A Brief History of The Universe: The Not So Basics of Ken Russell Complete Works Updated 2014

Here is to my best knowledge the majority of Ken Russell's work. I'm sure I will be adding to it shortly. Thanks to Iain Fisher for his great research which helped me immensely in starting this project.


Ken Russell's world is very beautiful and remember...

He's not perverted. YOU are!


Fledging films, photography and student projects:
Teddy Girl photographs
Peepshow (1956)
Knights on Bikes (1957)
Ken Russell's Lost London Rediscovered: 1951–1957
Amelia and the Angel
Knights on Bikes 1957
Lourdes 1958

BBC Monitor short films
Poets London 1956
Gordon Jacob 1959
Guitar Crazy (also called From Spain to Streatham) 1959
Variations on a Mechanical Theme 1959
Two Painters 1959
Portrait of a Goon 1959
Marie Rambert Remembers 1960
Architecture of Entertainment/Journey into a Lost World 1960
Cranks at Work 1960
The Miners' Picnic 1960
Shelagh Delaney's Salford 1960
A House in Bayswater/ Mrs Stirling of Old Battersea House 1960
The Light Fantastic 1960
Antonio Gaudi 1961
London Moods 1961
Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill 1962

BBC Monitor long form films
Portrait of a Soviet composer 1961
Pop goes the Easel 1962
Preservation Man 1962
Mr Chesher's Traction Engines 1962
Elgar 1962
Watch the Birdie 1963
Lonely Shore 1964
Bartok 1964
The Dotty World of James Lloyd 1964
Diary of a Nobody 1964

Major works for film and television

1960s
Elgar (1962, TV) included as it is widely considered Ken's first important film.
French Dressing (1963)
The Debussy Film (1965, TV)
Always On Sunday (1965, TV)
Isadora Duncan, The Biggest Dancer In The World (1966, TV)
Dante's Inferno (1967, TV)
Billion Dollar Brain (1967)
Song of Summer (1968, TV)
Women in Love (1969)

1970s
The Dance of the Seven Veils (1970, TV)
The Music Lovers (1971)
The Devils (1971)
The Boy Friend (1971)
Savage Messiah (1972)
Mahler (1974)
Tommy (1975)
Lisztomania (1975)
William and Dorothy (1976)
Valentino (1977)
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1978)

1980s
Altered States (1980)
The Planets (1983)
Crimes of Passion (1984)
Gothic (1986) ·
Aria (1987, segment "Nessun Dorma")
ABC of British Music, A British Picture (1987)
Salome's Last Dance (1988)
The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
The Rainbow (1989)



1990s/2000s
Whore (1991)
Prisoner of Honor (1991, TV)
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax (1992, TV)
The Mystery of Dr. Martinu (1993, TV)
Lady Chatterley (1993, TV)
Mindbender (1995, TV)
Dogboys (1998, TV)

Later independent films, television and indie
The Lion's Mouth (2000)
Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002)
Brothers of the Head (2006)
Colour Me Kubrick (2006)
Celebrity Big Brother 5 (2007)
A Kitten For Hitler (2007)
EastEnders (????)

Cameo appearances  
Savage Messiah
(coming out a train, scene cut)
Tommy
(in a wheelchair before "Welcome")
Valentino
(the director)
Gothic
(the last scene on the boat)
Salome's Last Dance
(the cameraman)
Whore
(the waiter)
Lion's Mouth
(the clown)
The Girl with the Golden Breasts

(Dr Lucy)


Opera and theatre 
The Rake's Progress (Stravinsky)
Madame Butterfly (Puccini)
The Italian Girl in Algiers (Rossini)
La Boheme (Puccini)
Die Soldaten (Zimmerman) 1985
Faust (Gounod) 1985
Mefistofoles (Boite) 1989
Princess Ida (Gilbert and Sullivan) 1992
Salome (Richard Strauss) 1993
Weill and Lenya (Paris and Russell) 2000
Mindgame (Anthony Horowitz) 2008


Acting roles, playing himself and interviews
The Secret Life of Sir Arnold Bax
(starring as Bax)
Lady Chatterley
The Fall of the Louse of Usher
(Dr. Calahari)
Hot Pants Trilogy
The ABC of British Music
A British Picture
Don't Shoot the Composer: Vaughan Williams
Classic Widows
Brighton Belles
Classic Widows
In Search of the English Folk Song
Elgar 2 Portrait of a composer on his bicycle
Mr. Nice (scene cut)
Brothers of The Head
Marple: The Moving Finger
Oliver Reed Wild Thing  Documentary
Edmund Dane 2005
Colour me Kubrick 2004
Waking the Dead: Final Cut 2003
Felicity Kendal: A Passage from India 2001
Turning Points 2000
Carry on Darkly 1998
Great Composers 1997
A History of British Art 1996
i-camcorder 1995
(An educational series for Channel 4.)
Empire of the Censors 1995
Music for the Movies: Georges Delerue 1994
Citizen Kane: a Critical Analysis 1991
The Russia House 1990
(Ken's only real acting role outside his own work)
The Kids are Alright 1979

Films unfinished, declined or planned but never made
Moll Flanders
Evita
Maria Callas Bio Pic
The Rose
Beethoven Film
Alice in Wonderland
Tesla Bio Pic (thwarted by Edison's descendants)

Books By Ken Russell:
A British Picture (1989; published in the US as Altered States: The Autobiography of Ken Russell, 1991)
Fire Over England (1993; published in the US as The Lion Roars)
Beethoven Confidential
Brahms Gets Laid
Elgar: The Erotic Variations
Delius: A Moment with Venus
Mike and Gaby's Space Gospel
Violation (2006)

Biographies and Film Criticism about Ken Russell:
An Appalling Talent: Ken Russell, John Baxter (1973)
Ken Russell: The Adaptor as Creator, Gomez, Joseph A. (1976)
Ken Russell (Monarch film studies), Thomas R., ed Atkins (1976)
Ken Russell: A guide to references and resources Diane Rosenfeldt (1978)
Ken Russell. Phillips, Gene D. (1979).
Ken Russell's Films by Ken Hanke (Oct 1, 1984)
Phallic Frenzy: Ken Russell and His Films (Cappella Books) by Joseph Lanza

Ken Russell: Re-Viewing England's Last Mannerist, Flanagan, Kevin M.,ed (2009)