Monday, January 30, 2006

Tommy - Brighton

Just to put a bit of a question in your mind.

Tommy to my CERTAIN knowledge was filmed in Southsea. ( Portsmouth)
Ken Russell lived in Southampton at the time and chose the town because of the pier, and a couple of `dark` theatres he could use for interior shots.
The auditorium of South Parade Pier had a balcony and the decor was typically Edwardian. In order to achieve consistent lighting in the venue the windows were all sheeted off with thick black plastic. High intensity stage lights were set up around the dance floor and as Elton John was playing the title song the lights melted the plastic, which caught on fire and up went the pier! Ken Russell refused to be interviewed by the police as I recall because he was directing his cameraman on how to film the conflamation from a vantage point along the promenade! I still have the colour photographs in the local newspaper from Pompey - I just have to find it.


To add to your listing.
The Boyfriend
Also filmed in and around Portsmouth by Ken Russell. He partly refurbished the Theatre Royal which had been closed 8 or 9 years earlier.
Other scenes were shot in around Stanhope Road. This was an industrial throughway where high buildings in close proximity offered Ken his exterior shots. Daly I never took any photos myself of those venues when I lived there as I was just too familiar with them and they didn`t seem all that special!

.............ain't it always the way!



Best wishes