story saying that their star reporter has been killed. When a reporter finds out the truth, the newspaper has already hit the streets; and it is this edition that he had gotten from Pop. Stevens does not die in the hotel lobby; he marries Sylvia and lives to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Cast Dick Powell as Lawrence Stevens Linda Darnell as Sylvia Smith Jack Oakie as Uncle Oscar Smith Edgar Kennedy as Inspector Mulrooney John Philliber as Pop Benson Edward Brophy as Jake Schomberg, man taking bets at racetrack George Cleveland as Mr. Gordon, newspaper editor Sig Ruman as Mr. Beckstein, circus scout Paul Guilfoyle as Shep George Chandler as Bob Eddie Acuff as Jim Robert Dudley as Justice of the Peace Production Director and producer Frank Capra originally purchased the rights to Hugh Wedlock and Howard Snyder's story, but when he discovered the concept was similar to that in Lord Dunsany's 20-year-old one act play, he bought it as well; later, when he was going into the Army to serve in World War II, he sold both to Arnold Pressburger. Pressburger approached Rene Clair about directing the film, and the two hired Clair's friend Dudley Nichols to assist in writing the script. They set the time period in the 1890s to avoid dealing with the war. Clair initially wanted Cary Grant for the lead role, but wound up with Dick Powell, who was on the verge of altering his screen persona from a lightweight musical-comedy "juvenile" to a harder one, playing tough guy private detective Philip Marlowe in Murder My Sweet later that year, followed by a series of film noirs. Although It Happened Tomorrow was far from Clair's favorite, he was later to write that "[t]he last twenty minutes are the best thing I did in Hollywood." The ending, especially, which hinges on a mistake in the newspaper from the future, had a personal connection for Clair, since he was fired from his first job as a reporter when he made up a story which was the opposite of what actually happened; Nichols was a former newsman as well. Reception It Happened Tomorrow was a success at the box office. Film historian Jeff Stafford noted that the critical response in the United States was "complimentary but reserved". In France, however, the film was a "major critical success". Awards and honors It Happened Tomorrow was nominated for two