Directed by:
John M. StahlCinematography:
Merritt B. GerstadComposer:
Constantin BakaleinikoffCast:
Margaret Sullavan, John Boles, Edna May Oliver, Billie Burke, Benita Hume, Reginald Denny, George Meeker, Noel Francis, Bramwell Fletcher, June Clyde (more)Plots(1)
Distantly related to Frederick Lewis Allen's non-fiction book of the same name, Only Yesterday uses fictional characters to trace the years between 1917 and 1929. Wealthy New Yorker John Boles recalls a long-ago affair with southern belle Margaret Sullavan. She gave birth to his child without ever naming the father, then moved to New York herself and set up a dress shop. As the stock-market crash of 1929 wipes out his life savings, Boles becomes remorseful over how he's forgotten Sullavan, who is now dying. He acknowledges that he is the father of her child, and promises to make a good life for the boy despite his dire financial situation. Only Yesterday opens with a remarkable montage sequence showing the devastating effects of the Depression. A superb performance by Margaret Sullavan (in her film debut). (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Margaret Sullavan
USA
Best movies:
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
The Mortal Storm (1940)
Three Comrades (1938)
John Boles
USA
Best movies:
The Last Warning (1929)
Frankenstein (1931)
King of Jazz (1930)
Edna May Oliver
USA
Best movies:
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
Little Women (1933)
A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Billie Burke
USA
Best movies:
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
The Young Philadelphians (1959)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Benita Hume
UK
Best movies:
High Treason (1929)
Tarzan Escapes (1936)
Easy Virtue (1927)
Reginald Denny
UK
Best movies:
Rebecca (1940)
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
Anna Karenina (1935)
George Meeker
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
Casablanca (1942)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Noel Francis
USA
Best movies:
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Up the River (1930)
Smart Money (1931)
Bramwell Fletcher
UK
Best movies:
Random Harvest (1942)
Svengali (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
June Clyde
USA
Best movies:
Hollywood Party (1934)
Jane Darwell
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Love Is News (1937)
Caged (1950)
Oscar Apfel
USA
Best movies:
San Francisco (1936)
Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Conquest (1937)
Onslow Stevens
USA
Best movies:
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Counsellor at Law (1933)
When Tomorrow Comes (1939)
Huntley Gordon
Canada
Best movies:
Stage Door (1937)
Follow the Fleet (1936)
Front Page Woman (1935)
Edmund Breese
USA
Best movies:
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Duck Soup (1933)
Mata Hari (1931)
Louise Beavers
USA
Best movies:
Freaks (1932)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
King Baggot
USA
Best movies:
A Night at the Opera (1935)
San Francisco (1936)
Come Live with Me (1941)
Creighton Hale
Ireland
Best movies:
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Casablanca (1942)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Barry Norton
Argentina
Best movies:
Sunrise (1927)
Casablanca (1942)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Sheila Bromley
USA
Best movies:
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
One Hour with You (1932)
A Star is Born (1954)