Goodnight Mister Tom (film)
| Goodnight Mister Tom | |
|---|---|
British DVD cover
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| Based on |
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian |
| Written by | Brian Finch |
| Directed by | Jack Gold |
| Starring |
John Thaw Nick Robinson |
| Theme music composer | Carl Davis |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Chris Burt |
| Editor(s) | Jamie McCoan |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Carlton Television |
| Distributor | ITV Studios |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release |
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Goodnight Mister Tom is a 1998 film adaptation by Carlton Television of the book of the same name by Michelle Magorian. It was the final film to be directed by Jack Gold. The cast featured well known British actors, including veteran actor John Thaw.
In September 1939, the United Kingdom entered the Second World War and children were evacuated from London to the countryside for their safety. Tom Oakley, a lonely and bitter old man living in the countryside village of Little Weirwold, is forced to look after one of the evacuees, William "Willie" Beech. Tom has long since withdrawn from life after losing his wife and child to scarlet fever many years ago, while Willie is a quiet young boy who comes from an abusive home and is apprehensive of Tom.
Despite initial difficulties and tension, such as Willie wetting his bed and threatening Tom's dog, Sammy, before learning that he belonged to Tom the two slowly begin to bond with Willie calling him 'Mister Tom'. Tom learns that Willie lives with his abusive, mentally ill and extremely religious mother in London after he sees that she has sent a belt for him to use on Willie and belt marks on Willie's back. Tom does his best to create a suitable home for Willie, such as providing him with new clothes and teaching him to read and write when his schoolteacher, Mrs. Hartridge, learns that Willie is illiterate. Willie's new life with Tom eventually boosts his self-confidence and he opens up to Tom, looking up to him as a surrogate father figure. He also meets and becomes best friends with a Jewish boy, Zacharias "Zach" Wrench. However, shortly after Willie's tenth birthday, Tom receives a letter from Mrs. Beech, who claims to be ill and needs Willie back in London to look after her.
When Willie reunites with his mother, he discovers that she lied to get him to return and is completely fine. Willie also meets his baby half-sister, Trudy. Mrs. Beech claims is a "present from Jesus", and Willie is too young and naïve to consider any other scenario. It is obvious, however, that Mrs. Beech has been made much more uneasy by the Blitz, and after an argument sparked by her discovery of the absence of the belt (which Tom discarded), Mrs. Beech sends Willie to his room for the night. The next day, Mrs. Beech seems better after suffering a mental breakdown, but when Willie presents her with gifts that the locals from Little Weirwold had given him, and tells her about some of his friends, she accuses him of stealing, interacting with girls and Jews, and finally pummels him and eventually locks him in the house's cellar after he tells her that Jesus was a Jew. Back in Little Weirwold, Tom starts missing Willie greatly. Initially he thinks Willie has moved on from him, until he finds the belt he threw a few days earlier. Tom has an instinct that Willie is in danger.
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