Something Wicked This Way Comes

Synopsis: In Green Town, Illinois, the twelve year-old boys Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade are neighbors and best friends. Will's father Charles Halloway is an old man and the local librarian while Jim and his mother wait for the return of the return of their father and husband that will never occur. The boys know everyone in town, including their school teacher Miss Foley that misses her beauty and youth; the lonely barber Mr. Crosetti that has no girlfriend or wife; the greedy owner of a cigar store Mr. Tetley that is obsessed with money; and the bartender Ed that has severed arm and leg and dreams on being a football hero. One day, Jim buys a lightning rod from the salesman Tom Fury that tells that a storm is coming. During the night, the boys overhear a mysterious train and they run through the woods to see the arrival but they do not see a living soul. However, they find the Mr. Dark's Pandemonium Carnival ready to be enjoyed and they snoop around. Soon they realize that frustrated and gr
Director(s): Jack Clayton
Production: Walt Disney Productions
  2 wins & 7 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.8
Rotten Tomatoes:
58%
PG
Year:
1983
95 min
1,916 Views


First of all, it was October,

a rare month for boys,

full of cold winds, long nights,

dark promises.

Days get short.

The shadows lengthen.

The wind warms in such a way,

you want to run forever

through the fields,

because up ahead,

10,000 pumpkins lie waiting to be cut.

It was the October of my 12th year

when the seller of lightning rods

came along the road

toward Green Town, Illinois,

sneaking glances over his shoulder.

Somewhere not far back

was a terrible storm.

Even now,

on those special autumn days,

when the air smells like smoke

and the twilights

are orange and ash gray,

my mind goes back to Green Town,

the place where I grew up.

In my memory,

I'm back on Main Street again,

among the neighbors

who gave me my first glimpses

into the fearful needs

of the human heart.

The cigar store

was owned by Mr. Tetley,

a man obsessed with money.

Morning, Mr. Crosetti.

Mr. Crosetti, our barber,

cut my hair a thousand times,

always talking about faraway ladies

he would never know.

I remember Ed the barman,

yesterday's football hero,

still haunted by 40-yard runs

down the dark fields of his dreams.

Our teacher was Miss Foley.

We couldn't believe it, but folks said

that once, before we were even born,

she had been

the most beautiful woman in town.

And of course,

I can still see Jim Nightshade,

my best friend,

my blood brother, my shadow.

- Finished?

- Yes, Miss Foley.

- Then you may leave.

- Thank you, Miss Foley.

Quietly.

And let this be a lesson to both of you:

I will not have whispering.

- Never.

- Of course I can. I'm older.

You 're not older.

We were born on the same night.

Yeah, I was born one minute to midnight

and you weren't born till one minute after.

- You see?

- I won't always be younger than you.

- Hey, Mr. Crosetti.

- Hello, boys.

Hello, Mr. Tetley.

Don't be messin' up my work.

Come on, I'll race ya...

Hellfire storm's a-comin'.

An electric storm.

To clean your streets

and wash away your troubles.

- So buy one of these lightning rods...

- Tie!

Some folks need special protection.

I can sniff out

which of your old homes is in danger.

Some folks draw lightning to 'em

as a cat sucks in a baby's breath.

But I suppose that this is

really the story of my father,

and that strange, leaf-whispery autumn,

when his heart was suddenly

too old and tired

and too full of yearning and regrets,

and he didn't know what to do about it.

- Hello, son.

- You saw me.

Well, what can I find you

that'll keep you awake all night?

Let's see, Travelers to the North Pole?

Wild West. Zane Grey, huh?

- I don't think so, Dad.

- Well, I thought all boys liked adventure.

- I don't know. Do all fathers?

- Mine sure does.

He's in Africa right now.

The Gold Coast of Africa.

But he's coming back real soon.

and he's bringing me a present.

He's bringing me a parrot.

The letter said a green and yellow one.

And a native spear and a war drum

and a necklace made of human teeth.

Oh, yes, and a shrunken head.

- Have you ever seen a shrunken head?

- Only yours.

Shh, boys. Now, young Jim Nightshade.

what can I find you?

Something from the Arabian Nights

now, full of magicians and monsters? No?

Let's see, Drums of Doom?

The Saga of the Thunder Lizards?

No, thanks, Mr. Halloway.

Something about headhunters.

They're my father's friends right now.

Look, who are you fooling?

Your father doesn't ever write.

- That's better than a father who's afraid,,

- My father's not afraid of anything.

He's just a bit old, that's all.

It doesn't mean he's afraid.

- Doesn't it?

- Anyway, my father's here.

Yours isn't coming back, is he?

Not ever.

One day. You'll see.

- Shh, listen. Can you hear?

- What is it?

- Listen. Why don't you ever listen?

- I am.

- Like music.

I don't hear no music.

It must be that old wind again.

- Oh, do you live hereabouts, boys?

- These are our houses.

One of which, as I listen to it.

has murmuring timbers.

Can't you hear it? Who tells ya?

Tom Fury tells ya.

Your house is in need of protection.

Which house?

- This one.

- It's his house.

- Now, your names, gentlemen?

- Will Halloway.

- Jim Nightshade.

- Well, Mr. Nightshade, sir.

You just go right in and tell your father

that Mr. Tom Fury of the lightning rods

presents his compliments.

and your house is in very

urgent need of protection.

- All right, I'll tell my father that.

- Jim!

You want to say something, Will Halloway?

Will, what kept you so late?

- Your supper's ready.

- Coming, Mom.

- Later.

- Yeah.

- Jim? Is that you, Jim?

- Yes, Mom.

Darling, can you get yourself

something to eat out of the icebox?

There's a ham in there

and some peanut butter.

Mother's just all tired out, darling.

Jim, what are you doing?

Cat got your tongue?

- Oh, we're buying a lightning rod, Mom.

- Don't make jokes, please.

Well, my father said yes.

Well done.

Now, which one will you have?

This one's got old Chinese hen tracks

on her. A rod invented to catch...

I'll have this one with the beetles on there.

Like an Egyptian scarab.

Good boy. Once the lightning rod

on the pyramids of Egypt.

Trained for 3,000 years to pitch the

lightning back to the high heavens.

And it's yours for...

How much you got there, boy?

- It's yours.

- Thank you.

You're welcome...

Mr. Nightshade, sir.

"Eight, seven, zero..."

...which surely has to be lucky.

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Ray Bradbury

Ray Douglas Bradbury (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. He worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, and mystery fiction. Widely known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953), and his science-fiction and horror-story collections, The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and I Sing the Body Electric (1969), Bradbury was one of the most celebrated 20th- and 21st-century American writers. While most of his best known work is in speculative fiction, he also wrote in other genres, such as the coming-of-age novel Dandelion Wine (1957) and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). Recipient of numerous awards, including a 2007 Pulitzer Citation, Bradbury also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his works were adapted to comic book, television, and film formats. On his death in 2012, The New York Times called Bradbury "the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream". more…

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