talking and the background hiss is so loud it sounds like someone is frying bacon right next to the microphone. The audio sync gets pretty wild in the middle of the film, too.
Keep your eyes peeled for a very young Robert Donat. He doesn't have much to do, but you can already see that classic movie star screen presence starting to pop.
And Merle Oberon shows up too! She's barely in it, but her face just lights up the screen even in this fuzzy, unrestored print.
The director is Leontine Sagan, who did *Mädchen in Uniform*, which is a genuine masterpiece. This movie... is not that, but it has these strange, artistic camera angles that feel way too fancy for the simple script.
At one point, Allan stares out a window for what feels like three minutes. I think he was supposed to be thinking deep, poetic thoughts, but it honestly looked like the actor forgot his next line.
It's a weird little film. It is short, a bit clunky, but somehow it kept me watching just to see how much of a baby Allan would be about his wife having a job.
