PLEASE NOTE: This screening has been cancelled.
In 1956, the final Ursula Parrott adaptation to date graced the silver screen when Douglas Sirk directed his wonderful remake of There’s Always Tomorrow with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in the lead roles. A black-and-white offering in a time of Technicolor, of which Sirk was a master, Parrott’s story of “the dullness that frequently goes along with married life” took on new meaning in post-war, 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.
Once the best known ex-wife in America, Ursula Parrott (1899-1957) was routinely described in the press as “famous” during her lifetime. She was a prolific author, Hollywood screenwriter, and consistent headline-grabber during her colorful, unconventional life. The press covered her new books, Hollywood deals, marriages and divorces, and numerous run-ins with the law. She had four optimistic walks down the aisle (and back); piloted for the Civilian Air Corps during World War II; co-founded a weekly rural Connecticut newspaper with a group including American Newspaper Guild founder Heywood Broun and her literary agent George Bye; and travelled the world, including an extended story-collecting trip to Russia in the 1930s. She spent most of her adult years living in New York City, where she set many of her stories.
