O Lucky Man!

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O Lucky Man!
Directed by	Lindsay Anderson
Produced by	Lindsay Anderson
Written by	David Sherwin and Malcolm McDowell (Story)
Starring	Malcolm McDowell Ralph Richardson Rachel Roberts Arthur Lowe Helen Mirren Graham Crowden
Music by	Alan Price
Editing by	David Gladwell
Distributed by	EMI
Release date(s)	1973
Running time	183 min.
Language	English
Preceded by	if....
Followed by	Britannia Hospital
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

O Lucky Man! (1973) is a surreal British film, intended as an allegory on life in a capitalist society. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, it stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, whom McDowell had first played as a disaffected public schoolboy in his debut performance in Anderson's 1968 film if.....

A two disc special edition Region 1 DVD of O Lucky Man! was released Oct 30th, 2007.

Contents 1 Plot Summary 2 Score 3 Cast 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plot Summary

In O Lucky Man!, Travis progresses from coffee salesman (working for sleazy boss Mr Duff) to personal assistant to Sir James Burgess, an evil mastermind. During his journey, Travis learns the amoral lesson, reinforced by numerous songs in the soundtrack by Alan Price, that he must abandon his principles in order to succeed, but unlike the other characters he meets he must retain a detached idealism that will allow him to distance himself from the evils of the world: a fact which causes the film to often be considered a reappropriation of Candide by Voltaire. As one of the film's songs says:

Smile while you're makin' it. Laugh while you're takin' it. Even though you're fakin' it. Nobody's gonna know.

In parallel with Travis' experiences, the film shows 1960s Britain retreating from its imperial past but managing to retain some influence in the world by means of corrupt dealings with foreign dictators.

The film originally began as a script written by McDowell about his experiences as a coffee salesman in his late teens and early 20s.

The final scene of the film shows him becoming involved in a casting call for a film, with Lindsay Anderson himself playing the director of the film. He is given various props to handle, including a stack of school books and a machine gun. When asked to smile Mick continually asks why. The director slaps Travis with his script book after he fails to understand what is being asked of him. After a cut to black (a device used throughout the film) a slow look of understanding crosses Mick's face. The scene then cuts to a party with dancing which includes all of the cast celebrating.

Britannia Hospital (1982) completes the trilogy of films.^[1]

[edit] Score

According to Alan Price, Lindsay Anderson had been frustrated in his efforts to make a documentary featuring Price and his band about touring in England because of the prohibitive cost to license the cover songs they frequently performed. As David Sherwin and Malcolm McDowell developed the script, Anderson decided Price should write the score and sent him the script, indicating where he would like songs to appear; nearly all the songs were written in advance of filming^[2]. Anderson conceived of Price's role as a kind of Greek Chorus, both commenting on and finally appearing as part of the action.

[edit] Cast

Many of the actors play several roles and Alan Price appears in several scenes — both in music video-like numbers where he is seen performing his music, but later interacting directly with Mick Travis — adding to the film's surreal air.

• Mick Travis - Malcolm McDowell
• Monty/Sir James Burgess - Ralph Richardson
• Mr. Duff/Charlie Johnson/Dr. Munda - Arthur Lowe
• Patricia - Helen Mirren
• Doctor Millar Graham Crowden
• Dandy Nichols
• Warren Clarke
• Bill Owen
• Geoffrey Palmer
• Brian Glover

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• O Lucky Man! at the Internet Movie Database
• O Lucky Man! at BritMovie.co.uk
• Analysis of O Lucky Man! by Pete Hoskin