Editor Reviews:

Description:
Starring Robert Duvall in his breakthrough screen role, Tomorrow is a poignant tale based on a short story by William Faulkner, and scripted by Academy Award® winner Horton Foote (To Kill a Mockingbird, Tender Mercies). Duvall is Jackson Fentry, a young man
who leaves his father’s farm to work at a local sawmill. Fentry rescues a young pregnant woman, who has been abandoned by her husband and family, and the two fall in love. Shot in black and white to convey the feel of the Depression era, Tomorrow remains the finest screen translation of Faulkner’s vision of the South.

Amazon.com:
Based on the William Faulkner story and featuring one of Robert Duvall's finest performances, Tomorrow was first adapted by Horton Foote for TV's Playhouse 90 in 1960. Eight years later, Foote--whose script for To Kill a Mockingbird provided Duvall's screen debut--presented the same story as an off-Broadway play with Duvall and Olga Bellin in the lead roles, which they reprised in 1971 for this independently produced film.

As with Tender Mercies--which earned Academy Awards for both Foote and Duvall in 1983--Tomorrow tells a simple tale of gentle people, and the sensitive script, direction, and performances offer an enlightening portrait of compassion and unconditional love. Duvall plays Fentry, a Mississippi cotton farmer in the early 1900s who leaves his father's farm to work as the winter watchman of a dormant sawmill. There, he encounters Sarah (Bellin), a pregnant woman abandoned by her husband and suffering from a life-threatening illness. They eventually marry, but inevitably, Fentry (portrayed by Duvall as a kind of holy innocent) alone must raise the woman's child--a good-natured boy whose fate is determined by a heartbreaking claim of familial custody.

The story is framed by a murder trial, the outcome of which leads to the film's resonant and quietly moving conclusion. Like so much of Foote's work, Tomorrow was tailor-made for Duvall, and it has much to say about endurance, integrity, and uncommon decency under difficult circumstances. Directed by Joseph Anthony with an appropriately somber tone, this delicate drama nevertheless offers a wise and uplifting affirmation of the resilient human spirit. For Duvall's many admirers, this is a must-see film. --Jeff Shannon

Rating : - Cinematic Masterpiece
After so many painful memories of too many Lit classes with far too much Faulkner I almost turned off this movie the minute the announcer on TCM said his name in relation to this movie. Well I'm glad I did, though I can't say this movie hasn't cost me. This is not a feel good movie, it rips your heart out. I don't tend to like Faulkner, he always seemed a bit pretentious in comparison with contemporaries like Hemingway. This movie/story is as far from pretentious as anything could be but with all the depth and heart kept in. If anyone every asked me what a truely good person would be like, I could only point to Duvall's masterful portrayal of Fulkner's heartrending character. This film is deliberate in its simplicity and that may turn some people off. It's a story about simple people in a simple setting, which may seem alien to our modern over-stimulated brains. However, it all works beautifully to create an incredibly real and touching slice of life. I wouldn't recommend this to people who need a lot of action in a movie or even people who aren't movie buffs. Also, you likely need to be a fan of drama to like this film and not find it slow. Then again, I hate drama but adored this movie so maybe you should take a chance.