Tommy is a 1975 British musical surrealist fantasy drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Ken Russell, based on the Who's 1969 rock opera album about a psychosomatically deaf, mute, and blind boy who becomes a pinball champion and religious leader. The film featured an ensemble cast, including the members of the Who themselves (most notably, its lead singer, Roger Daltrey, who plays the title role), Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Jack Nicholson, Robert Powell, and Tina Turner.
An independent production by Russell and Robert Stigwood, Tommy was released in the United States on 19 March 1975 by Columbia Pictures and in the United Kingdom on 26 March 1975 by Hemdale Film Corporation. The film was shown at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition.
Ann-Margret received a Golden Globe Award for her performance and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Pete Townshend was also nominated for an Oscar for his work in scoring and adapting the music for the film. In 1975, the film won the award for Rock Movie of the Year in the First Annual Rock Music Awards.
Plot In the prologue, set in 1945, a montage displays the honeymoon of Group Captain Walker and his wife, Nora ("Prologue - 1945"). After his leave ends, Walker goes off to fight in World War II as a bomber pilot, but is shot down during a mission. "Captain Walker" is listed as missing in action and is presumed dead, although—unknown to his family—the badly burned Walker is still alive. Back in England, Nora goes into labour and gives birth to a son, Tommy, on V-E Day ("Captain Walker/It's a Boy"). Five years later, in 1950, Nora begins a new relationship with Frank, a holiday worker she and Tommy meet at a holiday camp. Tommy looks up to his "Uncle" Frank and expresses his desire to run his own holiday camp some day ("Bernie's Holiday Camp"). On New Year's Eve, Nora and Frank dream of their future ("1951 / What About the Boy?"), but, late that evening, the returning Captain Walker surprises the couple in bed, leading to a struggle where Frank kills the Captain. Realising that Tommy has witnessed the murder through the reflection of a mirror, the couple coerce Tommy into believing he did not see or hear anything and will tell no one. The heat of the moment panics Tommy into a dissociative state where he outwardly appears "deaf, dumb, and blind", though internally he finds himself experiencing the world through a psychedelia-like state ("Amazing Journey"). Later, at a Christmas party, Nora is distressed that Tommy "doesn't know what day it is" ("Christmas").
Over 16 years, Nora and Frank make several fruitless attempts to bring the now older Tommy out of his state, taking him to a faith healer ("Eyesight to the Blind") and a drug dealer ("The Acid Queen"). They become increasingly lethargic at the lack of effect, place him with some questionable babysitters ("Cousin Kevin" / "Fiddle About") and eventually leave Tommy standing at the mirror one night, allowing him to wander off. He follows a vision of himself to a junkyard pinball machine ("Sparks") and begins to play. Tommy is recognised by Frank and the media as a pinball prodigy ("Extra, Extra, Extra"), which is made even more impressive with his sensory-impaired state. During a championship game, Tommy faces The Champ ("Pinball Wizard") with the Who as the backing band. Nora watches her son's televised victory and celebrates his (and her) success and luxury, but finds she can't fully enjoy it because of Tommy's extreme condition ("Champagne").
Frank finds a specialist for Tommy ("There's a Doctor") who concludes that Tommy's senses are functioning but blocked by an internal issue and explains the only hope is to continue having Tommy face his reflection ("Go to the Mirror!"). An increasingly frustrated Nora promptly throws Tommy through the mirror ("Smash the Mirror!") causing him to snap to full consciousness ("I'm Free"). Tommy reveals that his experiences have transformed him and decides that he wants to transform the world ("Mother and Son" / "Miracle Cure").
Tommy goes on lecture tours that resemble glam-rock gospel shows and spreads a message of enlightenment by hang glider, gaining friends and followers everywhere he goes ("Sally Simpson" / "Sensation"). Tommy and a more enlightened and elated Nora and Frank welcome converts to their house, which quickly becomes too crowded to accommodate everyone. Tommy opens an extension for his religious campus ("Welcome" / "Tommy's Holiday Camp").
The converts, confused about Tommy's odd practices and his family's commercial exploitation of the compound, wrathfully demand Tommy teach them something useful. Tommy does so, artificially deafening, muting, and blinding everyone, only to inadvertently provoke a riot. The followers kill Nora and Frank and destroy the camp in a fire ("We're Not Gonna Take It"). Tommy finds his parents in the debris and mourns before escaping into the mountains from the beginning of the film. He ascends the same peak where his parents celebrated their honeymoon, celebrating the rising sun ("Listening to You").
Cast
Oliver Reed as "Uncle" Frank Hobbs, Nora's brute boyfriend with a (subtle) soft side Ann-Margret as Nora Walker, Tommy's mother who is obsessed with glamour and luxury but who also has a deep love for her son Roger Daltrey as Tommy Walker, a catatonic man who develops messianic delusions Barry Winch as young Tommy and Alison Dowling as young Tommy's singing voice Elton John as The Champ, the cocky pinball champion of the world in four-and-a-half-foot high boots Eric Clapton as The Preacher, the leader of a Marilyn Monroe–themed cult Arthur Brown as The Priest, a manic assistant to The Preacher John Entwistle, Pete Townshend and Keith Moon as themselves as the Who during "Eyesight to the Blind", "Pinball Wizard" and "Sally Simpson" Townshend also acts as Narrator during "Amazing Journey", "Sally Simpson" and "Sensation". Townshend's brother, Simon Townshend, narrates during the "Extra, Extra, Extra" interludes. Moon also acts as Uncle Ernie, Frank's clownish perverted pimp friend. Paul Nicholas as Cousin Kevin, Tommy's sadomasochist relative with a biker punk aesthetic Jack Nicholson as Dr A. Quackson, the Specialist, a doctor who helps in curing Tommy and who enchants Nora Robert Powell as Group Captain Walker, Nora's Royal Air Force pilot late husband Tina Turner as The Acid Queen, an erratic prostitute who deals in prophetic LSD Victoria Russell as Sally Simpson, a Tommy fan girl who sneaks to a concert and gets maimed Ben Aris as Rev. A. Simpson V. C. and Mary Holland as Mrs. Simpson, Sally's conservative, religious parents Uncredited Imogen Claire as the Specialist's nurse Jennifer and Susan Baker as the nurses during "It's a Boy" Juliet and Gillian King as the Acid Queen's handmaidens
Director Ken Russell makes an uncredited cameo appearance, as one of the Preacher's followers and eventually one of Tommy's. He is seen in a wheelchair.
Development Tommy was written in 1968 and recorded by the Who in 1969. Three years later a version of the opera was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. The two albums sold ten million copies between them.
Film rights were bought by Robert Stigwood who secured financing from Columbia. Beryl Vertue of the Stigwood Organisation was executive producer. Stigwood also arranged for Ken Russell to direct. Russell admitted he did not like the music – he disliked rock music in general – but he loved the theme of the film, being about a messiah.
According to Russell, several scripts had been written by the time he came on the project. He later wrote, "Some were well written, some were not, but they all had one thing in common—a big negative. They were not about a deaf, dumb and blind boy's spiritual journey from darkness to light." Russell did up his own treatment of the story as he saw it. He said: "This in no way deviated from [Townshend's] original, but plugged in the gaps where I found the story obscure, or just plain non-existent." Russell said Townshend liked most of his suggestions and wrote new material.
Production Writing Russell and Townshend worked on the film together for a year. Russell had been working on a script called The Angels, which was to star Mia Farrow as a pop star called Poppy Day who becomes a messianic figure, and reworked some of that script's sequences for Tommy. He also used scenes from another unfilmed script of his, Music, Music, Music, about a composer who writes music for TV commercials (this turned into what became known as the "baked beans" scene with Ann-Margret). Russell made several changes to the story: In the original story, Tommy's father returns and murders the lover. In the film, the father is the murder victim. Both Tommy's mother and lover are complicit in the murder. The story's setting is shifted forward, so that the finale takes place in the mid-1970s (present-day when the film was released). The song "1921" is changed to "1951" to accommodate this.
Casting It was announced that Roger Daltrey would play Tommy and Keith Moon would play Uncle Ernie. Various rumours spread over who would play other characters with names such as David Bowie, Elton John, Barbra Streisand and Mick Jagger being mentioned.
Daltrey was cast at Russell's specific request, over the wishes of Daltrey's own management.
In December, it was announced Ann-Margret would play Tommy's mother. Ann-Margret was cast because, according to Russell, "I needed a superb singer."
Jagger was reportedly offered the role of The Acid Queen but insisted on singing three of his own songs, so the role was given to Tina Turner.
Jack Nicholson agreed to play a small role because "Russell's films intrigue me, some I like very much, some I don't like at all, and I want to find out what makes them tick." Russell originally considered Peter Sellers for the role of The Specialist.
Russell says Pete Townshend wanted Tiny Tim to play Pinball Wizard but Stigwood overruled him. Elton John initially turned down the role of the Pinball Wizard and among those considered to replace him was David Essex, who recorded a test audio version of the "Pinball Wizard" song. However, producer Robert Stigwood held out until John agreed to take the part, reportedly on condition that he could keep the gigantic Dr. Martens boots he wore in the scene. John later wore the boots in a brief scene in the music video for his song "Nikita", which was directed by Russell.
Filming
Filming started April 1974 and took place over twelve weeks. In his commentary for the 2004 DVD release of the film, Ken Russell stated that the opening and closing outdoor scenes were shot in the Borrowdale valley of the English Lake District, near his own home, the same area that he had used to double for rural Austria and Bohemia in his earlier film Mahler, in which Robert Powell had starred.
Much of the film was shot on locations around Portsmouth, including the scene near the end of the film featuring the giant "pinballs", which were, in fact, obsolete buoys found in a British Navy yard that were simply sprayed silver and filmed in situ. The Bernie's Holiday Camp ballroom sequence was shot inside the Gaiety Theatre on South Parade Pier. Exterior shots were filmed at Hilsea Lido (Russell had worked there before making The Boy Friend). The Sally Simpson interior sequence was filmed in the Wesley Hall in Fratton Road, Portsmouth. The exterior intro sequence to the scene, however, shows Sally Simpson buying a badge and entering South Parade Pier.