Tommy
Film poster
Directed by	Ken Russell
Produced by	Ken Russell Robert Stigwood
Written by	Ken Russell (screenplay) Pete Townshend (original concept)
Starring	Roger Daltrey Oliver Reed Ann-Margret Elton John Eric Clapton Tina Turner John Entwistle Keith Moon Paul Nicholas Jack Nicholson Robert Powell Pete Townshend The Who
Cinematography	Dick Bush Robin Lehma Ronnie Taylor
Editing by	Stuart Baird
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures (USA) Hemdale Film Distributors Ltd. (UK)
Release date(s)	19 March, 1975
Running time	111 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$5,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Tommy was a 1975 musical film, based on The Who's 1969 "rock opera" concept album Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves. Ann-Margret received a Golden Globe Award for her performance, and was also nominated for an 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.

Cast

• Roger Daltrey as Tommy Walker
• Oliver Reed as Frank Hobbs
• Ann-Margret as Nora Walker Hobbs
• Elton John as The Pinball Wizard
• Eric Clapton as Preacher
• John Entwistle as Himself
• Keith Moon as Uncle Ernie / Himself
• Paul Nicholas as Cousin Kevin
• Jack Nicholson as The Specialist
• Robert Powell as Group Captain Thomas Walker
• Pete Townshend as Himself
• Tina Turner as The Acid Queen
• Arthur Brown as The Priest
• Victoria Russell as Sally Simpson
• Ben Aris as Reverend Arthur Simpson. V.C.

Plot

Tommy's father, RAF Group Captain Walker (Robert Powell), is away fighting the Germans in World War II. His plane is shot from the air even before Tommy is born. His mother, Nora Walker (Ann-Margret), receives the news while at work in an amunitions factory filling bombs with ball bearings. Mrs. Walker faints and brings boxes of the ball bearings down with her. Mrs. Walker then gives birth to a baby boy, Tommy (played older by Roger Daltrey). Tommy's mother believes her husband is dead for nearly six years. She meets Frank Hobbs (Oliver Reed) at a holiday camp and starts a relationship with him.

However, Group Captain Walker had survived the crash and returns home one night. Tommy follows him to the bedroom where Walker sees Mrs. Walker and Hobbs in each other's arms. Hobbs kills Group Captain Walker by smashing a lamp on his head. The act is witnessed by young Tommy. Tommy is then told in a violent manner that he "didn't hear it, didn't see it" and "won't say nothing to no-one,". As a result, Tommy mentally becomes deaf, dumb, and blind to avoid it. Hobbs and Tommy's mother turn to such characters as a preacher (religion), the Gypsy Acid Queen (A prostitute that also engages in drugs), and doctor (medicine) for cures to Tommy's condition. The only thing in common Tommy sees in these fantasies is a vision of his dad.

Tommy's only stimulus seems to come from a long mirror that he stands and stares into. Led alone into a junkyard at night by a vision of himself, Tommy comes into contact with a device that will change his life forever. A pinball machine scattered among the scrap metal allows Tommy to rise to national prominence and fame. Tommy's pinball prowess and defeat of the Pinball Wizard (Elton John) transforms him into a cult hero.

Filled with guilt one day, Tommy's mother throws him into the mirror he is staring into, which wakes Tommy into normality once more. He uses his new awareness to try and bring enlightenment to people. He starts giving talks and enlightening people by canvassing. Tommy's stepdad exploits him to make more money and eventually Tommy becomes a worldwide religious icon.

Changes from album

The film version of Tommy showed a few changes from the original 1969 album. One such change is the date in which the story happened. The movie takes place in the post World War II era as the album takes place in post World War I. For example, in the song "1921" where on the album the line is, "got a feelin' 21 is gonna be a good year." the movie changes it to "got a feelin' 51 is gonna be a good year"' for the film. This allowed Russell to use more contemporary images for later scenes.

In the album, Group Captain Walker returns to find his wife with a new lover and proceeds to murder the lover. In the film it is flipped around; the lover kills Group Captain Walker. This is perhaps (though not necessarily) the cause for a different treatment of the title character. In the film, Tommy's fame as pinball champion is exploited by his mother and Hobbs, who use it to give themselves a much more lavish lifestyle.

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 narraration 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.
• Pinball Wizard has a few extra lyrics. References to pinball are removed from "Christmas".
• Several new songs were written, including "Prologue 1945", "Bernie's Holiday Camp", "Champagne", "Mother and Son", and "T.V. Studio." "Sparks" is not present (however, parts from it can be heard as Tommy is found playing Pinball); Only a few brief segments of "Overture" can be heard.

References

External links

• Tommy at Rotten Tomatoes
• Liner note information - on songs Bernie's Holiday Camp, Fiddle About, Sparks, Champagne, Listening To You/See Me Feel Me

•  • [ e] The Who
Personnel
Current members: Roger Daltrey - Pete Townshend
Other original members: John Entwistle - Keith Moon
Other personnel: Kenney Jones - John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Pino Palladino - Zak Starkey - Simon Townshend Simon Phillips - Doug Sandom - Colin Dawson - Gabby Connolly - Tim Gorman - Steve "Boltz" Bolton - Brian Kehew
Discography
Studio albums	My Generation - A Quick One - The Who Sell Out - Tommy - Who's Next - Quadrophenia - The Who by Numbers - Who Are You - Face Dances - It's Hard - Endless Wire
Live albums	Live at Leeds - Who's Last - Join Together (1990) - Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 - The BBC Sessions - Blues to the Bush - Live at the Royal Albert Hall - Encore Series 2002 - Encore Series 2004 - Encore Series 2006 - Live from Toronto
Compilations	- Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy - Odds & Sods - The Kids Are Alright (soundtrack) - Hooligans - Join Together (1982) - Who's Greatest Hits - Who's Missing - Two's Missing - Who's Better, Who's Best - Thirty Years of Maximum R&B - - The Ultimate Collection - Then and Now
Filmography
Rock Operas	Tommy - Quadrophenia
About The Who	The Kids Are Alright -
Other appearances	Monterey Pop - Rock and Roll Circus - Woodstock - McVicar - Buddy's Song
Production	Peter Meaden - Kit Lambert - Chris Stamp - Bob Pridden - Duncan Nimmo	Other	Influence - Track Records - 2006-07 Tour - The Boy Who Heard Music - Scott Halpin

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