Can you even play consistent tennis without good footwork?

i notice when i am not in an open stance for the forehand or when i am too close or far from the ball whatever the footwork may be if it isn't that great or i am not moving around very much i just can't play great tennis. I'm not saying you have to have amazing footwork 100% of the time but it seems like a lot of tennis is based on the footwork and if you can't get that down and you can't hit with your arm or anything(which you aren't supposed to anyway) then it seems really hard to play great tennis, is that true?