Tommy (1975)

[Velvett Fogg]

Tommy (1975)





Director:
Ken Russell

Writers:
Pete Townshend (album)
Ken Russell (writer)

Plot Summary

Tommy is blind, deaf and dumb, but there is nothing wrong with him.
As a small child, he accidentally witnessed
the murder of his father by his stepfather.
His mother and stepfather told him to forget
everything he had seen and heard, and to never talk about it;
but Tommy carried it to the extreme, turned inward,
and stopped seeing, hearing or speaking at all.
He suffered much while growing up, and finally found happiness in,
of all things, playing pinball.
When he became the world champion pinball player
it brought his family fame and fortune.
After being spontaneously healed,
he began to teach others of his unique perspective on life,
eventually becoming a religious cult figure.

Cast

Oliver Reed ... Frank Hobbs
Ann-Margret ... Nora Walker Hobbs
Roger Daltrey ... Tommy Walker
Elton John ... Local Lad
Eric Clapton ... The Preacher
John Entwistle ... Himself
Keith Moon ... Uncle Ernie
Paul Nicholas ... Cousin Kevin
Jack Nicholson ... The Specialist
Robert Powell ... Captain Walker
Pete Townshend ... Himself
Tina Turner ... The Acid Queen
Arthur Brown ... The Priest
Victoria Russell ... Sally Simpson
Ben Aris ... Reverend Simpson
Mary Holland ... Mrs. Simpson
Gary Rich ... Rock Musician
Dick Allan ... President Black Angels
Barry Winch ... Young Tommy
Eddie Stacey ... Bovver Boy
Liza Strike ... Vocal Chorus (voice)
Gillian McIntosh ... Vocal Chorus (voice)
Simon Townshend ... Vocal Chorus / Newsboy (voice)
Vicki Brown ... Vocal Chorus / Nurse #2 (voice)
Mylon LeFevre ... Vocal Chorus (voice)
Kit Trevor ... Vocal Chorus (voice)
Billy Nicholls ... Vocal Chorus (voice)
Helen Shappel ... Vocal Chorus (voice)
Jeff Roden ... Vocal Chorus (voice)
Paul Gurvitz ... Vocal Chorus (voice)
Margo Newman ... Vocal Chorus / Nurse #1 (voice)
Alison Dowling ... Vocal Chorus / Young Tommy (voice)
Jennifer Baker ... Nurse #1 (uncredited)
Susan Baker ... Nurse #2 (uncredited)
Imogen Claire ... Nurse at the Specialist's Practice (uncredited)
Christine Hewett ... Lady in Black Beauty Chocolate Commercial (uncredited)
Juliet King ... Handmaiden to the Acid Queen (uncredited)
Gillian Lefkowitz ... Handmaiden to the Acid Queen (uncredited)
Alex 'Alien' Russell ... (uncredited)
Ken Russell ... Cripple (uncredited)

Produced By:

Harry Benn .... associate producer
Ken Russell .... producer
Christopher Stamp .... executive producer
Robert Stigwood .... producer
Beryl Vertue .... executive producer

Music Department

Richard Bailey .... musician: drums
Howie Casey .... musician
Phil Chen .... musician: bass
Eric Clapton .... musician: guitar
Dave Clinton .... musician
Ray Cooper .... musician
Geoff Daley .... musician
Graham Deakin .... musician: drums
Bob Efford .... musician
John Entwistle .... musician: bass, brass
Martyn Ford .... music arranger
Nicky Hopkins .... music arranger
Nicky Hopkins .... musician: piano
Elton John .... musician: piano
Davey Johnstone .... musician: guitar
Kenney Jones .... musician: drums
Mike Kelly .... musician: drums
Keith Moon .... musician: drums
Dee Murray .... musician: bass
Ron Nevison .... music recordist
Tony Newman .... musician: drums
Nigel Olsson .... musician: drums
Caleb Quaye .... musician: guitar, lead guitar
Mick Ralphs .... musician: guitar
Terry Rawlings .... music editor
Alan Ross .... musician: acoustic guitar
Ronnie Ross .... musician
Fuzzy Samuels .... musician: bass
Gerald Shaw .... musician: theatre organ
Chris Stainton .... musician: organ and acoustic guitar
Tony Stevens .... musician: bass
Ray Thomas .... musician: drums
Pete Townshend .... musical director
Pete Townshend .... musician: arp synthesizer, guitar, keyboards, piano
Dave Wintour .... musician: bass
Ron Wood .... musician: guitar

[Velvett Fogg]

A great movie in the history of music.
Pete Townsend's dream, to make something bigger,
a classic along with Quadrophenia.

Take a look at the 'Who's, Who' in the musicians

[Stereo Junkie]

cheers Keith, was a truly amazing film... didn't they do live performances as well?

[Velvett Fogg]

Hi SJ

Here's a piece from wikipedia.

Unlike other films of rock operas (such as that of Pink Floyd's The Wall) the album is never dubbed over the film; the different actors - including Nicholson and Reed, neither of whom were known for their vocal prowess - sing the songs instead of The Who (with the exception of where the song is a narration instead of a monologue). Because of this, all the songs are rerecorded and some shuffled around. A large number of songs have new lyrics and instrumentation. Notably:

* "The Amazing Journey" has almost completely different lyrics, and the "guide" from the album is shown as being Tommy's murdered father.
* "1921" was changed to "1951".
* "Pinball Wizard" has a few extra lyrics.
* References to pinball are removed from "Christmas".
* In Sally Simpson, the album version mentions her fathers Rolls-Royce as blue, whereas the movie changes the lyrics to black. The Rolls-Royce in the film is also black.
* Several new songs were written, including "Prologue 1945", "Bernie's Holiday Camp", "Champagne", "Mother and Son", and "T.V. Studio." "Underture" is not present; Only a few brief segments of "Overture" can be heard.