Hammersmith Is Out
Encyclopedia
Hammersmith Is Out is a 1972
comedy film
based on the legend of Faust
. It is directed by Peter Ustinov
, who starred in the film alongside Elizabeth Taylor
, Richard Burton
, Beau Bridges
, Leon Ames
, and George Raft
.
psychiatric hospital
. He simultaneously falls under the spell of two people: a blonde waitress at a local diner named Jimmie Jean Jackson (Elizabeth Taylor) and an allegedly sociopathic hospital patient named Hammersmith (Richard Burton), who is restrained in a straitjacket within a locked cell. Hammersmith promises Billy a new life with fame and fortune if he is released from his incarceration. Billy agrees to free Hammersmith, provided that Jimmie Jean can accompany their escape. The three make their way into adventures where Hammersmith murders people and steals property as the means for elevating Billy’s social and financial status. Billy becomes the owner of a topless bar, the owner of a pharmaceutical company, an oil tycoon, the financier of political campaigns and a roving ambassador-at-large for the United States. Over time, Billy comes to loathe Jimmie Jean. However, Hammersmith takes an interest in her and grants her wish that she should be become a mother. Hammersmith arranges for Billy to become disabled in a water skiing accident, and then convinces him to commit suicide. The head of the psychiatric hospital (Peter Ustinov) locates Hammersmith and has him returned to his incarceration – where he begins to promise fame and fortune to another orderly.
, Inc. a producer of recreational vehicles, travel trailers (including fold-down tent trailers) and manufactured housing
. Crean told an interviewer that he ventured into the motion picture industry in search of excitement. "Boredom with business lead me into movies,” he said. “Believe me, there’s nothing boring about motion pictures."
Although the film takes place in the United States
, Hammersmith Is Out was shot in Mexico
. Director Peter Ustinov had previously worked with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as their co-star in the 1967 drama The Comedians. In directing Burton, Ustinov instructed the actor to convey Hammersmith's sociopathic power by never blinking.
, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times
, called it "one of the year's best comedies” and “one of the year's best satires." Vincent Canby
, reviewing the film for The New York Times
, stated the film "is both too elaborate and not quite witty enough to be especially convincing as contemporary morality comedy. However, just when the patience is at the point of exhaustion, when one might leave the theater with a clear conscience, the film comes to fitful life."
However, Hammersmith Is Out was not commercially successful. The film was released on VHS video in the 1980, but to date it has not been released on DVD.
1972 in film
The year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
based on the legend of Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
. It is directed by Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
, who starred in the film alongside Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
, Beau Bridges
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
, Leon Ames
Leon Ames (actor)
Leon Ames was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis , as Judy Garland's father, and in Little Women ....
, and George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
.
Plot
Billy Breedlove (Beau Bridges) is an orderly at a TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
. He simultaneously falls under the spell of two people: a blonde waitress at a local diner named Jimmie Jean Jackson (Elizabeth Taylor) and an allegedly sociopathic hospital patient named Hammersmith (Richard Burton), who is restrained in a straitjacket within a locked cell. Hammersmith promises Billy a new life with fame and fortune if he is released from his incarceration. Billy agrees to free Hammersmith, provided that Jimmie Jean can accompany their escape. The three make their way into adventures where Hammersmith murders people and steals property as the means for elevating Billy’s social and financial status. Billy becomes the owner of a topless bar, the owner of a pharmaceutical company, an oil tycoon, the financier of political campaigns and a roving ambassador-at-large for the United States. Over time, Billy comes to loathe Jimmie Jean. However, Hammersmith takes an interest in her and grants her wish that she should be become a mother. Hammersmith arranges for Billy to become disabled in a water skiing accident, and then convinces him to commit suicide. The head of the psychiatric hospital (Peter Ustinov) locates Hammersmith and has him returned to his incarceration – where he begins to promise fame and fortune to another orderly.
Production
Hammersmith Is Out was the first film financed by John Crean, the founder of Fleetwood EnterprisesFleetwood Enterprises
Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. was a producer of motorhomes and manufactured housing. It was founded in 1950 by John Crean in Riverside, California....
, Inc. a producer of recreational vehicles, travel trailers (including fold-down tent trailers) and manufactured housing
Manufactured housing
Manufactured housing is a type of prefabricated housing that is largely assembled in factories and then transported to sites of use...
. Crean told an interviewer that he ventured into the motion picture industry in search of excitement. "Boredom with business lead me into movies,” he said. “Believe me, there’s nothing boring about motion pictures."
Although the film takes place in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Hammersmith Is Out was shot in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Director Peter Ustinov had previously worked with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as their co-star in the 1967 drama The Comedians. In directing Burton, Ustinov instructed the actor to convey Hammersmith's sociopathic power by never blinking.
Cast
- Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
... Jimmie Jean Jackson - Richard BurtonRichard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
... Hammersmith - Peter UstinovPeter UstinovPeter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
... Doctor - Beau BridgesBeau BridgesLloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
... Billy Breedlove - Leon AmesLeon Ames (actor)Leon Ames was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis , as Judy Garland's father, and in Little Women ....
... Gen. Sam Pembroke - Leon AskinLeon AskinLeon Askin was an Austrian actor best known for portraying the character "General Burkhalter" on the TV sitcom Hogan's Heroes.-Early life:...
... Dr. Krodt - Anthony Holland ... Oldham
- George RaftGeorge RaftGeorge Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
... Guido Scartucci
Release
Hammersmith Is Out opened to positive reviews. Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, called it "one of the year's best comedies” and “one of the year's best satires." Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
, reviewing the film for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, stated the film "is both too elaborate and not quite witty enough to be especially convincing as contemporary morality comedy. However, just when the patience is at the point of exhaustion, when one might leave the theater with a clear conscience, the film comes to fitful life."
However, Hammersmith Is Out was not commercially successful. The film was released on VHS video in the 1980, but to date it has not been released on DVD.
Awards
- 22nd Berlin International Film Festival22nd Berlin International Film FestivalThe 22nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 23 June to 4 July 1972.-Jury:* Eleanor Perry * Fritz Drobilitsch-Walden* Francis Cosne* Rita Tushingham* Tinto Brass* Yukichi Shinada* Julio Coll* Hans Hellmut Kirst...
- Silver Bear for Best ActressSilver Bear for Best ActressThe Silver Bear for Best Actress is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actress.-Awards:- External links :*...
: Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
(won) - Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution (won)
- Golden BearGolden BearAccording to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
(nominated)
- Silver Bear for Best Actress