Smashing Time (1967)

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

Director:

Desmond Davis

Writer:

George Melly

Stars:

Rita Tushingham, Lynn Redgrave, Michael York

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Two young women from England's northern counties; the plain Brenda and the flamboyant Yvonne, arrive in London to find fame and fortune. Misdirected and separated, they strike out on their own with Yvonne becoming a model and Brenda a waitress. After Brenda sabotages Yvonne's date whom takes advantage of her, they lose their jobs and soon the roles are reversed with Brenda succeeding as a model and Yvonne becoming a waitress. With both of them competing with the other, they soon learn that they have to team up to take on their adversaries in order to succeed.

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Plot Keywords:

cafe | photographer | swinging london | pop star | carnaby street | 

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Taglines:

Two Girls Go Stark Mod!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 February 1968 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

2 Anglaises en délire

Filming Locations:

Regent's Canal, Islington, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Partisan Productions, Selmur Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to his memoir, this film was the source material and ironic inspiration for Elvis Costello's song "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea".

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Goofs

Moments after Brenda has fallen into a mud puddle twice, her clothes are clean and dry.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Spoofed in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

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Soundtracks

While I'm Still Young
Music by John Addison
Lyrics by George Melly
Performed by Lynn Redgrave

User Reviews

strong swinging London pic with a hefty dose of anarchy

Swinging London produced more good music than film, if you ask me, but this anarchistic comedy falls among the better productions of the era. Writer George Melly (who apparently also appeared in Makaveyev's Sweet Movie) presents a wild series of episodes structured around a marginal narrative. Gum snapping Lynn Redgrave and big-eyed Rita Tushingham relocate from their small rural town to happening London and instantly their life savings get stolen. When they're unable to pay for their slap-up breakfast, Tushingham quickly secures a job washing dishes and just as quickly loses it after an impromptu paint and food fight. Meanwhile, Redgrave has secured jobs as nightclub hostesses. Seedy customer Ian Carmichael picks up Redgrave but Tushingham succeeds in saving her friends' chastity. Trendy fashion photographer Michael York somehow enters the scene by capitalizing off a humiliating picture of Redgrave, then instigating a pie fight at her new workplace (a restaurant that only serves pies, natch). When the girls return to their house, they find it has been destroyed as part of a TV prank and fortuitously receive 10,000 pounds in return. And this is when the story really explodes. Redgrave uses the money to sponsor her career as pop artist, which explodes overnight. There's a brilliant recording studio sequence that takes a hefty stab at prefabricated artistic product: Redgrave's song sounds terrible while recorded but excellent in playback. Concurrent to Redgrave's rise to stardom, awkward Tushingham achieves equal fame as a fashion model for new boyfriend York, and the two friends begin to despise one another. Smashing Time proceeds with a number of parties, destructive humor and a passable conclusion. Throughout the film, non-diagetic narrative songs document the characters' moods. This unusual device and other creative moments, including a dandy so distraught by getting pied that he commits suicide, evidence an adventurous force behind the script. Indeed, director Desmond Davis barely makes his presence felt. Unlike most films driven by the written word, this film's script would allow for a great finished product with any director with an adequate budget. Storytelling, after all, needs act as film's primary purpose and thus occasionally a film such as Smashing Time indicates that the director does not necessarily need to act as a film's primary author. This film also offers a valuable historic treatment of London during a particularly unique phase. Then well-known psych group Tomorrow show up all over the film, possibly as a stab at authenticity but effective if so. Nevertheless, their music does not actually appear in the movie; we're treated instead to a few songs by the undeservedly less famous group Skip Bifferty.