Editing O Lucky Man!

{{short description|1973 British film by Lindsay Anderson}}
{{about|the 1973 film|the 2009 film|O Lucky Man! (2009 film)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = O Lucky Man!
| image          = O Lucky Man!.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Lindsay Anderson]]
| producer       = Lindsay Anderson<br />[[Michael Medwin]]
| based_on       = {{based on|An original idea by|[[Malcolm McDowell]]}}<ref name=NYT/>
| screenplay     = [[David Sherwin]]
| story          = 
| starring       = Malcolm McDowell<br />[[Ralph Richardson]]<br />[[Rachel Roberts (actress)|Rachel Roberts]]<br />[[Arthur Lowe]]<br />[[Helen Mirren]]<br />[[Dandy Nichols]]<br />[[Mona Washbourne]]
| music          = [[Alan Price]]
| cinematography = [[Miroslav Ondříček]]
| editing        = David Gladwell
| distributor    = [[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1973|06|20}}
| runtime        = 184 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 184:05--><ref>{{cite web|title=''O LUCKY MAN'' (X)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/o-lucky-man-1970-2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307082649/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/o-lucky-man-1970-2|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 March 2018|work=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=1973-04-25|access-date=2013-06-04}}</ref>
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English
}}
'''''O Lucky Man!''''' is a 1973 British [[comedy-drama]] [[fantasy film]] directed by [[Lindsay Anderson]] and starring [[Malcolm McDowell]] as [[Mick Travis]], whom McDowell had first played as a disaffected [[Public school (United Kingdom)|public schoolboy]] in his first film performance in Anderson's ''[[if....]]'' (1968). ''O Lucky Man!'' is the second film in the [[Mick Travis Trilogy]], all starring McDowell, concluding with ''[[Britannia Hospital]]'' (1982).

==Plot==
The film is prefaced by a short story that begins "Once Upon a Time", a silent, black-and-white film that depicts an unnamed country filled with peasant laborers. They pick [[coffee beans]] while armed foremen push rudely between them. One worker (McDowell with black hair and a mustache) pockets a few beans for himself ("Coffee for the Breakfast Table"), but he is discovered by a foreman. He is next seen before a fat [[magistrate]] who slobbers as he removes his cigar only to say "Guilty." The foreman draws his [[machete]] and lays it across the unfortunate laborer's wrists, bound to a wooden block, revealing that he is to lose his hands for the theft of a few beans. The machete rises and falls, and the laborer draws back in a silent scream. The scene blacks out and the title "NOW" appears onscreen and quickly expands to fill it.

During his life journey, [[Mick Travis|Michael Arnold "Mick" Travis]] slowly learns the lesson (reinforced by numerous songs in the soundtrack by [[Alan Price]]), that he must abandon his principles in order to succeed in life. Nevertheless, unlike the other characters he meets, he retains a detached idealism that allows him to distance himself from the evils of the world. Initially, Travis is motivated only by money and material wealth. He progresses from a coffee salesman (working for Imperial Coffee in [[North East England]], where a tailor gifts him a [[gold]]en suit, and later [[Scotland]]) to a victim of torture in a government installation and a medical research subject, under the supervision of Dr. Millar.

In parallel with Travis's experiences, the narration shows 1960s Britain slowly retreating from its [[British Empire|imperial past]] but retaining some influence by means of corrupt dealings with the foreign dictators of countries that had recently fought for their independence. After finding out his girlfriend Patricia is the daughter of Sir James Burgess, an evil industrialist, Travis is appointed Burgess' personal assistant. Burgess is allied with Dr. Munda, the dictator of Zingara (a fictional African country), who has created a brutal [[police state]] and playground for wealthy people from the [[Developed country|developed world]]. Burgess sells the regime a chemical called "PL45 'Honey'", which the dictator sprays on rebel areas; its effects resemble those of [[napalm]]. When public outcry goes international, Burgess conspires to convict Travis of fraud. Travis is imprisoned for five years.

Five years later Travis has finished his sentence, become a model prisoner, and converted to [[humanism]]. He is quickly faced with a bewildering series of assaults upon his new-found idealism ("Look Over Your Shoulder"). While stopping at a slum in London's outskirts he finds out that Patricia and her wealthy husband — whom Patricia married for financial stability while cheating on him with Travis — have lost all of their money and are living in extreme poverty. Travis' misadventures culminate in him being attacked by [[Poverty in the United Kingdom|down-and-outs]] he had been trying to help.

Becoming despondent and wandering the streets, the now-destitute Travis inadvertently becomes involved in a casting call for a film production (with [[Lindsay Anderson]] himself playing the director of the film). He is given various props to handle, including a stack of schoolbooks and a [[Bren light machine gun]] (both reminiscent of Mick Travis' first chapter in the trilogy, ''[[if....]]''). The director believes he has found the protagonist for his new film in Travis, but when asked to smile for his screen test Travis, failing to understand what is being asked of him, is befuddled and repeatedly asks why he should smile since he feels he has no reason to do so. Suddenly, the director slaps Travis with his script book, and Travis, having an [[Epiphany (feeling)|epiphany]], slowly begins to smile. After a cut to black (a device used throughout the film) Travis, wearing the golden suit, is shown dancing at a raucous party ("O Lucky Man!"), which includes all of the film's cast celebrating and finally [[balloon]]s descending from the ceiling.

==Cast==
Many of the actors play several roles.
{{div col}}
* [[Malcolm McDowell]] as [[Mick Travis|Michael Arnold "Mick" Travis]] / Plantation thief
* [[Ralph Richardson]] as Monty / Sir James Burgess
* [[Rachel Roberts (actress)|Rachel Roberts]] as Gloria Rowe / Madame Paillard / Mrs. Richards
* [[Arthur Lowe]] as Mr. Duff / Charlie Johnson / Dr. Munda
* [[Helen Mirren]] as Patricia / Casting call receptionist
* [[Graham Crowden]] as Dr. Millar / Professor Stewart / Meth drinker
* [[Dandy Nichols]] as Tea lady in military installation
* [[Peter Jeffrey]] as Factory chairman / Prison governor
* [[Mona Washbourne]] as Neighbour / Usher / Sister Hallett
* [[Philip Stone]] as Jenkins / Interrogator / Salvation Army major
*[[Mary MacLeod (actress)|Mary MacLeod]] as Mrs. Ball / Salvationist / Vicar's wife
* [[Wallas Eaton]] as John Stone (Coffee Factory) / Col. Steiger / Prison warder / Meths drinker / Film executive
* [[Warren Clarke]] as MC at Wakefield Club / Warner / Male nurse
* [[Bill Owen (actor)|Bill Owen]] as Superintendent Barlow / Inspector Carding
* [[Michael Medwin]] as Army captain / Power station technician / Duke of Belminster
* [[Vivian Pickles]] as Good lady
* [[Geoffrey Palmer (actor)|Geoffrey Palmer]] as Examination doctor / Basil Keyes
* [[Christine Noonan]] as Imperial Coffee assembly line worker / Mavis at Wakefield Club
* [[Geoffrey Chater]] as Bishop / Vicar
* [[Anthony Nicholls (actor)|Anthony Nicholls]] as General / Judge
* [[James Bolam]] as Attenborough / Examination Doctor
* [[Brian Glover]] as Plantation foreman / Bassett (Power Station Guard)
* [[Brian Pettifer]] as Biles
* [[Edward Judd]] as Oswald
* [[Alan Price]] as himself
* [[Jeremy Bulloch]] as Crash victim / Experimental patient / Sign guy
* [[Ben Aris]] as Mr. MacIntyre / Dr. Hyder / Flight Lt. Wallace
* [[Margot Bennett (actress)|Margot Bennett]] as Coffee picker
* [[Anna Dawson]] as Becky
* [[Lindsay Anderson]] (''uncredited'') as Film director
{{div col end}}

==Production==
The film originally began as a script written by McDowell about his experiences as a coffee salesman in his late teens and early 20s. Anderson was unhappy with this treatment, and [[David Sherwin]] worked on the script. Sherwin though was undergoing personal problems at the time, which necessitated Anderson writing a few scenes himself, a skill he did not feel he had. Anderson found working with Czech cinematographer [[Miroslav Ondříček]] much less rewarding than he had on ''if....''. He also doubted his own skills as a director during the film's making, and felt that the film had insufficient preparation. The role of Patricia was recast during production. Originally, [[Fiona Lewis]], best known for appearing in several [[horror film]]s around this time, played the role.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Sutton, Paul|title=Lindsay Anderson: The Diaries|date=2004|location=London|publisher=[[Methuen Publishing]]|pages=256-306|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lindsay_Anderson_Diaries/LaZPAQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover|author=Anderson, Lindsay|authorlink=Lindsay Anderson}}</ref>

''[[Britannia Hospital]]'' (1982) completes the trilogy of films featuring Mick Travis,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/o-lucky-man%21-am8422|publisher=[[AllMovie]]|title=O Lucky Man! Overview|access-date=April 4, 2025}}</ref> which also sees the return of Dr. Millar.<ref>{{cite web|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/04/movies/britannia-hospital-a-satire.html|title='BRITANNIA HOSPITAL,' A SATIRE|date=March 4, 1983|page=10|author=Canby, Vincent}}</ref>

==Soundtrack==
{{music ratings
|rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
|rev2Score = B−<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: P|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=P&bk=70|access-date=10 March 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
}}
[[Alan Price]] said [[Lindsay Anderson]] wanted to make a documentary about Price and his band touring England, but the cost of licensing songs they performed was too high. As Sherwin and McDowell developed the script, Anderson decided Price should write the score and sent him the script, indicating where he would like songs to appear. Price wrote nearly all the songs before filming started.<ref>{{cite video |people=Price, Alan (score) |date=2007-10-30  |title=O Lucky Man! |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070464/ |medium=DVD audio commentary track |publisher=Warner Bros. |location=Burbank, CA }}</ref> Anderson conceived of Price's role as a kind of [[Greek Chorus]], both commenting on and finally appearing as part of the action.

The soundtrack was released as a vinyl album, by [[Warner Bros. Records]], in 1973.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Alan-Price-O-Lucky-Man-The-Original-Soundtrack/release/2299721|title=Alan Price – O Lucky Man! – The Original Soundtrack |year=1973 |publisher=Discogs |access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref> In the U.S., it entered the [[Billboard 200|Top LPs & Tape]] chart on 11 August 1973, and spent 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at no. 117.<ref>{{cite book|last= Whitburn|first= Joel|date= 1996|title= Top Pop Albums 1955-1996|publisher= Record Research Inc.|page= [https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstopp00whit/page/623 623]|isbn= 0-89820-117-9|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstopp00whit/page/623}}</ref>

The score won the 1974 [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1974/film/anthony-asquith-memorial-award|title = 1974 Film Anthony Asquith Memorial Award &#124; BAFTA Awards}}</ref>

===Track listing===
{{div col}}
# "O Lucky Man!"
# "Poor People"
# "Sell Sell"
# "Pastoral"
# "Arrival"
# "Look Over Your Shoulder"
# "Justice"
# "My Home Town"
# "Changes"
# "O Lucky Man!"
{{div col end}}

The song "O Lucky Man!" has lyrics that mirror the fable from the Pasolini's film Uccellacci e uccellini – The Hawk and the Sparrows. “[https://palamidessi.blog/2009/09/22/pasolinis-own-father-son-myth-on-film-uccellacci-e-uccellini/ Takers and fakers and talkers won’t tell you. Teachers and preachers will just buy and sell you. When no one can tempt you with heaven or hell- You’ll be a lucky man!” says the bird.]

The song "Changes" (based on the tune to "[[What a Friend We Have in Jesus]]") was later a chart hit for Price in April 1988 when it was used in a [[Changes (advertisement)|television advertisement of the same name]] for [[Volkswagen Golf]] cars in 1987, starring model [[Paula Hamilton]]. The song "Sell Sell" was recorded by [[Widespread Panic]] for their twelfth studio album ''[[Street Dogs (Widespread Panic album)|Street Dogs]]'' and has been performed by the band on several occasions beginning on 19 February 2012 in [[Aspen, Colorado]] for the final night of their Wood Tour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://everydaycompanion.com/played/SELL.asp|title=Everyday Companion Online – Sell Sell|publisher=everydaycompanion.com|access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref>

===Charts===
{|class="wikitable 
|-
!scope="col"| Chart (1973/74)
!Peak<br/>position
|-
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=238}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 34
|-
|United States ([[Billboard 200]])
| style="text-align:center;"| 117
|}

==Release==
The film was entered into the [[1973 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2292/year/1973.html |title=Festival de Cannes: O Lucky Man! |access-date=2009-04-19|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>

===Versions===
A number of different edits exist, with some American prints removing around twenty minutes including the [[working class]] parody suicide, just before the conclusion of the film. Even both British [[VHS]] releases delete at least one scene present in the BBC broadcast of the film (Travis testing his status in the home of his industrialist patron) in the early eighties.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=O LUCKY MAN! |url=https://rjbuffalo.com/oluckyman.html |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=rjbuffalo.com}}</ref> The original editor's cut was 183 minutes, but the distributor demanded a shorter version. The cinema release was 168 minutes, achieved by accidentally missing "roll 16" during an editing session.<ref name=":0" />

===Home media===
A 2-disc special edition [[DVD region code#1|Region 1]] [[DVD]], including commentary by Malcolm McDowell, David Sherwin and Alan Price, and the feature-length documentary ''O Lucky Malcolm!'', was released by the [[Warner Bros.]] on 30 October 2007.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

==Reception==
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] 80% of reviews from 20 critics reviews were positive with an average rating of 7.7 out of 10.<ref>{{Cite web | url= http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/o_lucky_man/ |title=O Lucky Man |publisher= Rotten Tomatoes }}</ref>

Some critics consider this film one of the best British films ever.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=Alex&surname=Cox|title=The 50 Greatest Films of All Time – Sight & Sound|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=2251 |title= O Lucky Man by John Linton Roberson |access-date=2007-02-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ycba.yale.edu/programs/programs-films.asp |title= Yale Center for British Art |access-date=9 February 2007 }}</ref>

In a negative review for ''[[Creem]]'' in 1973, [[Robert Christgau]] said, "How does an acerbic, good-humored music journeyman like Price (find: ''This Price is Right'', on [[Parrot Records|Parrot]]) fall in with a pompous, overfed con man like Lindsay Anderson? By playing the Acerbic, Good-Humoured Music Journeyman Symbol in a pompous, overfed movie. Two or three deft political songs do not redeem an LP that runs under 25 minutes despite [[filler (music)|filler]]. It figures—the movie is an hour (or three hours) too long."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=November 1973|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/crm7311.php|title=The Christgau Consumer Guide|magazine=[[Creem]]|access-date=3 September 2018}}</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' rated it 2 out of 4 and wrote: "Staying with it through its almost three-hour running time becomes increasingly nerve-racking, like watching superimposed images that never synchronize. The result does not match the ambition of the intention. The wit is too small, too perfunctory, for the grand plan of the film and the quality of the production itself."<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/14/archives/screen-o-lucky-manenglish-comedy-tells-of-a-classic-innocent-the.html|title='O Lucky Man!':English Comedy Tells of a Classic Innocent The Cast|authorlink=Vincent Canby|author=Canby, Vincent|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=14 June 1973}}</ref>

Reviewing the film for [[British Film Institute|BFI]] in May 2024, Stephen Dalton said:
<blockquote>
An anarchic joyride through the tragicomic horrorscape of early 1970s Britain, Lindsay Anderson’s maximalist musical satire ''O Lucky Man!'' has lost little of its disturbing, lurid, carnivalesque power in the half century since it was released. Part bawdy farce, part picaresque road movie, part sprawling state-of-the-nation sermon, this boldly experimental three-hour pageant stars Malcolm McDowell alongside a stellar ensemble cast of British screen stalwarts. ... A heady cocktail of [[Brecht]] and [[Buñuel]], [[Lewis Carroll]] and [[Monty Python]], [[Jean-Luc Godard]] and [[Ken Russell]], ''O Lucky Man!'' still contains plenty to delight, shock and disgust 21st century audiences. Admittedly some elements have dated exceptionally badly, especially the [[Carry On (franchise)|Carry On]]-style depiction of women as pliant nymphomaniacs, and the jarring spectacle of beloved Dad’s Army star Arthur Lowe in full blackface (a decision that would have been unremarkable in 1973, when ''[[The Black and White Minstrel Show]]'' was still a high-rating BBC fixture). Despite this, the film’s rich combination of cynicism and romanticism, jaunty music and bitingly absurd humour, can still feel fresh and spiky today, with its proto-punk contempt for bourgeois good taste.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/o-lucky-man-revisiting-lindsay-andersons-anarchic-1970s-trip-down-rabbit-hole|title=O Lucky Man!, revisiting Lindsay Anderson’s anarchic 1970s trip down the rabbit hole|date=14 May 2024|publisher=[[British Film Institute|BFI]]|author=Dalton, Stephen}}</ref>
</blockquote>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title| 0070464 }}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes| o_lucky_man }}
* {{BritMovie title| O-Lucky-Man_1973 }}
* [http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/o_lucky_man.htm Analysis of ''O Lucky Man!''] by Pete Hoskin

{{Mick Travis}}
{{Lindsay Anderson}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:O Lucky Man}}
[[Category:1973 films]]
[[Category:1973 black comedy films]]
[[Category:1973 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1970s satirical films]]
[[Category:1970s fantasy comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1960s]]
[[Category:British black comedy films]]
[[Category:British fantasy comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:British independent films]]
[[Category:British satirical films]]
[[Category:British sequel films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Lindsay Anderson]]
[[Category:Films set in England]]
[[Category:Films shot in England]]
[[Category:Films partially in color]]
[[Category:1973 independent films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]
[[Category:Films about salespeople]]
[[Category:Warner Records soundtracks]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]