Only Yesterday (1933 film)

Only Yesterday is a 1933 American Pre-Code drama film about a young woman who becomes pregnant by her boyfriend before he rushes off to fight in World War I. It stars Margaret Sullavan (in her film debut) and John Boles.

Contents

• Cast
• Reception
• References

The film was based on the novel Briefe einer unbekannten (Letter from an Unknown Woman) by Stefan Zweig, though he was not credited. The on-screen credit claims that it is based on the 1931 nonfiction bestseller Only Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen. The film is set in a time frame close to that of Allen's book but otherwise bears no resemblance to it, and the appropriation of the title may simply have been an attempt to capitalize on the book's fame at the time of the film's release.

Cast

Margaret Sullavan as Mary Lane

John Boles as James Stanton Emerson

Edna May Oliver as Leona

Billie Burke as Julia Warren

Benita Hume as Phyllis Emerson

Reginald Denny as Bob

George Meeker as Dave Reynolds

Jimmy Butler as Jim Jr., Mary's son

Noel Francis as Letitia

Bramwell Fletcher as Scott Hughes

June Clyde as Deborah

Reception

The film was Universal's most popular release of the year.