Paying tribute to OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN looking back on the time when she met the Aliens....
TOOMORROW (1970) - One of the strangest bits of sci-fi history is this British production which combined the producing talents of James Bond exec Harry Saltzman and rock maven Don Kirshner. The idea was to create an English pre-fab band like The Monkees. One of the lucky 'winners' was one Olivia-Newton John (then just 21).
Unfortunately (or, fortunately, considering Newton-John's future success), TOOMORROW was not a hit and any further adventures of the "Band" called TOOMORROW remained unfilmed. TOOMORROW "The Movie" tells of an alien race who discover the music of Newton-John and her pop band, Toomorrow - they are introduced on stage as “three guys and a dolly all the guys are going to want for Christmas!” (as noted, good for Olivia that it was little seen). Seems the aliens need a break from their own computer generated music and the earthling band is just the cure. So, a convoluted plan is hatched to kidnap the band and bring them to their planet so they can record some tunes.
Believe it or not, the movie isn't THAT bad -- and certainly doesn't deserve the relative oblivion it has been consigned to. All of the actors are fairly engaging, the special effects are OK (supervised by Michael Stears who worked on THUNDERBALL, OUTLAND and STAR WARS), Cinematographer Dick Bush (SORCERER, TOMMY) did the lensing, the songs are cute in a prefab "Archies" sort of way and the backing score is by Hugo Montenegro. Val Guest's (THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT, WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH) direction is brisk. Olivia shows off her long legs with some revealing costumes (she refused to do an underwear scene) and she has the glow of her sunny disposition. Her sweet voice is there, but, has to share the vocals with her bandmates. An unsuccessful album and two singles were released.
Back in 2000, the American Cinemateque screened this rarity with co-star Olivia Newton-John in attendance (she was unannounced and didn't make herself know until after the film had ended). The print was supplied by the British Film Academy and it was in great condition. Ms. Newton-John seemed amused by the film and gratified by the audience's response.
In 2014 a sketchy UK DVD release was issued. There are bootlegs, and it's on YouTube and the internet archive.
Photos from Olivia's 2000 appearance at the American Cinematheque I attended: https://www.onlyolivia.com/news/events/00/sordid/index.html
TOOMORROW (1970) - One of the strangest bits of sci-fi history is this British production which combined the producing talents of James Bond exec Harry Saltzman and rock maven Don Kirshner. The idea was to create an English pre-fab band like The Monkees. One of the lucky 'winners' was one Olivia-Newton John (then just 21).
Unfortunately (or, fortunately, considering Newton-John's future success), TOOMORROW was not a hit and any further adventures of the "Band" called TOOMORROW remained unfilmed. TOOMORROW "The Movie" tells of an alien race who discover the music of Newton-John and her pop band, Toomorrow - they are introduced on stage as “three guys and a dolly all the guys are going to want for Christmas!” (as noted, good for Olivia that it was little seen). Seems the aliens need a break from their own computer generated music and the earthling band is just the cure. So, a convoluted plan is hatched to kidnap the band and bring them to their planet so they can record some tunes.
Believe it or not, the movie isn't THAT bad -- and certainly doesn't deserve the relative oblivion it has been consigned to. All of the actors are fairly engaging, the special effects are OK (supervised by Michael Stears who worked on THUNDERBALL, OUTLAND and STAR WARS), Cinematographer Dick Bush (SORCERER, TOMMY) did the lensing, the songs are cute in a prefab "Archies" sort of way and the backing score is by Hugo Montenegro. Val Guest's (THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT, WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH) direction is brisk. Olivia shows off her long legs with some revealing costumes (she refused to do an underwear scene) and she has the glow of her sunny disposition. Her sweet voice is there, but, has to share the vocals with her bandmates. An unsuccessful album and two singles were released.
Back in 2000, the American Cinemateque screened this rarity with co-star Olivia Newton-John in attendance (she was unannounced and didn't make herself know until after the film had ended). The print was supplied by the British Film Academy and it was in great condition. Ms. Newton-John seemed amused by the film and gratified by the audience's response.
In 2014 a sketchy UK DVD release was issued. There are bootlegs, and it's on YouTube and the internet archive.
Photos from Olivia's 2000 appearance at the American Cinematheque I attended: https://www.onlyolivia.com/news/events/00/sordid/index.html
