The Prop, by Elena Gorfinkel and John David Rhodes (Fordham University Press, 2025).
Hosted by the Barbican Centre, Elena Gorfinkel and John David Rhodes join filmmaker Joanna Hogg to discuss Douglas Sirk’s film There’s Always Tomorrow.
Centered on Fred MacMurray’s deeply poignant portrayal of a husband and father who reconnects with an old flame (Barbara Stanwyck), There’s Always Tomorrow examines the fleeting allure of escape and the crushing pull of societal expectations.
Screened on 35mm, this film’s richly detailed mise-en-scène gains new resonance through the lens of The Prop by Elena Gorfinkel and John David Rhodes. As Gorfinkel and Rhodes suggest, Sirk’s films elevate everyday objects—lamps, teacups, and furniture—to silent witnesses of emotional turmoil, amplifying the tension between characters and their environments.
The domestic items in There’s Always Tomorrow become more than mere set dressing; it serves as a narrative agent, embodying the constraints of suburban life and the unspoken desires simmering beneath its surface.
Tickets available here