O Lucky Man! (1973)

Director:

Lindsay Anderson

Writer:

David Sherwin (writer)

Release Date:

20 June 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

Smile while you're makin' it. Laugh while you're takin' it. Even though you're fakin' it. Nobody's gonna know...

Plot:

This sprawling, surrealist musical serves as an allegory for the pitfalls of capitalism, as it follows...

Plot Keywords:

Coffee | Allegory | Dancing | Sex Show | Masochist

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Malcolm McDowell	...	Michael Arnold Travis / Plantation thief
Ralph Richardson	...	Sir James Burgess / Monty
Rachel Roberts	...	Gloria Rowe / Madame Paillard / Mrs. Richards
Arthur Lowe	...	Mr. Duff / Charlie Johnson / Dr. Munda
Helen Mirren	...	Patricia
Graham Crowden	...	Stewart / Prof. Millar / Meths Drinker
Peter Jeffrey	...	Factory chairman / Prison governor
Dandy Nichols	...	Tea Lady / Neighbour
Mona Washbourne	...	Neighbour / Usher / Sister Hallett
Philip Stone	...	Jenkins / Interrogator / Salvation Army major
Mary MacLeod	...	Mrs. Ball / Salvationist / Vicar'w Wife
Michael Bangerter	...	William / Interrogator / Assistant / Released prisoner
Wallas Eaton	...	John Stone (Coffee factory) / Col. Steiger / Prison warder / Meths drinker / Film executive
Warren Clarke	...	Master of Ceremonies (Nightspot) / Warner / Male nurse
Bill Owen	...	Supt. Barlow / Insp. Carding

Also Known As:

Coffee Man (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

183 min | Sweden:168 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:X (theatrical release) | UK:15 | Brazil:14 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Memorial Enterprises

Trivia:

After the success of If.... (1968), Malcolm McDowell suggested to Lindsay Anderson that they should work again. Anderson replied that good scripts don't grow on trees and that McDowell should consider writing his own if he wanted to give himself a good part. Although the actor was only 30 at the time, he based the film around the concept of his own life story and then brought it to writer David Sherwin who then crafted the screenplay.

Goofs:

Continuity: The roof of the car is dented by Travis standing on it outside the Government Facility, yet when he returns it is in the process of being destroyed, yet the dent is gone.

Quotes:

Michael Arnold Travis: [Chatting up factory girl] Do you realize this Nigerian coffee is being packed straight back to Nigeria?

Movie Connections:

References A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Soundtrack:

Pastoral

Classic cinema that makes you stop, listen and learn.

A coffee salesman takes a rambling tour of 1970's Britain.

There comes a time when you think you know something about movies: What is good, what is bad, how things should go, how things should work, etc., etc. Thank goodness a movie comes along now and again that says "no you don't - you know nothing!" Oh Lucky Man! is like Pulp Fiction and High Hopes - it is a smarter film than you are a film watcher.

After a build up like that you might expect for me to say that this is a perfect film or that everything works. But it doesn't. The story rambles and pauses, moves left and right and tries to keep the audience on its toes. The humour is mostly black, but very true to life. People are often selfish and acting for themselves - while Travis (our hero - if we can call him that) is quite kind and thoughtful. Like an Adam that has been put in to the modern world rather than the garden of Eden.

I have seen this film twice. Like many films, once when I was too young to understand it. It is quite sexual graphic at times and that stuck in my memory for a long time. In one scene a black man plays out a scene at a sex club - and to this day I am puzzled as to what this represents. That the entirely white audience see the black as an entertainer to laughed at or cheered. That this is his only place?

Most anything-goes films are comedies, and while this has plenty of black comedy, I see it as social comment. Life has moved on from the 1970's, people have escaped their own class more, women have more of a role to play, people get away with things less. But no one can say - even viewing today - that it doesn't tell plenty of home truths about the UK.

(People that live outside the UK and never visit must be puzzled by what goes on here. I bet you would have to answer hundreds of questions if you watched it beside, say, an American.)

Lindsey Anderson sees all authority as being violent, ugly and corrupt. This is the kick in the balls society that existed before CCTV in police stations and human rights acts. Where people were fitted up for crimes that the police knew they couldn't have committed. I never wanted to walk down a time tunnel to 1970's Britain and this film is probably the last tie I have to that ugly and desperate decade.

Oh Lucky Man! is one of the best films ever made. It has something that few films ever have - instant cult appeal. You could watch this over and over again and not get bored with it, see something different and learn something new. They should bring it back as a musical or a stage play. While not every scene works and not every tune pleases, it is cinema from another world that we never quite had - but might have had if only the money men of Hollywood hadn't made their ugly mark on the world.

If you think film is about anything more than simple entertainment Oh Lucky Man! is a must-see...