Ann Margret as Nora Walker Hobbs in Ken Russell’s 1975 film “Tommy.” This scene, not to mention the whole film, was absolutely formative for me (and apparently I’m not alone). It opens with a drunk Nora watching TV in her all-white glam boudoir. On the TV screen is an ad for baked beans, “Fit For A Queen.” She throws a champagne bottle through the TV set, and soap suds and baked beans pour out into the white bedroom. Laughing, she writhes around in the surreal, psychedelic mess.
It’s such a long time since I’ve seen this movie that I’d forgotten about the sets. The first still is very mid-1970s Art Deco. Ken Russell, bless him, is one of our eccentric national treasures, and like so many British treasures, largely ignored.