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)

Dioramas Viewed Through Kaleidoscopes: Ken Russell's Film of Tommy

                                                        His eye is on the sparrow.


Good morning converts! I have no doubt that we'll be able to break some new ground here by studying  "Ken Russell's Film of Tommy." Despite being thee unrivalled rock opera to end all rock operas and talked, written and performed endlessly,  Tommy never stops morphing. In my lifetime thus far, Tommy has gone from a wild film on cable to a classic album you stole, begged or borrowed as a tween; then a 20th reunion revival act "featuring The Who and guests"; to a Tony Award winning Broadway play; various remastered cds, laser discs, dvds, blu rays and soundtracks galore; all the way to the present where Roger Daltrey and friends are performing it live and in classic original unadulterated style as we speak. Yet, the preceding was only a fraction of Tommy's many incarnations. It is one of the reasons why, in about two  generations, that Tommy along with The Who as a band will be reappraised and as popular as ever much like The Doors were a decade after Jim Morrison died. Many will continue to perform the rock opera but no one will approach a remake of Ken's film.

The first view many of us Who fans ever have of Ken Russell is in the Kids Are Alright when his flamboyant TV interview precedes the Tommy segment:

"This countries' in a weird, feeble grotesque state and its time it got out of it and what could get it out of it is rock music. And I think Townshend, Daltrey, Entwistle and Moon could rise this country out of its decadent , ambient state, more than Wilson and those crappy people could ever hope to achieve!"

When many of us saw the film as children we either were scared and could not deal or watched it on repeat over a dozen times (guess who?)  I'd seen many live action Disney films and masterpieces like "Willy Wonka" with wild clothes, giant mushrooms and flying cars but Tommy to me was so uncluttered in comparison. Each segment was a impeccably laid out, dazzling diorama box viewed through a lavish colour dipped lens. Not psychedelic, not the messy breathing paisley blanket yet not sparsely Pop Art either. Sure one could use all those adjectives and be accurate though none of them are technically true. So much of the film mocks the convention of the adult world; the false stances, the neediness, the poses to impress the neighbours. As a child I picked up on that at once. I also had no problem working out that Tommy was "shocked" into deaf/blind/mute submission.

In the coming days I'll show how Ken lays each song's scene out so methodically that the essence of the corrupt adults in the film simply seeps through.

Now they wish they'd given Jack, more affection and respect : "Excerpt From A Global Icon Opera"

My knees, my legs are in a lot of pain as we wait for our first baby to make his first appearance any day now. Joint and nerve pressure, aaahhh! Things they don't tell you about in Yummy Mummy school...

Anyway, years ago, my friend

Cliff Malloy

who ran more than a few records stores in good ol Santa Rosa, California, turned me on to "Tomorrow" , a semi-obscure 1960s psychedelic rock band fronted by Keith West. Their most well known, eponymous titled album yielded a very interesting hit song, semi mini rock opera called, Excerpt from "A Teenage Opera" (also known as "Grocer Jack")
It is whimsical, wonderful, sad with an authentic children's chorus.
The song is referenced in Pete's "Keep Me Turning" off of his solo album, "Rough Mix" with Ronnie Lane. "Oh Jack are you ever comin' back? Will your operatic soul turn black?"
First season, "In The Attic" fans will remember Pete talking about it once.



This is the song I had in my head when I woke up today. It reminds me of Michael Jackson and his funeral which is due to start in about a half an hour. I truly believed he would have really enjoyed the song and the sentiment.


Rest in peace Thriller.

"Excerpt From A Teenage Opera"

Count the days into years
His fifty years brings many fears
Yesterday's laughter turned to tears
His arms and legs don't feel so strong
His heart is weak, there's something wrong
Opens windows in despair, tries to breathe in some fresh air
His conscience cries: "get on your feet
Without you, Jack, the town can't eat"

Grocer Jack, grocer Jack, get off your back
Go into town, don't let them down, oh no no
Grocer Jack, grocer Jack, get off your back
Go into town, don't let them down, oh no no

The people that live in the town don't understand
He's never been known to miss his round
"It's ten-o'clock", the housewives yell
"When Jack turns up we'll give him hell"
Husbands moan at breakfast tables
No milk, no eggs, no marmalade labels
Mothers send their children out
To Jack's house to scream and shout

Grocer Jack, grocer Jack, get off your back
Come into town, don't let us down, oh no no
Grocer Jack, grocer Jack, get off your back
Come into town, don't let us down, oh no no

It's Tuesday morning bright and clear
Lovely flowers decorate a marble square
People cry and walk away and think about the fateful day
Now they wish they'd given Jack more affection and respect
The little children dressed in black
Don't know what happened to old Jack

Grocer Jack, grocer Jack, is it true what mummy says
You won't come back, oh no no
Grocer Jack, grocer Jack, is it true what mummy says
You won't come back, oh no no
Grocer Jack, grocer Jack, is it true what mummy says
You won't come back, oh no no
Grocer Jack, grocer Jack, is it true what mummy says
You won't come back, oh no no ....