Britannia Hospital (1982)

Director:

Lindsay Anderson

Writer:

David Sherwin (writer)

Release Date:

27 May 1982 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Will they ever recover ... ?

Plot:

Mick Travis is a reporter who is about to shoot a documentary on Britannia Hospital, an institution which mirrors the downsides of British Society...

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Sequel | Black Comedy | Surrealism | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Leonard Rossiter	...	Vincent Potter
Brian Pettifer	...	Biles
John Moffatt	...	Greville Figg
Fulton Mackay	...	Chief Superintendant Johns
Vivian Pickles	...	Matron
Barbara Hicks	...	Miss Tinker
Graham Crowden	...	Professor Millar
Jill Bennett	...	Dr. MacMillan
Peter Jeffrey	...	Sir Geoffrey
Marsha A. Hunt	...	Nurse Amanda Persil (as Marsha Hunt)
Catherine Willmer	...	Dr. Houston
Mary MacLeod	...	Casualty Sister
Joan Plowright	...	Phyllis Grimshaw
Robin Askwith	...	Ben Keating
Dave Atkins	...	Sharkey
Malcolm McDowell	...	Mick Travis
Mark Hamill	...	Red
Frank Grimes	...	Sammy / Voice of Genesis
Peter Machin	...	Peter Mancini
Marcus Powell	...	Sir Anthony Mount
John Bett	...	Lady Felicity
Gladys Crosbie	...	Queen Mother
Rufus Collins	...	Odingu
Ram John Holder	...	Aide
Jim Findley	...	Aide (as Jim Findlay)
Pauline Melville	...	Clarissa
Kevin Lloyd	...	Picket
Robert Pugh	...	Picket
Robbie Coltrane	...	Picket
Dandy Nichols	...	Florrie
Glenn Williams	...	Whooley (as Glen Williams)
Brian Glover	...	Painter
Mike Grady	...	Painter
Tony Haygarth	...	Fraser
Jagdish Kumar	...	Sen
Patrick Durkin	...	Blodgett
Paddy Joyce	...	Feeney
Richard Griffiths	...	Cheerful Bernie
Dave Hill	...	Jeff
Charmian May	...	Miss Diamond
Valentine Dyall	...	Mr. Rochester
Roland Culver	...	General Wetherby
Betty Marsden	...	Hermione
Adele Strong	...	Old Lady
Ted Burnett	...	Taxi Driver
Gabrielle Lloyd	...	Private Nurse
Barbara Flynn	...	Private Nurse
Val Pringle	...	President Ngami
Robert Lee	...	Mr. Banzai
Errol Shaker	...	Captain Mbwami
Alan Penn	...	Padre
Liz Smith	...	Maisie
Robin Davies	...	Adrian
John Gordon Sinclair	...	Gregory (as Gordon John Sinclair)
Bob Hornery	...	BBC Cameraman
Paul McCleary	...	Assistant
Paul Kember	...	Sound Recordist
Jane Stonehouse	...	P.A.
Patricia Healey	...	Intensive Care Sister (as Patricia Healey)
Rosemary Martin	...	Casualty Nurse
Robert Owen	...	Ambulanceman
Ellis Dale	...	Man in Wheelchair
Maggie Ollerenshaw	...	Miss Rowntree
Elizabeth Bennett	...	Nurse / Demonstrator
Patsy Byrne	...	Nurse
Brenda Cavendish	...	Nurse
David Daker	...	Guest Workman
Edward Peel	...	Guest Workman
Alan Bates	...	Macready
Arthur Lowe	...	Guest Patient
T.P. McKenna	...	Theatre Surgeon
Michael Medwin	...	Theatre Surgeon
Edward Hibbert	...	Theatre Surgeon
Peter Holmes	...	Theatre Surgeon
Salmaan Peerzada	...	Theatre Surgeon (as Salmaan Peer)
Janette Foggo	...	Theatre Nurse
Cora Kinnaird	...	Theatre Nurse
Joshua Bancel	...	Demonstrator
Burt Caesar	...	Demonstrator
Jo Cameron Brown	...	Demonstrator (as Joe Cameron-Brown)
Ginnette Clarke	...	Demonstrator
Paul Cooper	...	Demonstrator
Jo Crawford	...	Demonstrator
Ronny Cush	...	Demonstrator
Derek Hollis	...	Demonstrator
Di Langford	...	Demonstrator
Roy Macready	...	Demonstrator
Roger Martin	...	Demonstrator
Verity Anne Meldrum	...	Demonstrator
Marsha Miller	...	Demonstrator
Yasmin Pettigrew	...	Demonstrator
Martin Ransley	...	Demonstrator
George Savvides	...	Demonstrator
James Stephens	...	Demonstrator
David Telfer	...	Demonstrator
Helen Webb	...	Demonstrator
Major Wiley	...	Demonstrator
Eilian Wynn	...	Demonstrator (as Eilian Wyn)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Derek Lyons	...	Patient (uncredited)

Directed by
Lindsay Anderson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
David Sherwin		writer

Produced by
Davina Belling	....	producer
John Comfort	....	associate producer
Clive Parsons	....	producer

Original Music by
Alan Price

Cinematography by
Mike Fash

Film Editing by
Michael Ellis

Casting by
Patsy Pollock

Production Design by
Norris Spencer

Set Decoration by
Simon Wakefield

Makeup Department
Alan Boyle	....	makeup artist
Linda DeVetta	....	makeup supervsior
Nick Maley	....	special makeup effects
Patricia McDermott	....	hair stylist (as Pat McDermott)
Marian Nicholson	....	special makeup effects crew (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Murray	....	assistant director
Terry Needham	....	first assistant director
Roger Simons	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Roy Evans	....	construction manager
John Leuenberger	....	property master
Keith Pain	....	assistant art director
Roger Cain	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Chandler	....	boom operator
Ian Fuller	....	sound editor
David Grimsdale	....	assistant sound editor
Alan Pattillo	....	sound effects editor
Hugh Strain	....	dubbing mixer
Lionel Strutt	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bruce White	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Peter Aston	....	additional special effects
Richard Conway	....	special effects technician
George Gibbs	....	special effects supervisor
Steve Hamilton	....	special effects technician
David McCall	....	special effects technician (as Dave McCall)

Visual Effects by
Roy Field	....	optical effects supervisor (uncredited)
Charles Stoneham	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Joe Dunne	....	stunt coordinator
Eddie Stacey	....	stunt coordinator
Stuart St. Paul	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Connor	....	still photographer
Tony Cridlin	....	grip
Simon Hume	....	clapper loader
Mike Miller	....	focus puller
Mike Roberts	....	camera operator
Laurie Shane	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ian Hickinbotham	....	wardrobe supervisor
Monica Howe	....	wardrobe consultant
Keith Morton	....	wardrobe master
Sue Wain	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Gordon Brown	....	assistant editor
Dennis McTaggart	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Derek Wadsworth	....	conductor
Derek Wadsworth	....	music arranger
Derek Wadsworth	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Valerie Booth	....	continuity
Marilyn Clarke	....	production assistant
William Lang	....	location manager (as Bill Lang)
Catherine O'Brien	....	unit publicist
Richard Tombleson	....	assistant to director
Christina Weiss Lurie	....	assistant to director
Gerry Wheatley	....	production accountant

Production Companies

• EMI Films

Distributors

• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (video)
• Studio Canal (2006) (worldwide) (all media)
• Thorn EMI Video Australia
• United Artists Classics (1983) (USA)

Special Effects

• Optical Film Effects (uncredited)

Other Companies

• G.P.C.  titles
• Joe Dunton & Company  camera equipment provided by
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment
• Mayflower Recording  adr recording

Runtime:

116 min | USA:111 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Friern Barnet Hospital, Friern Barnet Road, Friern Barnet, London, England, UK

Company:

EMI Films

Trivia:

Some British critics walked out of its first screening at the Cannes Film Festival.

Quotes:

Professor Millar: Friends! Fellow Members of the Human Race! We are gathered here for a purpose. Let us look together at Mankind. What do we see? We see Mastery. What wonders Mankind can perform. He can cross the oceans and continents today, as easily as our grandfathers crossed the street...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Unforgettable Arthur Lowe (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

RULE BRITANNIA

Sad ending to Mick Travis

"Britannia Hospital" was not exhibited (although advertised) in Panamá in 1982, so I didn't have a chance to see the last part of the Mick Travis trilogy, created by Lindsay Anderson and David Sherwin. In the early 1990's I found a video copy of the film, but not until now have I seated to watch the film, after enjoying two Ealing comedies ("Kind Hearts and Coronets" and "The Man In the White Suit") that surprised me one more time for the pleasant way that social and political issues are usually treated in British cinema. (MILD SPOILERS) Social issues are all over "Britannia Hospital", the most saddening conclusion I have ever seen of a character, though luckily not affecting the admiration I have for the two previous films. "if...." (1968) introduced Mick (Malcolm McDowell) as a rebel in a public school; in "O Lucky Man" (1973) he was a young man seeking a job in the capitalist world, and in this final appearance, Mick has returned from the USA and apparently works as a spy -with a mini video camera- for an American TV station (represented by Mark Hamill, completely stoned inside a mobile unit) in the coverage of the anniversary of Britannia Hospital (metaphor of the United Kingdom) and the launching of a sinister Frankenstein-type project, while the workers are on strike, militants demand the exit of an African dictator from the hospital, with his wives, children and staff, and Her Royal Highness is on her way to the festivities. The riot takes place, but what is really violent is the way Mick is dispatched. In the previous films, there were elements of fantasy handled beautifully, even in a poetic way, but this time writer David Sherwin turned the story into a Stuart Gordon fest, which Anderson relished with a scene right out of "Re-Animator". This impression is so strong, that it casts a dark shadow over the final sequence when the Genesis project (which recites Shakespeare) is presented to all. Many familiar faces were welcome (Alan Bates, Joan Plowright, Graham Crowden, Jill Bennett, Liz Smith, Vivian Pickles, Marsha A. Hunt, and Robin Askwith), but it's a pity that Anderson and Sherwin decided to end the trilogy in such an extreme and rude fashion.