Ken Russell (right), a Best Director Academy Award nominee for Women in Love (1970), and Oscar-winning documentarian Murray Lerner (From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China) pose for the camera before the 35th anniversary screening of Russell’s Tommy.
The 1975 rock opera (by The Who) starring Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret, and Oliver Reed, was presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday, May 21, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Tommy also features Elton John, Eric Clapton, Jack Nicholson, and Tina Turner.
In the movie, Daltrey plays a deaf/mute/blind pinball-playing Jesus-like figure, whose followers eventually turn against him. Ann-Margret received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance as Tommy’s mother.
Murray Lerner’s work includes Listening to You: The Who at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (1996) and Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who (2007).
Photo: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.
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