terrible... so disappointed.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Dick Powell plays a reporter who is given a newspaper that correctly predicts the headline for the following day, allowing him to get the scoop on all the big news stories. This brings him more problems than he bargained for. Interesting, charming, sometimes funny fantasy that falls short of greatness because it lacks some 'kick.' I'm not sure why it was necessary to make the story take place at the turn of the 20th century. I think it would have worked better in a contemporary setting, particularly given the things going on in the world at the time. Still, it's enjoyable with a good cast. Powell is always likable and Linda Darnell is lovely. I even liked Jack Oakie and I'm not always a fan. As others have pointed out, the '90s TV series Early Edition used a similar premise. Not set in the same time period, of course.

Reporter Stevens (Powell) is tipped off to tomorrow's headlines by mysterious Pop Benson (Philliber) before the events happen. At the same time, Stevens is romancing lovely Sylvia (Darnell) who is part with her uncle (Oakie) of a phony occult stage act.It's Twilight Zone material given a humorously light touch by the masterful Rene Clair, (And Then There Were None {1945}). Considering the final screenplay comes from as many as 7(!) writers, it's surprising the result holds together as well as it does. A key point is watching such a spooky, noirish premise treated humorously, at times even bordering on the farcical. But the gimmick works surprisingly well, thanks also to a number of plausibly intelligent twists. Then too, Powell gets into the swing with a lively, engaging performance. And what a slice of eye candy is the sweetly innocent Darnell, a long way from her usual tough cookie specialty.The premise amounts to an imaginative twist on the old concept of fate. The suspense comes from waiting to see how fate will play out. If you think about it, you see why the portent had to be couched as a newspaper headline. Otherwise the ending would have to be quite different.Anyway, it's an entertaining movie, unusual for the unorthodox treatment. Still, it's that light touch that separates the material from the sci-fi pack for our post-Twilight Zone era.

Playing with time in marvelous ways, this sparkling comedy defies the very idea of "spoilers." Not only do the first five minutes foretell the ending by showing Powell and Darnell celebrating their 50th anniversary (the rest is flashback), but every single sequence begins with a revelation of how it will end.The witty screenplay, credited to seven writers, is drenched in references to time. Oakie and Darnell are music hall clairvoyants (bad ones who predict Bryan will be president, meaning the story is probably set in 1899). The key character, Powell, is an obituary writer who is handed tomorrow's newspaper by the spectral archivist who tells him, "Time is only an illusion." So, time after time, we know tomorrow's headlines, and time after time, they turn out to be accurate-- but all are cleverly set up as conundrums. Each time, the headline seems impossible or illogical given the preceding circumstances, so our curiosity is repeatedly piqued — and never disappointed. We can't wait to see how it plays out, because the script is so smartly written that what really matters—in this film and in life-- is not simply what happens to us, but how it happens.Time is the subject, but this movie also plays brilliantly with space. It compares with films like "The Third Man" and "Alexander Nevsky" in the way it makes use of maximum depth of field. Busy backgrounds remain in focus for a reason: action is going on, contributing to the sense of a whole world in motion. The screen has to be watched closely, ever inch of it; in fact, the film needs to be watched twice (time and again?) to really appreciate all the talent behind it.

Whimsical 1940's comedy about a newspaper obituary writer Larry Stevens(Dick Powell)being given a copy of the next day's edition by the paper's long time librarian(John Philliber). Now Steven's becomes the newspaper's star reporter, because of his ability to garner big scoops. Steven's falls in love with a lovely illusionist's assistant(Linda Darnell), who works for her uncle(Jack Okie). When Stevens reads his own obituary, things become comical as he tries his best to avoid is own demise. My favorite sequence happens in the hotel lobby, where Stevens is ho-hum certain he will be shot to death.Powell is smooth and effortless. Darnell is ravishing. And Okie's Italian accent adds to the comedy. Others in the cast: Edgar Kennedy, George Cleveland and Sig Rumann.