Life Begins Tomorrow

Nicole Védrès
1950-09-13


6.2
87 min

Documentary filmmaker Védrès' first semi-fictional feature was released in France in 1949 as La Vie Commence Demain. The film made it to the U.S. in 1952 as Life Begins Tomorrow. Made in cooperation with UNESCO, the film speculates on the future of mankind after the advent of Atomic Energy. Many prominent French artists and intellects contribute to the narration: Jean-Pierre Aumont plays The Man of Today, Andre Labarthe is the Man of Tomorrow, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Daniel Agache, Jean Rostand, Le Corbusier, Pablo Picasso and Andre Gide are respectively seen as "The Existentialist," "The Psychiatrist,' "The Biologist," "The Architect," "The Artist" and "The Author". Film clips of hospitals, schoolrooms, scientific laboratories, and even nightclubs are woven into Védrès' fascinating tapestry.

Cast

Name Character Team
Pablo Picasso Self Unowned
Jean-Pierre Aumont The Man of Today Unowned
Jean-Paul Sartre Self Unowned
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris Self Unowned
Frédéric Joliot-Curie Self Unowned
Darius Milhaud Self Unowned
Charlie Chaplin Self (archive footage) Unowned
Albert Einstein Self (archive footage) Unowned
Franklin D. Roosevelt Self (archive footage) Unowned
George Bernard Shaw Self (archive footage) Unowned
Marie Curie Self (archive footage) Unowned
Joseph Stalin Self (archive footage) Unowned
Jacques Prévert Self (uncredited) Unowned
Jean Cau Self - Sartre's secretary (uncredited) Unowned
Françoise Gilot Self - Picasso's companion (uncredited) Unowned
André Gide Self Unowned
Jean Rostand Self Unowned
André Labarthe Self Unowned
Daniel Lagache Self Unowned
Irène Joliot-Curie Self (archive footage) Unowned
Marcel Petiot Self (archive footage) Unowned