Eldergays: Tell us about the movie Tommy (1975)

I just remember Ann Margaret and baked beans.

A discombulated mashup of some great Who music and some wacky Ken Russell acid trips. And baked beans, lots of baked beans.

overly long but a good first 45 minutes

I loved the Broadway show. I never saw the movie. I remember as a kid it was a big deal when it was released.

One of the craziest movies I've ever seen. It's hard to imagine this being rated PG. Not that it's explicit, but it's so weird that I'm sure it gave a lot of kids nightmares. I saw it in my teens and thought this must be what an acid trip is like.

Don't remember movie, but the theme was long. When I was a radio DJ, gave me enough time to use the facility. . Sign on door "Studio P."

Hated it. I do remember Oliver Reed being menacing, as per usual.

IMHO the film works as a whole because Ann-Margaret gives a really gripping, emotional, raw, real performance. She gives the film an emotional core, single-handedly gives the film an emotional arc that wouldn't have been there if a lesser actress had been cast, without her it would have been just a lot of weirdness starring a pretty boy, one who didn't even know what acting was at that point.

I wonder if that coked-up asshole Russell had any idea what she was doing?

Saw it as a kid and recently re-watched it. It was fun, but should have been half the length. As in, the entire second half could (and should) have been tossed in the bin. Ann-Margret and Oliver Reed were great. A sexy Jack Nicholson was a bonus thrill.

R6, we're voicetracked now, so all life is one long bathroom break.

I've never seen the movie.

I liked the original album by the Who when it first came out, but I grew permanently tired of it before long. Who's Next, OTOH, has been one of my favorite albums since it came out in 1971.

I bought the SACD of Tommy when it came out in the '00s, but I listened to it no more than twice. I may have sold it.

Ann Margret's looks were at their peak in this movie- she was absolutely beautiful

Tina Turner was Acid Queen

I've never seen it but, like everything else from the '70s, it looks filthy.

R5 Not to mention Keith Moon as the sadistic, pedophilic Uncle Ernie.

[quote]IMHO the film works as a whole because Ann-Margaret gives a really gripping, emotional, raw, real performance. She gives the film an emotional core, single-handedly gives the film an emotional arc that wouldn't have been there if a lesser actress had been cast, without her it would have been just a lot of weirdness starring a pretty boy, one who didn't even know what acting was at that point.

Are you Ann Margaret?

The strange segment where Jack Nicholson plays Tommy’s doctor and is in lust with Tommy’s mother comes to mind.

Eyesight to the Blind is my favorite.

Tina Turner turned my tenderloin!

The movie has its moments but would have been far better if anyone other than Russell had directed it, and if anyone who could sing had been cast in Oliver Reed's role.

I remember Elton John had big shoes

Roger Daltrey was dreamy running shirtless on that beach.

For you R22

Roger Daltrey was gorgeous in this movie.

I did. I loved the music (I got the original album when it was released, was a big Who fan) and Roger Daltrey in the move. The rest was mostly unpleasant to creepy.

My 14 year old cousin and Inwent to see it when I was 10. Not sure if we told our parents or merely snuck in at the second run cineplex. a year or two after the original opening. I just remember it being long, confusing, and disturbing (the violence and exploitation).

One Saturday, when I guess I was otherwise occupied, all my friends went to see it and I didn’t and it was like a cultural shift happened and I was left behind. It’s all they spoke of for months.

I was 9 years old when it was released in 1975 and desperately wanted to see it but it only played on the other side of town (grew up in the northern suburbs of Detroit). I had gotten the soundtrack for my birthday - my best friend’s mother bought it for me and my twin brother (who wasn’t really interested) and said since it was a double LP set we each could have one. Prior to that, I remember trying to win it on radio phone-ins all summer - caller # whatever would win the album of their choice, etc. I think it was really the 1st time I was developing my own cultural awareness. Anyway, I listened to the album endlessly and imagined everything I’d heard about the film. And it was a film that teens in the ‘70s heard about for at least a few years after its release and it always sounded incredible to me. I remember Ann-Margret’s Oscar nomination for Best Actress that year as well, which even then seemed really bizarre, and they always showed the “Smash The Mirror” clip which fuelled my imagination further.

Somehow, even with the dawn of VHS rentals in the ‘80s, I didn’t actually see the film until I rented it on VHS in the early to mid ‘90s. Though I’ve seen it multiple times, it’s never quite lived up to my expectations. It suffers from a kind of incoherence that holds the viewer at a distance, even though I was always immersed in my imagination of it. I think if I’d seen it at the time of its original release it probably would’ve had more impact on me. It’s one of those films that was slightly ahead of its time and influenced a generation of music video directors that to see it now or after the fact kind of lessens its impact.

Ann-Margret may stand out a bit because she seems like she’s in her own movie compared to everyone else (and not necessarily a different one) but it’s kind of an overheated, hyperventilating performance.

[quote]Are you Ann Margaret?

No, because she would have spelled her name correctly.

OP, use google you twat.

My memory of it is that more people knew it as songs on the radio than as a hit movie. That was the era when films desperately and awkwardly tried to incorporate rock muaic and popular music. The songs could be great at times but the movies were usually overblown and forgettable. The Sgt. Pepper movie, All This and World War Too, Can't Stop the Music, Saturday Night Fever, films of Broadway musicals such as Grease, Hair, The Wiz, etc. The songs may live on, but nobody thinks about the films much. It seemed like everyone bought the soundtrack double album of Tommy, but nobody played it, because it was on the radio.

Well, Grease and Saturday Night Fever were certainly exceptions to the other’s listed above. They were obviously HUGE box office hits and SNF had a massive influence on popular culture and launched JT as a star for the ages.

The only song I ever remember charting from the Tommy OST was Elton John’s Pinball Wizard. Of course, The Who’s original concept album was always in rotation on rock stations, certainly in Detroit (probably still is). But it’s not like Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed or even Tina Turner charted with their Tommy tracks.

I also think the still imagery from the film was, in many ways, more powerful than the film itself: the imagery of Elton John’s Pinball Wizard, the oft-mentioned beauty of a vulnerable, shirtless Daltrey, even a prop like the Marilyn Monroe statue. The film itself was not equal to the sum of its parts.

Ann talks about making the movie.

"Pinball Wizard" was the clear pop chart winner, but "See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You" charted, as did "I'm Free" and "Acid Queen."

Isn't Pete Townsend on the GAY team?

Juvenile gays, tell us what it’s like to ask boring questions that could easily be answered with a simple google search.

[quote]I grew up in the northern suburbs of Detroit

Ari?

R34, Pete Townsend is very possibly on the Pedo team, R34. He was once arrested for paying to access a child porn site. He claimed it was for "research."

From Wiki: [quote]Townshend accepted a caution from the Metropolitan Police (the Met) as part of Operation Ore, a major investigation on child pornography conducted in 2002–2003. The Met stated that "it was established that Mr Townshend was not in possession of any downloaded child abuse images". Townshend had been placed on the sex offenders register for five years in 2003 after admitting he had used his credit card to access a child pornography website.[144][145] Townshend stated that he accessed the images as research in a campaign against child sexual abuse[146] – specifically, to prove that British banks were complicit in channelling the profits from paedophile rings.[147] Authorities could not prove that the website accessed by Townshend involved children, and no incriminating evidence was found on his personal computer.[148]

R30 only in your mind.

[quote]The songs may live on, but nobody thinks about the films much. It seemed like everyone bought the soundtrack double album of Tommy, but nobody played it, because they'd grown tired of the original 1969 album by 1971. In 1975, no one wanted to hear this ersatz version.

When the film came out in the mid-70s, I was only slightly familiar with some of the songs from the original Who album that had some FM airplay. I didn't buy the album. However, having seen the movie in its mainstream big-screen release, most of the music, imagery and scenes have stuck with me vividly for 40+ years. I'd say the movie was much more successful.

Her name is spelled Ann-Margret. That's the way it contractually *had* to go on the marquee. We got to wear Tommy t-shirts and blue jeans.

R29 I kind of love the "Eldergay?" question posts. They remind me of the old storyteller "Gentle reader/dear reader/gather 'round" tropes. And I'm pretty sure that most of the "eldergays" here aren't much (or at all) older than those nubile personae making the queries.

Some years ago, they screened at the The Castro Theatre in San Francisco. I'd never seen it until then. If you watch it, go with an open mind

R43- Did the SF queens like the movie?

The volume also had to be at a certain (too high) level. If we got a complaint, we were told to tell the person we would talk to the projectionist. We didn't, but supposedly if the person thought we did, they'd think the volume got lower.

R33? Pinball Wizard was the only single released from the Tommy OST, promotion only in the U.S.

Details here.

[quote] since it was a double LP set we each could have one.

Which one of you got the half with "Pinball Wizard" ?

I did. :)

Watching this for the first time in 20 years as I recently picked up the 4K disc. As a child, my favorite thing about this film was Ann-Margret, which is also true as an adult.

I had forgotten not a single line of dialogue was spoken. The 70s were an acid trip, weren’t they?

Who else thought Tommy’s dad was also played by Roger Daltrey? Oops.

I remember it was a slog. Not a good movie.

My older brother took me to see it when I was 11 or 12. He was all excited to see it and I certainly had heard the songs on the radio.

In all honesty, I was completely confused by the movie. I'd never seen an opera before so the concept of all the dialogue being sung rather than spoken was bizarre. Consequently, I didn't follow the narrative entirely.

But there were segments I enjoyed like Pinball Wizard and Tina Turner as the Acid Queen. Also really liked Roger Daltry's "I'm Free." It felt like a relief to be outside for those scenes after all the cramped interior scenes.

I never understood how the dad could have been shot down in WWII, burned badly, and then show up again in 1951 without even a phone call. Where was he the entire time!?

Then a new low for Ken Russell. Absolute garbage.

Meh.

I think the only performance in the film that I liked was Elton John's Pinball Wizard.

Nicholson, Oliver Reed and Keith Moon were equally creepy AF.

Tina Turner was pretty much playing a drug-addled version of herself.

That's pretty much it.

Are you there, God? It's me, Ann Margret.

I saw Tommy when I was twelve and frankly I found it disturbing and mostly boring.

Seeing Ann Margret swimming around in baked beans terrified me.

I think I was too young for this kind of thing.

I saw this movie when it first came out and have loved it ever since. Perfect ending.

Loved the original album too.

Was a ninth grader when It was released. It was so hip and happening! Ditto my mom; we saw it together. Ann-Margret was nominated for Best Actress but lost it to Louise Fletcher I believe. I was in shock! I'm still not sure if I'm over it. Ann-Margret 'acting' with endless mounds of baked beans oozing out of a cracked TV screen. Could Louise Fetcher pull that off?

The cult that worships Marilyn Monroe is still a great commentary on our times.

I won tickets from a Boston radio station for the local premiere. I love the Who, I was thrilled to go.

It was a long time ago and all I remember about it is it was awful. As in I wouldn't even waste time watching it on TV awful.

The movie is ridiculous - and the songs all sound far better on the studio album. Regardless of the talent of the guest performers, every single version is significantly worse.

Saw it way back then when I was in my early 20's, and thought it was incredibly overblown and cartoony. I had the studio album and vastly preferred it... the non-Who performances in the movie left me cold. I did think Roger Daltrey was a knock-out, he was about the only reason I sat through the whole movie.

My opinion of the movie has changed somewhat over the years. I also think it was ahead of its time in depicting fanatical celebrity worship. And as also mentioned above, Ann-Margret was incredible, and I've developed a new appreciation for her performance. Bean scene aside, she really rose above the cartoony-ness. She truly deserved her nomination and I'm sorry she didn't win.

I was a teen when it came out and The Who were my favorite band. Saw it at The Zeigfeld the night it opened. I really hated Russell's take on it and I still do.

Saw it when it came out when I was 10. Begged my parents to see it because I loved Elton John, and they saw it with me. I loved Elton's Pinball Wizard, but I was obsessed with Tina's Acid Queen with her quivering lip. I don't remember the beans really, but was aghast that Ann Margaret was pulling off her red nails- i didn't know that they were fake. I haven't rewatched it since.

And just to clarify and raise people's awareness around this, and because i'm seeing it in this thread repeatedly, like Cher, Madonna and Charro, Ann-Margret is her first name. Her married last name is Smith, and her birth last name, I don't know that one.

Ann-Margret Olsson is her birth name

[quote]Ann-Margret was nominated for Best Actress but lost it to Louise Fletcher I believe. I was in shock! I'm still not sure if I'm over it. Ann-Margret 'acting' with endless mounds of baked beans oozing out of a cracked TV screen. Could Louise Fetcher pull that off?

Ann-Margret was nominated for Best Actress but lost it to Louise Fletcher. Fletcher was in the wrong category and Ann-Margret should have won. She won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. She won over Barbra Streisand " Funny Lady", Liza Minnelli "Lucky Lady", Julie Christie "Shampoo" and Goldie Hawn "Shampoo".

Eldergay here..seeing it on a big screen theater as a teenager was FANTASTIC! Much preferable than watching on a phone or videogame!

Fletcher was bumped from supporting to lead because 1975 was such a weak year for leading lady performances that were scrambling to nominate actresses. Ellen Burstyn actually went on one of the talk shows and told her peers not to vote for Best Actress because of the scarcity of good roles, which infuriated Fletcher watching at home.

Diana Ross, Streisand, Candace Bergen and Marilyn Hassett were considered strong contenders for nominations as well.

Ann most likely came in second. She had won the Globe and Tommy was one of the top ten grossing movies of the year. Glenda already had two. Isabelle Adjani was in a foreign movie that did ok at the box office. And Carol Kane's was a very small budgeted, independent film that had a limited release.

70MM and Quadraphonic Sound at New York's iconic Ziegfeld Theatre.