Arthur Brown Movies
- 1988
- R
Phillip Schuman's women-in-prison film is an account of a group of female prisoners who decide to organize a variety show. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
Robin Williams' comic shtick sabotages any attempt at comic development in Harold Ramis' patchy comedy farce Club Paradise. Williams plays Jack Moniker, a Chicago fireman injured in the line of duty, who uses his disability money to open up a run-down Caribbean resort. Jack eagerly awaits the planeload of tourists who will be his first patrons. This group of low-rent jackanapes include Barry Nye (Rick Moranis) and Barry Steinberg (Eugene Levy), a couple of horny geek bachelors; Phillipa Lloyd (Twiggy) and Terry Hamlin (Joanna Cassidy) as a couple of gals on the make; and Linda White (Andrea Martin), as a bossy American tourist. While the tourists shindig around Jack's ramshackle resort, a revolution is brewing on the island headed by revolutionary Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff). Trying to prevent the revolutionary upheaval is the dissipated British governor-general of the island, Governor Anthony Cloyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole), and the pompous Prime Minister Solomon Gundy (Adolph Caesar). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Peter O'Toole, (more)
- 1981
Rock stars who performed in London between 1964 and 1973 (as the title of this documentary indicates) are featured in 104 minutes of stage performances, interspersed with an interview or two. Artists include the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, Cat Stevens, Jimi Hendrix, and Ike and Tina Turner. One of the interesting aspects of this documentary is how quickly it became dated, even at its time of release 8 years after completion. Tina had found the courage to split from battering Ike, and several of the artists had died - but not their music. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- The Rolling Stones, Eric Burdon, (more)
Tommy (Roger Daltrey) is a "deaf, dumb and blind kid" who retreats into himself after the death of his father. His mother, Nora (Ann-Margret), and stepfather Frank (Oliver Reed) take him to see a specialist (Jack Nicholson) but Tommy is apparently a hopeless case. That is, until Tommy discovers that "he sure plays a mean pinball." Tommy gains fame when he defeats the Pinball Wizard (Elton John) for the world championship. As a result, Tommy becomes such a celebrity that he even founds his own religious cult. But his fans begin to commercialize his fame, while Tommy wants to stick to the straight and narrow. When Tommy wants to end the commercialization of his message, his supporters accuse him of being hypocritical and turn on him. Ann-Margret, with a slinky red dress slit way up the side, was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, losing out to Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, (more)
- 1972
Filmed at one of the many rock festivals that sprang up in the wake of Woodstock, this documentary covers one of the lesser-known such events, Glastonbury Fayre, which took place in rural England in 1971. The footage is based around performances by several artists -- most, though not all, of them British -- who appeared at the festival, including Traffic, Melanie, Arthur Brown, Family, Fairport Convention, Terry Reid, and Gong. Inserted among those clips are scenes of and interviews with concertgoers, as well as some religious figures who were also in attendance. The movie was not released until 1973, by which time most of the featured musicians had declined in popularity, and is one of the more obscure such concert films from the era. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi
- Starring:
- Terry Reid, David Lindley, (more)
- 1968
This short experimental feature follows a young man (Paul Jones, vocalist for the band Manfred Mann) who is picked up by a successful but self-satisfied businessman (Tom Kempinski) while hitchhiking. Bored and exasperated with the businessman's prattle, the young man succumbs to temptation while the mogul checks the engine of his Mercedes Benz, bringing the car's hood crashing down on the man's head. Feeling remorse later on, he sews the businessman's head back onto his body, with the victim seeming no worse for wear. Years later, the young man is working with an architectural firm when he's called upon to join a committee led by a powerful government official (Robert Lloyd). It soon becomes obvious that along with his other duties, the man is asked to account for his actions, which could easily have led to another man's death. The Committee was shot on location at the London School of Economics, and features a musical score by Pink Floyd, which was composed and recorded shortly after Syd Barrett left the group. Influential theatrical rock combo The Crazy World of Arthur Brown also performs in the film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Jones, Tom Kempinski, (more)
