Toomorrow

This British oddity (call it space oddity!) from 1970 needs to be seen to be believed, and even then it’s hard to believe. With its paper-thin plot, involving aliens which abduct a ‘Swinging London’ pop combo (headed by Olivia Newton-John) in the hope that the band’s groovy vibrations may restore cosmic equilibrium, and it’s so-and-so songs, the entire affair is best taken with a massive pinch of salt.

Even more surprisingly, it was directed by British veteran film director Val Guest (who also wrote the screenplay). It was produced by Harry Saltzman and Don Kirshner who, as the former manager of The Monkees, had the brainchild to come up with a musical film called ‘Toomorrow’ in the hope that it would lead to a series in the vein of the back then hugely popular TV-series ‘The Monkees’. Unfortunately, it only led to box office disaster and was panned by audiences and critics alike. 

Reasons are numerous, though above all, it’s the lame and instantly forgettable pop songs (although excellently delivered by Olivia (O. Newton-John). Add to this the fact that the entire band, comprised of Olivia on lead vocals, American session drummer Karl Chambers (the only one who oozes genuine grooviness) plus Benny Thomas and Vic Cooper on guitar/bass look way too clean-cut and wholesome to make for a believable Swinging London pop band, it’s blatantly obvious that they are no ‘Ersatz’ for the likes of The Monkees! As for the band’s name TOOMORROW, it’s not a spelling mistake but as drummer Karl muses: “We’re too much. We’re Toomorrow.” If only it were so!

Anyway, the four musicians are all students (music, art, that sort of thing) and a great deal of the plot is wasted on university shenanigans, political sit-ins and so on. It’s all so harmless and well-behaved and not a spliff in sight, never mind acid. A lot of who’s getting it on with whom-scenarios and of course, our ambitious four dream of making it big with their band. Enter suave music promoter John Williams (Roy Dotrice), who lives in a posh little country mansion but shock, horror - he isn’t human at all! He’s in fact some sort of alien scout whose mission is to befriend our four musicians and see to it that they will soon be grooving to the tune of success, though John’s real mission is to abduct Olivia, Benny, Vic and Karl - who use a specially invented electronic amplifier called the Tonaliser - and usher them onto the alien spaceship, so the aliens can revive their stagnant souls and ears thanks to the bands’ emotional groove and vibrations. You couldn’t make it up if you tried!

The scene in which John first takes off his human mask to reveal his extraterrestrial identity is hilarious, as is the scene in which he transforms some of the interior designs of his country mansion into something suggesting this is the home of a bona fide music promoter. He does so by scrolling with his fingers up and down catalogue pages, plucking the images from the illustrated pages and voila, they appear life-size in his house. Now that’s pretty impressive! So…after he manages to befriend our budding pop musicians with promises of enhancing their musical careers and inviting them to his estate, it’s of course the perfect opportunity for a little detour, with the four ending up on the space ship though judging by their reaction, they are more curious than terrified (well, these aliens seem as well-behaved as the college students back on earth…).
When the four are beamed back onto native soil again, John makes sure they have no recollection of what has just happened. However, since said aliens not only need a groovy sound but an audience in order to study and generate an emotional resonance while Toomorrow are playing, it’s up to John to organise a live gig, which is the highlight of the film and takes place in Camden’s Roundhouse. In between, more cosmic nonsense when alien Nolan (Bond-girl Margaret Nolan) turns up stark-naked, albeit without gold-paint all over her body. Her mission is to seduce the male band members and John sees to it that she gets a lesson in ‘human physical stimulation and seduction’ by taking her to…various strip clubs around Soho!  

TOOMORROW, available on 4K Blu-ray and streaming, is the perfect fodder for a rainy day and those who love 70s kitsch fare will no doubt enjoy this bizarre movie, which was lost in the void (or in space?) for more than 50 years. Likewise, fans of Olivia Newton-John (Toomorrow was her second film) will be charmed and entertained by the film.

Special features include:
Audio commentary by pop music historian Andrew Sandoval / Tomorrow Night in London (1969, 5 mins) / The Nose Has It! (1942, 8 mins): silly little Arthur Askey mucks about with hankies in this wartime winner from Val Guest / The Guardian Interview: Val Guest (1998, 62 mins) / The British Entertainment History Project: Val Guest (1988, 10 mins) / If I Could Turn You On (1969, 13 mins): US troupe Living Theatre rouse London hipsters at The Roundhouse with a provocative interactive performance / Chimp-Mates: Alice Goes Pop! (1975, 17 mins) in this CFF extravaganza / Toomorrow: Musical Humanism Through the Stars (2026, 12 mins) / Illustrated booklet (first pressing only).