Great Britain

When the Who's mammoth double album first appeared in 1969 it was hailed on both sides of the Atlantic as a rock masterpiece. Nothing as ambitious as a rock opera had ever been produced before and it became a landmark in the history of rock music. Ken Russell's screen version of the story of the boy who grows up deaf, dumb and blind, somehow survives a series of so-called miracle cures, becomes Pinball Champion of the World, is freed of his disabilities and finally turns into the Superstar Messiah is equally inventive. The most brilliant, imaginative and controversial film-maker of today, only Russell could have matched the verve and energy of the music with images of such power and vitality. Oliver Reed as Tommy's lumpen dad and Ann-Margaret as his blowzy mum head the cast, which includes a host of glittering personalities from the world of Pop-Elton John as the Pinball Wizard, Tina Turner as the Acid Queen, Eric Clapton as the Preacher, and of course Roger Daltrey (Tommy), Keith Moon, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle of The Who. Tommy is a tour-de-force which never lets up.