Toomorrow (film)

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Toomorrow is a 1970 British science-fiction musical film directed and written by Val Guest, starring Olivia Newton-John. The story follows John Williams, an alien Alphoid who has lived on Earth in human form for millennia. Galactic Control sends him to investigate a strange vibration coming from Earth. The sound comes from Olivia and her pop band Toomorrow and their special amplifier, the tonaliser. Williams abducts the group and forces them to entertain Alphoid crowds on his planet. Afterward, the group returns to Earth, and Olivia wakes up from a strange dream.

The production was rocky. James Bond producer Harry Saltzman teamed with Don Kirshner for a three-film deal, but the collaboration grew tense. Script changes frustrated director Val Guest, and Olivia Newton-John did not want a love scene in the film. The project ran into money troubles; Guest hadn’t been paid, and an injunction temporarily stopped the film’s release. When it finally premiered in London, the movie was shown for only one week and then shelved, with only a few later, scattered showings for decades.

The film features Newton-John, Benny Thomas, Vic Cooper, Karl Chambers, Roy Dotrice, and Margaret Nolan, with music by Ritchie Adams, Mark Barkan, and Hugo Montenegro. It runs 95 minutes and was released by Rank Organization.

Critical reaction was mixed. Some reviews praised the imaginative production and youthful energy, while others called it shallow and overproduced. Over the years, Toomorrow has been seen by many as a notable flop and a curious relic of its era.