Tomorrow (1972 film)

Tomorrow is a 1972 American drama film directed by Joseph Anthony. The screenplay was written by Horton Foote, adapted from a play he wrote for Playhouse 90[1] that was based on a 1940 short story by William Faulkner. The PG-rated film was filmed in the Mississippi counties of Alcorn and Itawamba. Although released in 1972, it saw limited runs in the U.S. until re-released about ten years later.

Tomorrow
Directed byJoseph Anthony
Produced byGilbert Pearlman
Paul Roebling
Written byStory:
William Faulkner
Screenplay & Play:
Horton Foote
StarringRobert Duvall
Olga Bellin
Music byIrwin Stahl
CinematographyAllan Green
Edited byReva Schlesinger
Distributed byFilmgroup Productions
Release date
9 April 1972 (US)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The opening courthouse scenes of Tomorrow were shot at the historic Jacinto Courthouse in Alcorn County, Mississippi. The courthouse, built in 1854, has been refurbished and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The majority of the film was shot in the Bounds Crossroads community of Itawamba County, at the sawmill on the farm of Chester Russell, the grandfather of singer Tammy Wynette (Virginia Wynette Pugh), who lived most of her young years there with her grandparents until she married in 1960. The sawmill building, where much of the film was shot, was built just for the film. Chester Russell played one of the jurors and can be seen when the jury is deliberating in the opening courthouse scenes. Some of the film props were also leased from James Franks Antique Museum of Tupelo, Mississippi.[2] Lead Robert Duvall, the only known surviving actor from the film, has called Tomorrow one of his personal favorites.[3]

Plot

An isolated and lonely farmer in rural Mississippi takes in a pregnant drifter who has been abandoned by the father of her child.

Main cast
Actor Role
Robert DuvallJackson Fentry
Olga BellinSarah Eubanks
Sudie BondMrs. Hulie
Peter MastersonDouglas
Johnny MaskJackson
William HawleyPapa Fentry
James FranksPreacher Whitehead

Release

The film opened at the 68th Street Playhouse in New York City and only played 32 playdates around the United States.[4] It was re-released in June 1978 at The Public Theater in New York City.[4]

Critical reception

The film was praised by Rex Reed, Gene Shalit, Archer Winsten and Jeffrey Lyons, with Reed stating that he believed it was the best depiction of Faulkner ever screened.[4] Vincent Canby of The New York Times overall did not care for the film but acknowledged it was well-intentioned:

[T]he Horton Foote screenplay is less an adaptation than an enlargement, in the playwright's dumbest, television-fake literary style of the 1950s. Tomorrow is not one of Faulkner's most interesting works... Mr. Foote's attempts at pretty po' fo'k dialogue come very close to the ludicrous... Even if the movie's intentions are decent, as reflected in the accurate look of the production, filmed in Mississippi, the effect is mostly patronizing.[5]

In the annual Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, the film was rated 3½ stars, noting that "Bellin is excellent. Duvall astonishingly good in best-ever screen presentation of the author's work".[6]

Trivia

The American indie rock band Grandaddy sampled the film for their song "Fentry".

See also

References
  1. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0675669/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_26
  2. Tomorrow (1972) - Filming locations, imdb.com; accessed March 1, 2019.
  3. Tomorrow (1972), IMDb.com; accessed March 1, 2019.
  4. "Re-Showcase Faulkner's South". Variety. May 31, 1978. p. 6.
  5. Canby, Vincent (1972-04-10). "Movie Review - Tomorrow - The Screen: 'Tomorrow': Adapted Faulkner Tale Directed by Anthony". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  6. Maltin, Leonard, ed. (2007). Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide. New York: Signet. p. 1416. ISBN 978-0-451-22186-5.
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