Yesterday's Tomorrows

1999 1h 39m EN

🤯

8.5

MASTERPIECE

★8.5TMDB · 2

DocumentaryHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the third of the six films, "Yesterday's Tomorrows," filmmaker Barry Levinson delves into what we, as Americans, thought the future would be as we traveled through the 20th century. Houses and cars of the future, the promise of technology, and the other hopes and dreams of the early part of the century gave way to the fears and anxieties brought about by the atomic age and the Hollywood disaster films that followed. Soon we wondered if we could control technology, or if it would control us. This film is by turns light-hearted and thoughtful, and rare historical and archival film, produced by government and industry, alternates with on-screen interviews with people as diverse as consumer advocate Ralph Nader, cartoonist Matt Groening, futurist Alvin Toffler, comedienne Phyllis Diller, and actor Martin Mull.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Richard Belzer
Self
Octavia E. Butler
Self
Phyllis Diller
Self
Spalding Gray
Self
Matt Groening
Self
Charlton Heston
Self
Robert Klein
Self
Fran Lebowitz
Self

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Barry Levinson
Writers: Kenn Rabin, Richard Berge
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CRAFT

Did you know

Part of the "In the 20th Century" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Barry Levinson, shot by Michael Chin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Edwards shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Richard Belzer and Octavia E. Butler and Phyllis Diller carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0212718 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 2 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Barry Levinson directs. Michael Chin behind the camera. Robert Edwards cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

127 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Part of the "In the 20th Century" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Barry Levinson, shot by Michael Chin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Robert Edwards shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Richard Belzer and Octavia E. Butler and Phyllis Diller carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0212718 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 2 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.