Things to Come (1936) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

Humanity moves from war and collapse toward scientific civilization, while the final debate questions whether progress can ever stop.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

Christmas Before the War

John Cabal and Pippa Passworthy discuss the possibility of war on Christmas Day in 1940. The bombing of Everytown turns their debate into immediate reality.

Key Events

• Christmas War Anxiety — John Cabal and Pippa Passworthy discuss reports suggesting that war may soon begin. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, Pippa Passworthy / Raymond Passworthy Location: Everytown
• Optimism About Progress — Pippa argues that war, if it comes, may accelerate technological progress. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, Pippa Passworthy / Raymond Passworthy Location: Everytown
• Bombing of Everytown — An aerial bombing raid strikes Everytown on Christmas night. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal Location: Everytown
• Global Mobilization — The bombing leads to general mobilization and expands into a global war. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal Location: Everytown

The Long Dark Age

The global war continues for decades until its purpose is forgotten. Ruined cities, hyperinflation, depleted technology, and wandering sickness destroy organized civilization.

Key Events

• Cabal Joins Air War — John Cabal becomes a Royal Air Force pilot and serves during the war. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal Location: War front
• Attempted Enemy Rescue — After shooting down an enemy pilot, Cabal attempts to rescue him. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal Location: War zone
• War Without Purpose — The war continues into the 1960s until people no longer remember why they are fighting. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal Location: The war-torn world
• The Dark Age Begins — Cities lie in ruins, hyperinflation devastates the economy, and technology nearly disappears. Characters: The Boss Location: Ruined Everytown
• Wandering Sickness Spreads — Aerial bombing spreads wandering sickness, which kills half of humanity. Characters: The Boss Location: Everytown

The Warlord of Everytown

The Boss controls the remnants of Everytown through violence and fights for fuel resources. His rule represents the survival of war after civilization has collapsed.

Key Events

• Wandering Sickness Spreads — Aerial bombing spreads wandering sickness, which kills half of humanity. Characters: The Boss Location: Everytown
• The Boss Takes Power — The Boss becomes Everytown's warlord and ends the pestilence by shooting infected people. Characters: The Boss Location: Everytown
• War for Fuel — The Boss attacks the hill people to obtain coal and shale for producing oil. Characters: The Boss Location: Floss Valley
• Cabal's New Plane Arrives — An elderly John Cabal lands in Everytown in a sleek monoplane. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, The Boss Location: Everytown
• The Peaceful Offer — Cabal explains that Wings Over the World is rebuilding civilization and offers The Boss a place within it. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, The Boss Location: Everytown

Wings Over the World

John Cabal returns with an offer of organized peace and reconstruction. After The Boss captures him, Wings intervenes with the Gas of Peace and removes the warlord's power.

Key Events

• Cabal Taken Prisoner — The Boss rejects the offer, imprisons Cabal, and forces him to repair obsolete aircraft. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, The Boss Location: Everytown
• Wings Over the World Responds — Gigantic flying wing aircraft arrive over Everytown on behalf of Wings Over the World. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, The Boss Location: Sky above Everytown
• The Gas of Peace — The aircraft saturate the population with a gas that temporarily renders them unconscious. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, The Boss Location: Everytown
• The Boss Falls — The people awaken under Wings' control, while The Boss dies from a fatal allergic reaction to the gas. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, The Boss Location: Everytown

The Moon and the Future

By 2036, civilization has reached a peaceful scientific future, but Theotocopulos challenges its relentless speed. Oswald Cabal launches the lunar mission and defends humanity's pursuit of the universe.

Key Events

• Civilization Rebuilt — Under Cabal's guidance, Wings Over the World rebuilds civilization to a higher level. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal Location: Everytown and the Near East
• The 2036 Future — By 2036, humanity lives in stable underground cities devoted to peace and scientific progress. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, Pippa Passworthy / Raymond Passworthy, Maurice Passworthy, Theotocopulos Location: New Everytown
• Theotocopulos Incites Unrest — Theotocopulos rallies people who demand a rest from the relentless pace of progress. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, Theotocopulos Location: New Everytown
• The Space Gun Threatened — The mob threatens to destroy the space gun that will launch the first crewed lunar flight. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, Theotocopulos Location: The space gun site
• Lunar Launch Accelerated — Oswald moves the launch ahead of schedule, sending Maurice and another passenger toward the Moon. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, Maurice Passworthy Location: The space gun site
• Progress Versus Rest — Raymond Passworthy worries that humanity will never rest, while Oswald defends continued conquest of the universe. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, Pippa Passworthy / Raymond Passworthy Location: New Everytown
• All the Universe — As the spacecraft becomes a tiny light, Oswald declares that humanity must choose between the universe and nothingness. Characters: John Cabal / Oswald Cabal, Pippa Passworthy / Raymond Passworthy, Maurice Passworthy Location: New Everytown and the night sky

Story Breakdown

• Christmas War Warning — The film introduces Everytown's anxiety before war and contrasts fear with optimism about technological progress.
  • Everytown Anxiety — John Cabal and Pippa Passworthy discuss alarming Christmas news about a possible war.
  • Bombing Begins — An aerial raid strikes Everytown and converts political anxiety into open conflict.
• Cabal Enters War — John Cabal becomes a pilot and faces the moral consequences of mechanized warfare.
  • Royal Air Force Service — Cabal serves bravely as a Royal Air Force pilot during the expanding global war.
  • Enemy Pilot Rescue — After shooting down an enemy pilot, Cabal attempts to rescue him.
• Civilization Collapses — Decades of forgotten war and plague reduce the world to ruins and eliminate the last structures of government.
  • Endless Fighting — People continue fighting into the 1960s without remembering the original reason for the war.
  • Wandering Sickness — A bombing-related pestilence kills half of humanity and accelerates the collapse.
• The Boss Rules — The Boss imposes violent order on Everytown and launches a war for coal and shale.
  • Everytown Warlord — The Boss becomes chieftain and suppresses the pestilence by shooting infected people.
  • Floss Valley War — He attacks the hill people to acquire resources for producing oil for obsolete aircraft.
• Wings Bring Peace — John Cabal brings an alternative to warlord rule, and Wings Over the World transforms Everytown through force.
  • Peaceful Offer — Cabal offers The Boss the opportunity to join an organization rebuilding civilization.
  • Gas Ends Tyranny — Wings uses the Gas of Peace, leaving the population unconscious and The Boss dead.
• Progress Reaches Space — A peaceful 2036 civilization faces resistance to scientific acceleration before launching humanity toward the Moon.
  • Rest Movement — Theotocopulos incites public opposition to the relentless pace of progress.
  • Accelerated Launch — Oswald Cabal advances the lunar launch to prevent the mob from destroying the space gun.
  • Universal Destiny — Oswald argues that humanity must pursue the universe rather than accept nothingness.

Directed by

William Cameron Menzies

Key Cast

• Raymond Massey — John Cabal / Oswald Cabal
• Edward Chapman — Pippa Passworthy / Raymond Passworthy
• Ralph Richardson — The Boss
• Margaretta Scott — Roxana / Rowena
• Cedric Hardwicke — Theotocopulos