moonspinner55 Review of Toomorrow

Toomorrow (1970)

"I'd like to buy some of your records." ... "You may, if we live long enough."

[3/10 · 1 August 2015]

"Grease" fans in 1978 probably had little-to-no idea that co-star and pop songstress Olivia Newton-John had acted in a film eight years prior--and, at the time, she herself was probably relieved that nobody knew about it. "Toomorrow", produced in the UK (and shown theatrically there for just one week), boasts an impressive pedigree and some decent synth-based bubblegum rock, but the movie vanished almost without a trace (it was released in Japan but not until 1980, to coincide with Newton-John's "Xanadu"; there was never any interest from US distributors). Unlikely production partners Don Kirshner, the man responsible for The Monkees' early musical output, and Harry Saltzman, a co-producer of the 007 franchise, apparently had a falling out during the course of filming "Toomorrow", causing Kirshner to wash his hands of the whole debacle. Newton-John is pretty much cast as herself, a college student and vocalist named Olivia who performs in a struggling rock group based in London; her three bandmates, all randy yet clean-cut males, allow Livvy to be their mother-hen while keeping their hands to themselves (she's a good girl of the Annette Funicello school: flirt but don't touch). The band has attracted the attention of other-worldly aliens, who abduct the quartet (and their instruments!) in order to save their dying population. Comic-book nonsense looks a bit like the Disney films of the early 1960s (with the exception of a few 'naughty' bits). It's harmless and brainless and puerile, but it isn't the embarrassment Kirshner painted it as. A curiosity item and footnote in Newton-John's career; she was never much of an actress, although for her part she looks attractive here, pressed and crisp like a budding pop star, and sings in her clear, pearly voice. *1/2 from ****