Smashing Time ** (1967, Rita Tushingham, Lynn Redgrave, Michael York, Ian Carmichael, Anna Quayle, Irene Handl) – Classic Movie Review 8837

Director Desmond Davis’s 1967 slapstick British colour musical comedy film Smashing Time takes us back to 1967 when London’s Carnaby Street was the height of fashion. Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave star as plain Brenda and flamboyant Yvonne, who come down from the North of England and help to make London swing by smashing things up and giggling a lot.

Director Desmond Davis’s 1967 Smashing Time was always silly and dated. You really expect more sophistication from screen-writer George Melly, who perhaps intended a satire of Swinging London. If so, it is very blunt and obvious. As a look at an unequal friendship, it is awkward and faintly embarrassing. However, high-spirited performances from the two young actresses, and the vintage support cast, save it from being a waste of time, and it has gained period charm and allure, surviving as a minor icon of the era.

Tushingham and Redgrave sing the theme tune and perform several numbers.

Redgrave and Tushingham and director Davis had collaborated before on the 1964 Girl with Green Eyes. Composer John Addison and cinematographer Manny Wynn also worked on Girl with Green Eyes. 

Also in the cast are Ian Carmichael, Anna Quayle, Michael York, Irene Handl, Jeremy Lloyd, Toni Palmer, George A Cooper, Peter Jones, Arthur Mullard, Ronnie Stevens, John Clive, Mike Lennox, Sydney Bromley, David Lodge, Amy Dalby, Murray Melvin, Bruce Lacey, Cardew Robinson, Ray Mackin, Veronica Carlson, Geoffrey Hughes, Sam Kydd, Valerie Leon, Danny Green and Michael Ward.

Tushingham and Redgrave were fresh from their hits A Taste of Honey and Georgy Girl. Davis was a camera operator on A Taste of Honey. Tushingham’s co-stars in A Taste of Honey Murray Melvin and Paul Danquah appear in cameo roles as boutique shop customers.

The TV show Juke Box Jury is parodied as Hi-Fi Court and Candid Camera is parodied as You Can’t Help Laughing!

Some of the characters’ names are from Lewis Carroll, particularly Jabberwocky: Charlotte Brillig, Tom Wabe, Mrs Gimble, Bobby Mome-Rath, Jeremy Tove, Toni Mimsy, and The Snarks (the rock band played by Tomorrow). The futuristic art exhibition is held at the Jabberwock Gallery.

The film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best English-Language Foreign Film in 1968.

George Melly (1926–2007) wrote only two screenplays: Smashing Time and Take a Girl Like You (1970).

Private Eye magazine referred to the Queen and Princess Margaret as Brenda and Yvonne.

It had a budget of $630,000 and earned only $290,000 at the box office, and ABC recorded a loss of $710,000. It was released in London on 27 December 1967, too late and too lame to satirise Swinging London.

The cast are Rita Tushingham as Brenda, Lynn Redgrave as Yvonne, Michael York as Tom Wabe, Anna Quayle as Charlotte Brillig, Irene Handl as Mrs Gimble, Ian Carmichael as Bobby Mome-Rath, Jeremy Lloyd as Jeremy Tove, Toni Palmer as Toni, George A. Cooper as Irishman, Peter Jones as game show host Dominic, Arthur Mullard as café Boss, Ronnie Stevens as first Waiter, John Clive as Sweeney Todd Manager, Mike Lennox as Disc Jockey, Sydney Bromley as Tramp, David Lodge as The Caretaker, Amy Dalby as Old lady whose house is demolished, Murray Melvin as first Exquisite, Bruce Lacey as Clive Sword, Cardew Robinson as Custard-Pie Vicar, Tomorrow as The Snarks, Paul Danquah as 2nd Exquisite, Michael Ward as Elderly Shop Owner, Sam Kydd as Workman in greasy spoon café, Geoffrey Hughes as Workman in greasy spoon café, Jerold Wells as Workman, Veronica Carlson as Actress at Party, and Valerie Leon as Tove’s Secretary.

Desmond Davis (24 May 1926 – 3 July 2021) is best known for the 1981 Clash of the Titans.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8837

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