User reviews

Around the same time that Malcolm McDowell became famous as Alex in "A Clockwork Orange", he also starred in "The Raging Moon" (called "Long Ago Tomorrow" in the United States). He plays Bruce Pritchard, a football player - that's soccer player to us Americans - whose legs give out and he has to live in a home for invalids. Here he meets Jill Matthews (Nanette Newman), and his relationship with her prompts him to start rebelling against the institutions mores. But there's no sugary ending here.

I would say that McDowell's role here bears some similarities to Alex in "ACO", but is obviously a totally different kind of person. Neither character really fits in with society, and they both end up confined. Of course, Alex lives a life of ultra-violence, while Bruce is a perfectly calm and reasonable individual.

Maybe I'm the only person who even thinks this. I thought that they did a very well job with the movie. It paints not so bleak a portrait of it's town as "Kes" does, but this still doesn't look like a very pleasant setting. Certainly the convalescence home is the less desirable of the two settings within the movie. For me, the setting took precedence over Bruce and Jill's relationship. I recommend this film.

PS: was co-star Bernard Lee the same guy who played M in the James Bond movies?

Ultimately this is just another love story with all the typical plot elements, but the physical disabilities of the protagonists add an interesting twist, and the material is handled well by the cast, the director, and in fact, all concerned. The pacing of the film is deliberately slow, as are some of the pans, which effectively sets up the mood of the film. Blues are used well in the film also, and there is some careful framing to show the characters against different trappings. The music serves to establish the mood as well, and the film is hardly ever maudlin - the sentimental factor is balanced well, except in the final twenty minutes. Lastly, Nannette Newman and Malcolm McDowell both deserve to be praised for their acting here. Each of them has their own share of solid drama to handle, and they both do a good job, but McDowell in particular, who perfectly captures the resentment and depression that his character feels. Overall, it is just another romantic drama, but it is still a film well done.

I recently obtained this video from and envisioned that I was going to see the ubiquitous boy-meets-girl scenario. I was far wrong because what I ended up viewing was a more interesting and realistic portrayal of two people caught up in a crossfire between their feelings towards each other and the deterrents that nearly prevent them from fulfillling it. I must commend Malcolm McDowell for portraying the surly but tender male lead in a performance that is truly a step beyond his trademark stormy and negative characters. Nanette Newman,too, should be rewarded for playing the fragile and compassionate heroine.

It's a shame that Long Ago Tomorrow was virtually overlooked upon its release in 1971- hopefully, if more folks other than myself will see this picture, it may get the recognition it is due, significantly, for honestly portraying paraplegics as normal human beings like everyone else.

I can't say that I am really a fan of Malcolm McDowell. He always seems to play an angst-ridden "victim" of something, and here is no different. He ("Bruce") suffers a debilitating injury whilst playing football, and is now wheelchair bound. His working class family have no idea how to care for him (nor much interest, either) so he is shipped off to a care home, ostensibly, for more specialist care. Depressed and dejected, he meets "Jill" (Nanette Newman). She is also confined to a chair, and engaged to a fiancée who is loyal but increasingly full of little love - or lust, just pity. As the two start to bond, they discover a rebellious nature and a sense of optimism which lifts both of their spirits. That's about the height of the story, it is simple and straightforward with little effort made to fill the plot with faux scenarios. The supporting cast - Bernard Lee and Georgia Brown amongst them, offer us honest and plausible characterisations as those around them must also do some adjusting of their own. It has a sadness, a relentlessness to it, which is complimented well by the steady pace of the film and an effective score from Stanley Myers - both of which allow McDowell to offer up one of his better, more considered and empathetic performances. Newman is adequate. I found she always had a slightly soporific tone to her voice which I never really liked and which sometimes rendered her conversations about more serious matters (here it is sex and longing) hard to absorb. There are no rose-coloured cottages for people here, as the ending demonstrates - and that, too, adds a degree of authenticity to this story that is curiously depressing yet uplifting at the same time.

Healthy soccer player in England loses the use of his legs. I liked this because he's one of those guys who's a gifted soccer player, loved in school, lots of friends, get's all the girls, & the brother expected to succeed. For someone popular like this to all of a sudden come down with an incurable disease & wham he can't walk is quite the shocker. He has an interesting family which makes you laugh & before he loses the use of his legs, his older brother gets married. They have a pretty big wedding, with some funny moments between family members. He has a bad attitude & applies to go into "one of those places for cripples". He barely looks at anyone & gives only the bare minimum verbal responses. The place he goes in is really nice & he eventually starts to open up & make friends with the other cripples. Pretty good story & what I particularly appreciated was that when he falls in love with a girl in a wheelchair, the story doesn't ever get corny or mushy lovey dovey or show embarrassing sex scenes. Just a very realistic portrayal of life for two people in love in wheelchairs.

I accidentally saw this in 1981, just flipping channels. It is a powerful story with excellent acting by Malcolm McDowell, and was ahead of its time on issues of disability. It starts with an injury to a young soccer player (McDowell) and then proceeds to show various stages in his mental adjustment to his permanent condition, the relationships he forms, and moves toward a powerful look at meaning and purpose in life beyond the difficulties we face, without minimizing those difficulties. It is much more than an "overcoming injury" story, of which there are many. It is drama at its best. I recommend it especially for those who work with persons with disabilities, but beyond that to anyone who enjoys great drama.

I saw this movie on the recommendation of an older friend. They had watched it when it came out way back. I just watched it.

I think it is a beautiful love story. A simple kind of love but a real love. Not fraught with obligation or pretense like other relationships of the time. When two souls are drawn to each other undeniably.

I think IMDb should consider adjusting their requirement of ten lines. A lot can be said with few words.

The beginning was a bit hard to watch but once the two main characters meet up, it was lovely to watch.

The main actors both did a good job.

I recommend watching this movie. It's unique.

This was the first film I ever saw with Malcolm McDowell - my brother and sister-in-law took me to see it. It was also the movie that I fell in love with an incredible actor. The role was something I would have never thought someone like him could pull through, yet he did and brilliantly. I applaud the story writer - beautiful way to portray a disabled person - showing that just because you can't walk doesn't mean you aren't capable of love. I highly recommend this movie to those who have never seen this great actor in such an inspiring role.

The key to understand this great movie is the poem by Dylan Thomas: "in my craft or sullen art" "In my craft or sullen art Exercised in the still night When only the moon rages And the lovers lie abed With all their griefs in their arms I labour by singing light Not for ambition or bread Or the strut and trade of charms On the ivory stages But for the common wages Of their most secret heart.

Not for the proud man apart From the raging moon I write On these spindrift pages Nor for the towering dead With their nightingales and psalms But for the lovers, their arms Round the griefs of the ages, Who pay no praise or wages Nor heed my craft or art." Two works of art:the film and the poem

tadzio filippini

A British version of Fred Zinnemann's 'The Men' appropriately hardly seen in cinemas in the bad old days before decent wheelchair access. In addition to Bryan Forbes regulars like Nanette Newman (who's terrific), Bernard Lee, Norman Bird and Gerald Sim, the director also had the bright idea of recruiting singer Georgia Brown and real-life paraplegic Michael Flanders as one of the other patients.