''Hammersmith Is Out'' is a 1972 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

based on the legend of

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

. It is directed by

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...

, who starred in the film alongside

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was awar ...

Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry L. Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rememb ...

, and

George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...

Plot

Billy Breedlove (Beau Bridges) is an orderly at a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

. He simultaneously falls under the spell of two people: a blonde waitress at a local diner named Jimmie Jean Jackson (Elizabeth Taylor) and an allegedly sociopathic hospital patient named Hammersmith (Richard Burton), who is restrained in a straitjacket within a locked cell. Hammersmith promises Billy a new life with fame and fortune if he is released from his incarceration. Billy agrees to free Hammersmith, provided that Jimmie Jean can accompany their escape. The three make their way into adventures where Hammersmith murders people and steals property as the means for elevating Billy's social and financial status. Billy becomes the owner of a topless bar, the owner of a pharmaceutical company, an oil tycoon, the financier of political campaigns and a roving ambassador-at-large for the United States. Over time, Billy comes to loathe Jimmie Jean. However, Hammersmith takes an interest in her and grants her wish that she should become a mother. Hammersmith arranges for Billy to become disabled in a water skiing accident, and then convinces him to commit suicide. The head of the psychiatric hospital (Peter Ustinov) locates Hammersmith and has him returned to his incarceration – where he begins to promise fame and fortune to another orderly.

Cast

as Jimmie Jean Jackson *

as Hammersmith *

as Doctor *

as Billy Breedlove *

as Gen. Sam Pembroke * Leon Askin as Dr. Krodt * Anthony Holland as Oldham *

as Guido Scartucci * John Schuck as Henry Joe

Production

''Hammersmith Is Out'' was the first film financed by John Crean, the founder of

Fleetwood Enterprises Fleetwood RV is a producer of recreational vehicles (RVs). Founded in 1950, Fleetwood RV is part of REV Group. Rev's recreation division includes Fleetwood RV, American Coach, Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Renegade RV, Midwest Automotive Designs, an ...

, Inc. a producer of recreational vehicles, travel trailers (including fold-down tent trailers) and

manufactured housing Manufactured housing (commonly known as mobile homes in the United States) is a type of prefabricated housing that is largely assembled in factories and then transported to sites of use. The definition of the term in the United States is regula ...

. Crean told an interviewer that he ventured into the motion picture industry in search of excitement. "Boredom with business led me into movies", he said. "Believe me, there's nothing boring about motion pictures." On June 27, 1970 Richard Burton wrote in his diary about the script:

It is very wild and formless but just the kind of thing that I would like to do at the moment. Particularly as it has a splendid part for E too, and a film for both of us is what we've been looking for a long time. Ustinov is to direct so that should be alright.... It should be wildly funny and fun to do, especially with somebody as congenial as Ustinov and as brilliant, and might be a big commercial success to boot and spur.

The casting of Burton and Taylor was announced in January 1971. Elizabeth Taylor wanted

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award from four nominations, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, the Cec ...

to play the other male lead but he turned down the role. Burton watched ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch C ...

'' and wrote in his diary that he felt Redford was "disappointingly ordinary and Newman is much more impressive. It is just as well that he has turned down ''Hammersmith'' as he has a quality of dullness and I can see quite easily why he has taken so long to become a star. I think he would have ruined our film simply because he seems so sluggish and certainly doesn't suggest for a second the kind of demonic idiot-ness that Billy Breedlove must have." The following night they watched '' The Landlord'' to see Beau Bridges, another candidate for the role. Burton said the actor was "nice and sloppy a la Dustin Hoffman but taller and just as plain. He won't do for our film – he's too young and too undynamic." In February 1971 Beau Bridges joined the cast. Ustinov called it "a variation of the Faust legend" where "the story offers a convenient structure for social comment. There are, I'm afraid, people, corporations, that 'kill', so often and so regularly that they transcend the possibility of either suspicion or penalty.""Ustinov Lacks Take-It-Easy Time: Peter Ustinov", Knapp, Dan. ''Los Angeles Times'', 12 Mar 1971: e1. Ustinov admitted before filming he was worried Bridges "might be a bit immature and a little light for the part. But we needn't have worried." Although the film takes place in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, ''Hammersmith Is Out'' was shot in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. (The Burtons had a villa near Puerto Villara.)New York Times review, May 25, 1972
/ref> Director Peter Ustinov had previously worked with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as their co-star in the 1967 drama '' The Comedians''. In directing Burton, Ustinov instructed the actor to convey Hammersmith's sociopathic power by never blinking.“The Bootleg Files: Hammersmith Is Out,” Film Threat, September 26, 2008
/ref>

had a small role.

Release

''Hammersmith Is Out'' opened to positive reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, writing in the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'', called it "one of the year's best comedies” and “one of the year's best

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...

s."

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

, reviewing the film for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', stated the film "is both too elaborate and not quite witty enough to be especially convincing as contemporary morality comedy. However, just when the patience is at the point of exhaustion, when one might leave the theater with a clear conscience, the film comes to fitful life." However, ''Hammersmith Is Out'' was not commercially successful. The film was released on VHS video in the 1980, but to date it has not been released on DVD.

Awards

22nd Berlin International Film Festival The 22nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 23 June to 4 July 1972. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Italian film ''I racconti di Canterbury'' directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Jury The following people were announced as ...

** Silver Bear for Best Actress:

(won)Pasolini's Film Wins Top Award at Berlin Festival Special to The New York Times 5 July 1972: 32. **

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...

for outstanding artistic contribution (won) **

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

(nominated)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Review of film
at Film Threat
Review of film
at Variety
Review of film
by Roger Ebert {{Peter Ustinov 1972 films 1972 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films Films directed by Peter Ustinov Films scored by Dominic Frontiere Films set in psychiatric hospitals Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution Cinerama Releasing Corporation films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films