Long Ago, Tomorrow (1971) User Reviews (16)

Alex the Droog's parallel but flip side

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 21 August 2007]

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?

Sad but uplifting story

[nomorefog · 8/10 · 29 April 2011]

I remember this film very fondly as one of first movies I was allowed to see with someone not part of my immediate family, that is a with a friend, companion, girlfriend, whatever you'd like to call them. 'The Raging Moon' stuck in my mind for a long time, it contains moments of great beauty interspersed, alas, with long scenes of boring dialogue and perplexing adult problems that I wasn't the least bit concerned about. It is ultimately a romance movie and one with a great deal of realism as well as plenty of heart.

A young footballer (Malcolm McDowell in one of his early roles) has everything to live for. Suddenly at a friend's wedding he is taken ill and told that his condition, which renders him unable to walk, is permanent. He forces his family to have him put into a special home and hopefully have them forget about him. At the home he meets a young woman (Nanette Newman) who is also paralysed, but has been the same way all her life. She helps him adjust to the demands of surviving in a wheelchair and they strike up a friendship that gradually becomes something more serious. It seems obvious to the viewer that these two are just made for each other, but the makers of this film unkindly pull the rug from under the audience, when something particularly tragic happens and the lovers are kept apart. Well, I suppose it could happen in real life, but I mean, how unlucky can these two be? The makers of 'The Raging Moon', director Bryan Forbes especially, allows no compromising of his story and I guess that is what gives the film its emotional power. It's not a complicated story but it's portrayed with far less falsity than most. The characters are living and breathing human beings, and the relationship is portrayed as virtually a necessity for the survival of these two tragically challenged people. They don't dance around each other and play silly games. One comes away from 'The Raging Moon' somehow uplifted by its touching story. For those who haven't seen it, it may sound like depressing stuff but it's a deeply moving experience and one of those films that deserves more exposure on cable, video and/or DVD. I believe that Nannette Newman deserves special mention, She gives an understated but effective performance and more than holds her own when compared to the the flashier style of McDowell who seemed at the time an interesting young actor, but perhaps doomed to play the angry young man into perpetuity.

My brief review of the film

[sol- · 8/10 · 18 February 2006]

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.

A different type of love story

[perfectionist27 · 24 November 1999]

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.

Bruce and Jill went up the hill,to fetch a pail of love.

[ulicknormanowen · 7/10 · 6 June 2020]

In the first fifteen minutes ,Bruce is depicted as a sportsman ,from a working-class family , whose brother Harold,still a virgin, is to marry Gladys ; he's not at ease in his family -one does not know that, under a tough attitude , he conceals a poet's soul .The wedding celebration confirms it:he is the life and soul of the party ,when he delivers his speech to wish well the bride and the groom .

Hence the contrast with the following scenes ; he collapses ,one thinks he is dead drunk ; the screenwriters switch abruptly from comedy to tragedy ;overnight he 's stricken by a desease which ,like polio, leaves him a disabled young man , in a wheelchair for life.Overnight , he's left on his own :after Harold takes his brother to the home for disableed persons ,he is almost completely absent from the story .

The depiction of the home and of the stranglehold the Church has on it is perfectly captured:Bruce feels like "the child of a lesser God " and does not care about religion solace ; the matron, who appears nice at first sight is actually another nurse Ratched ("one flew over the cuckoo's nest").

The meeting with Jill changes everything :she is neglected by her eternal fiancé who tries to duck out of an embarrassing situation ; not only they have both found someone to rely on, but it inspires Bruce's writer talent :his poem he reads on the beach goes straight to the heart ; the hypocrit feast where the benefactors come to watch their protégés is given a rough ride by both handicapped mates .But the main problem remains:is physical love possible in this bigot milieu?

Malcolm Mc Dowell ,probably the best English actor of his generation ,cast against type, gives a deeply moving performance , brillantly supported by Nanette Newman as his love interest.

The ending may seem over the top but the last picture is superb in its simplicity.

The Raging Moon

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 25 September 2022]

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.

Pretty good movie

[deexsocalygal · 7/10 · 25 July 2021]

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.

Excellent portrayal of a person with injury and disability

[revWayne · 10/10 · 25 October 1999]

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.

A beautiful love story

[hondacivicdx · 8/10 · 8 January 2014]

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.

Before Malcolm Became Sinister

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 17 January 2008]

Known as LONG AGO TOMORROW, THE RAGING MOON is possibly the most intriguing movie in the career of young Malcolm MacDowell. It came after his breakthrough film IF, and before the films most people recall he starred in: A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and O LUCKY MAN. MacDowell is nowadays established as a well known character actor who specializes in powerful or power-mad villains for the most part. On an episode of LAW AND ORDER a few years back he was a twisted version of Rupert Murdoch. He is frequently rogue CIA agents, or tycoons with secret agendas. And he is wonderful in all these roles. But except for O LUCKY MAN it is hard to find MacDowell playing a sympathetic and simple type. His salesman in O LUCKY MAN is naive and believes what line is ever given to him by his employers. But in THE RAGING MOON he was a strong, athletic young man whose future is wrecked by a physical accident that cripples him. And he has to try to fight his anger at this unfair situation and regain his self respect.

McDowell plays Bruce Prichard, a soccer/rugby player who is injured in a game - and left wheelchair bound at the age of 21. Given that sport was the key to his life, the props have been knocked out from underneath him in more than one way. He slowly develops into a determined man who is going to overcome his permanent handicap. What really turns him into a determined type is his meeting with another patient (also similarly crippled) named Jill Matthews (Nanette Newman). The two young people find they are encouraging each other's recovery. And sooner or later they begin falling in love.

It is the oddest role in MacDowell's career, and he handles very well. Basically, except for the first ten minutes of the film, he is stuck in bed or in his wheelchair. He is bitter, but fixed on getting on with his new life. Andd finally he is enchanted by his new friend, confidante, and lover Newman. In one of the most touching scenes of the film, the two lovers figure out how to embrace in their wheelchairs by turning them on parallel lines to each other, and lowering the right arms of the wheelchairs so they can surround their arms about each other's waists and chests. The viewer can see the difficulties the young people will face, but they see they will do what they can to overcome their joint disability. So that the audience ends up cheering for them.

MacDowell is not usually so sympathetic. His anti-hero in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is tormented by the state in a new process to make him an acceptable (if defenseless) citizen, and then tormented by one of his old victims. But he was a stylish but still vicious punk in most of that film. He may symbolize youthful suspicions against an antiquated establishment in IF, but he is a violent rebel in the end. And due to his crass stupidity in O LUCKY MAN he actually commits fraud. But in THE RAGING MOON he struck a different note - and it was one he rarely hit again in any films or television shows he made.

The ultimate fate of his hero and heroine, and the cruelty of the world and nature they face, enhance the film. At the conclusion he is stunned by events. So is his audience. And nobody can explain why what happened had to be final for his dreams.

sensitive film descends to maudlin cliché

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 18 November 2017]

Yes this film is quite sensitive towards disabled people as they were in 1971.However the film cannot resist the maudlin clichés which come with the territory.Mystery illnesses,strict matron and unsympathetic vicar.The ending barely avoids bathos.I also think that the two leads just don't seem to be a likely couple.Bernard Lee seems very merry in his bit part.

Acting at its best!

[MariaElenaSanchez1 · 10/10 · 29 March 2017]

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.

DylanThomas

[tadziofilippini · 10/10 · 29 July 2006]

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 delicate subject perfectly transposed in this old pearl of the late free cinema-

[masoguigouattilino · 9/10 · 2 June 2009]

I've finally found the DVD and I'm really glad to see M.McDowell in a so different role before the legendary performance in Clockwork Orange. He plays a young typical middle-class English guy that has just begun to watch the girls as an unknown new universe; he has a family, a brother next to the marriage, and an ordinary social life. His destiny twist suddenly when he loose his senses the evening after his own brother wedding, and waking up the morning after in a bad hospital he discovers to be paralyzed from the belly down. We don't know, He doesn't know and worst of everything the doctors don't know the root of his illness. He takes the hard decision to move on an institute for paraplegics but even on a wheelchair he won't be able to hide is rage being apart from the usual guests of the institute. This unusual character is soon noticed by a beautiful patient,Nanette Newman excellent as ever,they will have the chance to go over the fear giving a kiss sitting on a wheelchair knowing the real love.

A big clap to Brian Forbes light and strong where and when necessary.

Love Among the Wheelchairs

[richardchatten · 8/10 · 15 July 2022]

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.

Schmaltzy and predictable soaper.

[fedor8 · 16 February 2023]

Sandwiched between "A Clockwork Orange" and "O Lucky Man", undoubtedly two of the best movies ever made and both with Malcolm McDowell, is this modest little drama. A total waste of the young McDowell, which is the best version of McDowell.

The movie's synopsis sounded like some formulaic soapy weeper, to sat the least, the type of downer drama that we can safely characterize as "Oscar bait". You know the type: a person ends up in a wheelchair or bed-ridden, and then somebody (or that person) dies at the end. And sure enough, this is exactly what happens: McDowell ends up in a wheelchair - and his fiancée VERY predictably dies in the end. The hell is the point of such pap?

What a waste of young McDowell! Imagine a writer-director who'd actually waste a young McDowell in such a pathetic, cliché, stagnant role. They really ought to have hired someone else, not because I'm saying Malcolm can't play this sort of lame part, because it's obvious he can - and he did it well. It's the fact that he could have filmed some far better movie during this brief period when he was at his best, leaving this kind of housewife crap for the mediocre actors who deserve no better. Already by the late 70s McDowell had lost that quality that made him so unique in his youth, during his 20s. He still had some great parts (among the 5000 movies he later made) and he remained interesting, but he wasn't quite the same. Still, one can't say he wasn't a "lucky man": he got to do three uppermost-tier classics during this narrow window of time, and if we count "Caligula" as well (which I know he wouldn't), then it's four of them.

The first third, the intro, has fairly clumsy and pointless dialog which serves little purpose, aside from telling us that he was an active, energetic youth, like most others. Then suddenly he falls to the ground - and the next thing we know he's bed-ridden for life. Now, I'm not complaining that the movie didn't make his health downfall more dramatic or detailed: it's better this way i.e. It's good that we were spared the pathos involving a potentially overlong section detailing his health problem. However, this approach does seem extremely rushed, badly conceived.

Even worse - and similarly clumsy/rushed - is the conclusion, which, as I mentioned, is completely and utterly predictable, as generic as it gets. A great big fat cop-out: any viewer with half a brain cell must know well in advance that one of the two wheel-chair lovers would snuff it. And that's what happened. Just as Malcolm became an invalid without rhyme or reason or (satisfying) explanation, his girlfriend dies in a similarly stupid way. No (satisfying) explanation, no development, just one big fat cliché to end an ultimately pointless movie.

The only solid bits are in the middle section, i.e. Malcolm's adjustment to his new living quarters. The rest is all lame.