Smashing Time (1967)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Desmond Davis

Writer:

George Melly (writer)

Release Date:

14 June 1968 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

Two Girls Go Stark Mod!

Plot:

Two young women arrive in London to make it big in show business, and become corrupted by money and fame in the process.

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Rita Tushingham	...	Brenda
Lynn Redgrave	...	Yvonne
Michael York	...	Tom Wabe
Anna Quayle	...	Charlotte Brillig
Irene Handl	...	Mrs. Gimble
Ian Carmichael	...	Bobby Mome-Rath
Jeremy Lloyd	...	Jeremy Tove
Toni Palmer	...	Toni
George A. Cooper	...	Irishman
Peter Jones	...	Dominic
Arthur Mullard	...	Cafe Boss
Ronnie Stevens	...	1st Waiter
John Clive	...	Sweeney Todd manager
Mike Lennox	...	Disc Jockey
Sydney Bromley	...	Tramp

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:A | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

BT Tower, 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, London, England, UK

Company:

Partisan Productions

Trivia:

The last film of Amy Dalby.

Quotes:

Yvonne: He's got an awfully nice speaking voice when he's not pretending to be common.

Movie Connections:

References The Battle of the Century (1927)

Soundtrack:

Smashing Time end title

Swinging London was almost like this

I was living in London when this film opened, and it now seems an oddly accurate time capsule of the period, somewhere between trendy and tatty. Critics hated the film for trying to create a female Laurel and Hardy, but now it's the colours, the clothes and the attitude that seems right (although it's hard to forgive those helium-voiced gay stereotypes). Trivia note; the character names and places, pieced together, form most of the first verse of 'Jabberwocky', suggesting the intention to create a new Alice in Wonderland.