| Goodnight Mister Tom | |
|---|---|
| Distributed by | ITV |
| Directed by | Jack Gold |
| Produced by | Chris Burt |
| Written by | Brian Finch Novel Michelle Magorian |
| Starring | John Thaw Nick Robinson |
| Music by | Carl Davis |
| Editing by | Jamie McCoan |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Release date | 1998 |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
Goodnight Mister Tom is a 1998 film adaptation by ITV of the original book of the same name by Michelle Magorian; the cast featured the veteran British actor John Thaw and was directed by Jack Gold.
Contents |
Tom Oakley is a reclusive old man living in an English countryside village in September 1939. World War II has just started, and he is forced by the local billeting officer to house an evacuee from London. Tom doesn't want to, complaining that he doesn't know about children of the boy's age.
The evacuee is nine-year-old William "Willie" Beech, a shy boy who behaves strangely, not eating much and being very shy. He arrives in the village by steam train with a group of other evacuees. Tom leaves Will alone for a while as he goes and complains to Mrs Ford, the billeting officer. Will goes to the local churchyard, where he looks at a beautiful gravestone with an angel sculpture, and meets his future schoolteacher, Mrs Hartridge, and her husband, a pilot. They leave, and he then meets Sammy, a collie, who terrifies him. Will picks up a spade, and, before he can strike, Tom stops him, explaining that Sammy is his dog. Later, Tom accidentally scares Will whilst stirring the coals in the fireplace with a red hot poker. Will is scared, and faints, under the misapprehension that Tom is going to beat or brand him with it. Whilst unpacking Will's things, Tom finds a letter from Will's mother, saying that he is a 'sinful' boy, and that she has packed a belt in case he misbehaves.
The next day, Will wakes up to find he has wet the bed, as he often did back in London. Tom tells him to get his wet pyjamas off, which reveals, to the camera only, that Will has belt marks on his back. Later, they go to the post office, where Will meets Zacharias "Zach" Wrench, a Jewish boy of around the same age, who he makes friends with. Zach is billeted with Dr Little and his wife, who are Tom's friends.
Tom asks Mrs Fletcher, his neighbour and friend, to talk to her knitting club and help rustle up some clothing for Will, who only has one set of clothes.
Mrs Fletcher sends her boys round old clothes for William. When William changes into the clothes, Tom sees the belt marks on his back and realises the extent of William's abuse. In his fury, he throws away the belt Will's mother sent. Mrs Fletcher sends her boys round to help with Tom's new Anderson shelter.Will helps out too, but wears a sweater, not only to avoid dirtying his new shirt but to conceal the belt marks. Afterwards, Tom goes to do volunteer work in the church, showing that the better side of him is coming out.
One day, Will plays Tom's small organ, which belonged to Rachel, his dead wife. However, Tom doesn't like anybody touching the instrument because it brings back bad memories. Later that day, they go fishing, and Will brings along Zach and some other children, who he makes friends with, including two girls called Ginnie and Carrie.
Not long after, the summer holidays stop. Will has to go to school, which he has been dreading. As it turns out, though, Will meets Zach there and becomes friendly with some other boys, too. On his first lesson, he is put in a lower class, with much younger children, because he is illiterate. When he gets home, he tells Tom who, when informed by Mrs Hartridge why this has happened, takes it upon himself to teach Will, so that he can be in the class he wants to. Will is a clever boy, and he learns well and quickly. He also uncovers his secret talent for excellent drawing and painting.
One morning, Tom is placing flowers on the graves of his dead wife and son, when suddenly, he meets William, who is in his pyjamas. Tom explains to Will how his wife Rachel and his son, John, died of scarlatina while he was away fighting in World War I more than 20 years earlier. On their headstone it says that they both died in 1917. Will explains that he came to tell how he did not wet the bed that night. Tom is very happy for him and has, by now, become a genuine father-figure to the boy.
On the day of Will's birthday, Tom surprises him by revealing that he has organised a surprise party. Tom, Sammy, Mrs Fletcher, the Littles, Zach, Ginnie, and Carrie are all there. In the jolly atmosphere of it all, Tom is persuaded by Mrs Fletcher to play his organ again, and gives a splendid performance of It's a Long Way To Tipperary. Then, when all the guests have given their presents and left, Tom gives Will the best present of all, a set of watercolours.
The next day at school, Will is promoted to Mrs Hartridge's class to be with the children of his own age. Overjoyed, he runs to tell Tom the news, only to find another set of news from the billeting office - that his mother is ill and wants him back in London for a while to look after her. He must go, but is sad to do so. Pomising to write letters, he says farewell to Tom and boards the train to London.
When Will gets to London, he's picked up by his mother at the station, who does not seem pleased to see him. They get to the flat, where his mum tells him to be quiet, so that "no-one will know he's there". He is told that there is a surprise for him, a "present from Jesus". It is a baby girl. Mrs Beech's attitude to William is revealed as disdainful and waspish. When she hears that the belt has not been brought home, she smacks him, thinking that he deliberately left it behind, and sends him to his room.
The next morning, william is greeted by an unusually friendly mum, and a meal of egg and toast. But again, Will's mum later loses her temper, thinking that Will stole the picture he painted and the watercolours and other presents she finds in his bag. Will truthfully tells her that he got them as gifts from his friends, who he tells her about. She is angry to hear that some of them are girls, and demands to know if they go to church. Will responds that they do, apart from Zach because he is Jewish and there isn't a synagogue in the village. Mrs Beech is an anti-semite and, after calling Will a blasphemer when he points out that Jesus was a Jew, locks him in a cupboard under the stairs.
Over the following days, Tom has become increasingly worried about Will after hearing nothing from him, and travels to London, where he meets an ARP Warden who promises to help him find Will. They get to the house, where they meet Mrs Beech's neighbour, who tells them that Mrs Beech has apparently gone to the coast, and that Will has been evacuated to the country (not knowing that he had come back). Sammy smells something in the house. They break down the door and, when inside, find Will and the baby. Will lets the baby (who he has named Trudy) be held by Tom, who then passes her on to a policewoman. It is revealed that the baby is, in fact, dead.
Whilst in hosptial, Will constantly wakes up screaming from a terrible nightmare. Tom visits, and meets the suspicious Dr Stelton, a psychiatrist who wants Will be taken to "the children's home", most likely a mental hospital, which Tom does not think is a good idea. Will has a haircut so that the wounds on his head can heal. Tom, meanwhile, has concocted a plan. He retrieves Will's belongings from the house and sneaks into the hospital when it is less busy that night. When he is sure that there are no staff about, he kidnaps Will and takes him back to the village.
Dr Little informs Will that he will recover fine physically. However, Will still has nightmares. Tom reveals the root of the nightmares. It seems that the nightmares are about Dr Stelton taking him away. After opening up and talking about the nightmares, Will finds that he doesn't have them anymore. Later, Zach visits, with the news that Mrs Hartridge has had her baby, but that her husband is feared dead after being shot down in his plane. The baby girl is called Peggy.
In the news, the East End of London has been blitzed by the Luftwaffe. Zach's father has been working there as an auxiliary fireman. Also, Tom and Will soon have some visitors: a policeman, Mrs Ford (who looks nervous to be in this situation), Dr Stelton, and Mr Greenway, a stern-looking man from the Home Office. They are here to inform Will that his mother is dead, and that they wish to take Will to the children's home in Sussex. Mr Greenway talks to Tom in the garden. Mr Greenway, who is not very emotional, is baffled as to why Tom wants to keep Will. Tom explains that it's because he loves him. At last, Mr Greenway gives in, to the annoyance of Dr Stelton, and Tom adopts Will officially and legally.
Zach, meanwhile, is packing. He has to go and see his father who has been injured by a bomb in the East End. Will is sad but later in the week he finds out that Mrs Hartridge's husband is, in fact, a prisoner of war and not dead. This excites everyone, but then Will turns sad again when Mrs Little reveals a week later that Zach has been killed in a bombing. Will doesn't go to school, loses his appetite, and doesn't talk to anyone, not even Tom. To cheer him up, Tom gives Zach's red bike to Will, which he always used to ride. But Will is still silent. Tom explains that when someone dies, they're not really gone as they're still in your memory, just like Rachel and John are to him. Will understands, and learns to ride Zach's bike. And in the last scene of the film rides the bike down a hill towards Tom and at the bottom they hug and Will saying "I can ride Dad, I can really ride!".