Long Ago, Tomorrow

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.

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

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.

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.

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.