Britannia Hospital (1982)

Director:

Lindsay Anderson

Writer:

David Sherwin (writer)

Release Date:

27 May 1982 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Will they ever recover ... ?

Plot:

Mick Travis is a reporter who is about to shoot a documentary on Britannia Hospital, an institution which mirrors the downsides of British Society...

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Sequel | Black Comedy | Surrealism | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Leonard Rossiter	...	Vincent Potter
Brian Pettifer	...	Biles
John Moffatt	...	Greville Figg
Fulton Mackay	...	Chief Superintendant Johns
Vivian Pickles	...	Matron
Barbara Hicks	...	Miss Tinker
Graham Crowden	...	Professor Millar
Jill Bennett	...	Dr. MacMillan
Peter Jeffrey	...	Sir Geoffrey
Marsha A. Hunt	...	Nurse Amanda Persil (as Marsha Hunt)
Catherine Willmer	...	Dr. Houston
Mary MacLeod	...	Casualty Sister
Joan Plowright	...	Phyllis Grimshaw
Robin Askwith	...	Ben Keating
Dave Atkins	...	Sharkey

Runtime:

116 min | USA:111 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Friern Barnet Hospital, Friern Barnet Road, Friern Barnet, London, England, UK

Company:

EMI Films

Trivia:

Upon seeing it, Derek Jarman predicted that the film "would finish Lindsay in the British film industry". It was a fairly accurate prediction as the remainder of Lindsay Anderson's career was spent in the United States. Anderson later wrote a letter to Malcolm McDowell in which he wrote "I've been in London - how long? - about three or four weeks... Time is rather featureless at the moment. I'm sure you'll understand when I say it's a dispiriting place to return to. The dark waters have closed over 'Britannia Hospital'."

Quotes:

Professor Millar: Friends! Fellow Members of the Human Race! We are gathered here for a purpose. Let us look together at Mankind. What do we see? We see Mastery. What wonders Mankind can perform. He can cross the oceans and continents today, as easily as our grandfathers crossed the street...

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Unforgettable Arthur Lowe (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

RULE BRITANNIA

BRITANNIA HOSPITAL (Lindsay Anderson, 1982) ***

This is the last entry in The Mick Travis Trilogy (also comprising IF.... [1968] and O LUCKY MAN! [1973], all directed by Anderson, written by David Sherwin and starring Malcolm McDowell as Travis) and the only one I hadn't watched before; ironically, the film made it to DVD before the others which are still M.I.A. (being owned by the majors, Paramount and Warners respectively) though both have been rumored as being "in preparation" for what seems like forever!! As with HELL IS A CITY (1960) and THE CRIMINAL (1960), I had my eyes on the Anchor Bay DVD of this title for the longest time but only now have I finally taken the plunge to acquire it - though, in its case, this had more to do with the fact that the film was largely considered a failure, certainly in comparison with its more highly-regarded predecessors!

Actually, it comes off as quite underrated and its satire on British society at large - with the titular hospital serving more or less as a microcosm of all that was not well with the country during the early 80s - is just as harsh, if admittedly somewhat hit-and-miss (the "Frankenstein" scenes, for instance, and the fact that royal representatives are played by a midget and a man in drag are more tasteless than anything else!). The thing is, however, that the film became part of the trilogy by accident and, in fact, McDowell isn't really the lead character - so that it's not quite as focused as IF.... and O LUCKY MAN!, and even borrows elements from both of them (the revolutionary aspect from the former and the bizarre experiments, mentioned above, from the latter) which aren't as successful this time around!

Still, it's very funny - for those who can take its unbridled savagery - along the way and the cast is brimming with talented character actors (Leonard Rossiter, Graham Crowden, Joan Plowright, Jill Bennett, Peter Jeffrey, Brian Pettifer, Dandy Nichols, Richard Griffiths, Brian Glover, Robbie Coltrane, uncredited bits by Alan Bates and Arthur Lowe, and even unlikely appearances - in fairly important roles - by Robin Askwith and Mark Hamill!), many of whom had already appeared in the two earlier Mick Travis films. Unfortunately, the score by Alan Price (ex-member of The Animals) - whose O LUCKY MAN! soundtrack, including a number of songs, had been one of its major assets - is underwhelming and, typical of old British films, the dialogue is hard to grasp sometimes due to the limited sound recording and the actors' heavy accents!