'I'll Cry Tomorrow' (1955) - recently a big hit for Susan Hayward as alcoholic thirties starlet Lilian Roth - had been based on an autobiography Roth had co-written with Gerold Frank; and Frank himself appears (played by Robert Ellenstein) in this cautionary tale that he subsequently co-authored with alcoholic forties starlet Diana Barrymore (1921-1960). It's depiction of the havoc wrought by alcoholism makes it even more of a downer than 'The Lost Weekend' and 'Days of Wine and Roses', and although it ends on an optimistic note with Barrymore seemingly finally getting her act together, it proved just a temporary halt in her descent. Within two years of the film's release she had drunk herself to death at the age of 38, just three months after co-star Errol Flynn at the age 50.
Flynn for reasons only too obvious is perfectly cast as the late John Barrymore and gives a superb performance, although he ironically looks nowhere near as authentically sozzled as the Great Profile himself did in his last films. When Barrymore dies just after the halfway mark, the film falls fully on Dorothy Malone's capable shoulders as the hapless Diana; whose unfortunate response to his death is to immediately reach for the one remaining bottle still full that he appears to have overlooked. Malone was in reality only four years younger than Diana, and although no attempt other than by changing her hairstyle and clothes appears to have been made to age her, she manages to suspend disbelief as a teenager and give a compelling performance as she works overtime to make a complete mess of her life.
The film is for the most part drably studio bound and comprises long stretches of talk, but there are flashes of ingenuity throughout - such as the remarkable tennis scene with Ray Danton as husband number two, and her incredible drunken cabaret act. Two cameramen are credited, and I may be doing Carl Guthrie a disservice by seeing the hand of the celebrated film noir veteran Nicholas Musuraca in scenes like those set in Barrymore's Xanadu-like mansion and those later in the film depicting Diana's own drunken disintegration.
Flynn for reasons only too obvious is perfectly cast as the late John Barrymore and gives a superb performance, although he ironically looks nowhere near as authentically sozzled as the Great Profile himself did in his last films. When Barrymore dies just after the halfway mark, the film falls fully on Dorothy Malone's capable shoulders as the hapless Diana; whose unfortunate response to his death is to immediately reach for the one remaining bottle still full that he appears to have overlooked. Malone was in reality only four years younger than Diana, and although no attempt other than by changing her hairstyle and clothes appears to have been made to age her, she manages to suspend disbelief as a teenager and give a compelling performance as she works overtime to make a complete mess of her life.
The film is for the most part drably studio bound and comprises long stretches of talk, but there are flashes of ingenuity throughout - such as the remarkable tennis scene with Ray Danton as husband number two, and her incredible drunken cabaret act. Two cameramen are credited, and I may be doing Carl Guthrie a disservice by seeing the hand of the celebrated film noir veteran Nicholas Musuraca in scenes like those set in Barrymore's Xanadu-like mansion and those later in the film depicting Diana's own drunken disintegration.