Crazy Rock Opera ‘Tommy’ Gets the IMAX Treatment for its Golden Jubilee

Ann-Margret, God bless her, is still with us. The actress, singer, and dancer born with an actual surname — that would be Olsson — will be 85 years of age next month. Though she isn’t as ubiquitous a cultural presence as she was in the 1960s and ’70s, Ann-Margret has appeared in recent entertainments like Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method” (2018-21), Zach Braff’s “Going In Style” (2017), and Michael Lembeck’s “Queen Bees” (2021).Do you remember her turn as Nora Walker in Ken Russell’s “Tommy” (1975)? A 4K restoration of the film is playing selected theaters on the occasion of its 50th anniversary; some of the venues will be exhibiting it in IMAX. For those familiar with Russell’s movie, the thought of it on a huge screen is mind-boggling. Tina Turner shimmying her famed gams is one thing; watching them on the scale of an 8-storey building quite another.Turner’s performance as the Acid Queen was among the first steps the R&B singer took in establishing herself as a solo performer after breaking with band leader husband, Ike. Other rock stars featured include Eric Clapton, Sir Elton John and, of course, The Who, the primary songwriter of which was Pete Townshend. He was the guiding hand behind the band’s 1969 concept album on which “Tommy” was based.All of which is to point out that Ann-Margret is a performer who was outside the rock’n’roll norm. Sure, she starred in one of Elvis Presley’s better features, “Viva Las Vegas” (1963). But even though Ann-Margret was of the same generation as the British Invasion bands, she was of a different cultural milieu. The comedian George Burns was a mentor; the songwriters Rodgers and Hammerstein, lodestars. Showbiz, not rebellion, was her forte.But Ann-Margret is a hard-working pro, and her diligence as an entertainer fed into her performance as the mother of a deaf, dumb and blind kid who “sure plays a mean pinball.” The upshot of rewatching “Tommy” in 2026 is just how good she is as an actress. Her performance is staggering. Forget the Who: Ann-Margret walks away with “Tommy,” pure and simple.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences saw fit to nominate her for Best Actress — she lost out to Louise Fletcher for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” — and should you want to witness one actress’s talent and gumption, put “Tommy” at the top of the to-do list. Should a movie musical be on the agenda, bear in mind that Ken Russell was no Stanley Donen or Vincente Minnelli: Outrage and disjunction were the man’s forte. In terms of directorial fluency, there is little that is musical in “Tommy.”As a series of extravagant set pieces, Russell’s picture does have its attractions. The director’s pop-inflected pretensions and taste for kitsch have aged about as well as a bedside lava lamp, but there are moments in “Tommy” that retain an over-the-top, in-your-face esprit. There’s Sir Elton wearing a 48″-high pair of Doc Martens, Paul Nicholas doing a devilish turn as a bully, and Oliver Reed on a lark as Tommy’s stepfather. Jack Nicholson is also on hand, having a devilish time arching his eyebrows and flashing that killer smile. Can he sing? Mr. Nicholson warbles along to the tunes as best he is able.The Who’s messianic rock opera was always a lumpish thing, silly in its particulars and hoary in portent. As a composer and librettist, Mr. Townshend did better work on the Who’s 1973 album, “Quadrophenia,” a venture that, not coincidentally, resulted in a better film of the same name by Franc Roddam. Still, Russell’s “Tommy” stands as a testament to one woman’s gifts. Ann-Margret, take a bow.

Crazy Rock Opera ‘Tommy’ Gets the IMAX Treatment for its Golden Jubilee

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