The Kids Are Alright (1979)

Director:

Jeff Stein

Writer:

Jeff Stein (writer)

Release Date:

21 December 1979 (West Germany)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

Seeing is believing!

Plot:

From the early black and white days to their colourful hedonistic era, you will Rock! See them at their most creative, and destructive, and experience The Who: Here!

Plot Keywords:

Performance | Interview | Archive Footage | Rock Music | Rockumentary

Cast

Roger Daltrey	...	Himself (The Who)
John Entwistle	...	Himself (The Who)
Keith Moon	...	Himself
Pete Townshend	...	Himself (The Who)
Tom Smothers	...	Himself (as Tommy Smothers)
Jimmy O'Neill	...	Himself
Russell Harty	...	Himself
Melvyn Bragg	...	Himself (as Melvin Bragg)
Ringo Starr	...	Himself
Mary Ann Zabresky	...	Herself
Michael Leckebusch	...	Himself
Barry Fantoni	...	Himself
Jeremy Paxman	...	Himself
Bob Pridden	...	Himself
Keith Richards	...	Himself (as Keith Richard)

Also Known As:

The Who Rock Concert (Philippines: English title)
The Who: The Kids Are Alright (Australia)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Ramport Studios, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

The Who Films

Trivia:

The band's performance on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (1967) ends with "My Generation" and their trademark wrecking of their equipment - the climax being the explosion of the drum kit. During rehearsal, Keith Moon ("Patent British Exploding Drummer") had persuaded stage hands to load more flash powder into the kit than usual (possibly by bribery) so that when the explosion occurred at the very end of the performance, it was so big that it temporarily blinded the TV cameras and injured the rest of the band. Singer Roger Daltrey was deaf for a long period after the show, Moon was cut on the arm by a cymbal, and guitarist Pete Townshend's hair was singed - he can be seen in the film with smoke coming from his head. Townshend later attributed his partial hearing loss to the incident, though years of extreme on-stage sound levels are probably more to blame. Backstage, other guests of the show were also affected: Bette Davis fainted into Mickey Rooney's arms.

Goofs:

Continuity: Rick Danko of The Band is listed in the end credits as appearing in the film, even though his segment was deleted from the final print.

Quotes:

Interviewer: [In the 1970's] Excuse me. We just shot a lot of film with the interview. And talking about all that... I was wondering...
Keith Moon: Heard the worst.
Interviewer: ...now could you really tell us the truth and stop lying?
Keith Moon: Oh, no. it - I mean, the truth as you wanna hear it? I can't do that. You couldn't afford me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who (2007)

Soundtrack:

Baba O'Riley

A rare great rock film

Maybe being such a fanatic of the Who I'm downright dogmatic in my beliefs that this is a great 70's rock film. The performances are exciting. Pete Townshend dishes out philosophy of rock music that only he can. The editing is quick so the movie never drags(i.e.The song remains the same) Many of the scenes are downright funny. Not only is it a movie that shows how talented the Who were as a band. It shows they could put on a great performance off stage as well( such as being interviewed) It's probably one of the very few rock movies from the 70's that has charm. Even though I do think it helps to be a big fan when watching it. But I think that's true of any rock movie or concert video.