"If Tomorrow Comes" was a made for TV movie that dealt with the prejudices against Japanese-Americans that came to a head when WWII arrived. It's a very sad film but important one, as it's important we learn from the events of this time period.
When the film begins, Eileen (Patty Duke) and her parents have just moved to California just before the United States became involved in WWII. She soon meets a nice Japanese-American guy, David (Frank Michael Liu) and they have a lot in common. But because he's not a white guy, they decide to start meeting in secret. After a while, they decide to marry and intend to tell their respective families about this. Unfortunately, their timing stinks because that same morning they marry, the war begins! Now they are afraid to tell anyone and keep waiting for the right time. But in the meantime, prejudices against the Japanese-Americans explode and laws are enacted taking away their rights and freedom. What's to become of the couple?
This is a hard film to watch, as prejudices are nasty and painful...but thank goodness films like this were made to remind us of our past. Well made and very reminiscent of Romeo & Juliet in many ways.
By the way, like too many films, the 'young people' in this movie are far from being young! Patty Duke's supposed to be in high school and she's 24 but even worse is Mako who also is supposed to be about that age...and he was nearing 40!
When the film begins, Eileen (Patty Duke) and her parents have just moved to California just before the United States became involved in WWII. She soon meets a nice Japanese-American guy, David (Frank Michael Liu) and they have a lot in common. But because he's not a white guy, they decide to start meeting in secret. After a while, they decide to marry and intend to tell their respective families about this. Unfortunately, their timing stinks because that same morning they marry, the war begins! Now they are afraid to tell anyone and keep waiting for the right time. But in the meantime, prejudices against the Japanese-Americans explode and laws are enacted taking away their rights and freedom. What's to become of the couple?
This is a hard film to watch, as prejudices are nasty and painful...but thank goodness films like this were made to remind us of our past. Well made and very reminiscent of Romeo & Juliet in many ways.
By the way, like too many films, the 'young people' in this movie are far from being young! Patty Duke's supposed to be in high school and she's 24 but even worse is Mako who also is supposed to be about that age...and he was nearing 40!