Cheap Smashing Time (DVD) (Desmond Davis) Price

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Customer Reviews of Smashing Time

Very groovy
For anyone fascinated by the London take on the swinging sixties circa 1966 to 67, this is the one to watch. Actually, there's not that much competition; The Knack is overrated and handicapped by being black and white (this was NOT the time to be black and white), Help! is outrageously cooky and more about the Beatles than the 60s. Darling, and Alfie also spring to mind, but they are less interested in the "scene" than this film is.

The plot is essentially a string of semi-independent set pieces strung together, some more successful than others, but for the 60s connoisseur the great thing is how they all set out to capture the mood and action of the time. Therefore, we have in the front line a hip photographer, a Northern girl manufactured into an overnight pop star, a wild party in the Post Office Tower revolving restaurant (that dates it, doesn't it? Before the bombs...), a far-out boutique named "Too Much" owned by a titled but trendy deb-type, and an "in" restaurant.

What the makers also capture, perhaps unwittingly, is the fact that hip London was just a tiny island in the middle of a sea of a country still emerging only slowly from the morass of post-war penury. So we also see the desperately grimy and dismal streets of London, the inside of a typical Camden café (and we are definitely talking caff here, not caf-fey) and a dismal example of ghastly exploitative TV (no great change there then).

The main thing is the sheer creative exuberance of the time and the joie-de-vivre of the young hipsters. The sixties were radically out of fashion by the Thatcherite eighties, and if you want to know why this film gives a few pointers. The self-confidence and self-importance of the time looked distinctly like adolescent innocence by the time London had run through the terrorism, recession, explosion of sex and violence in film and TV and near collapse of the country in the seventies. Fortunately for those of us with a soft spot for this kind of thing, the last ten years has seen a reevaluation which finally recognises just what a fantastically creative and imaginative period this was.

Not a film to watch for character development or depth, but unparalleled as an inside glimpse of a special corner of the sixties.

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Rediscovered Mod Gem!
Smashing Time is a terrific time capsule of a film. Part silent film slapstick, part New Wave musical, all fun, chockful of 60's clothes, decor, and hair. Plenty of sly visual and verbal humor to bolster the wonderful comic turns from Lynn Redgrave, Rita Tushingham, Michael York and the marvelous Anna Quayle. Fans of camp musical numbers will be ecstatic with Redgrave's hit single, "I'm So Young" -- check out her groovy backup singers! One caveat -- the thick North England accents take a bit of listening before you get in gear. Otherwise, sheer delight.

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Oooh ....Smash-in! Great Nostalgia.
I was just culling my dvd collection and had this movie in the "out" box before I thought I'd have a look at it again. I'm glad I did. It is a wonderful 'time capsule' of Swingin' Sixties London filmed entirely on location. This is a great companion piece to Shawn Levy's book "Ready, Steady, Go!" It shows the fashions, furniture, cars and heads of the 60s but I don't know if this is a send-up of the "scene" or whether it really is the "scene". Either way it's kinda giddy. Two Northern girls arrive in London with high hopes of making it. After a dodgey start and having their money stolen, one (Redgrave) becomes a pop star and the other (Tushingham) a photograhers model. They have personality clashes, a few adventures with local weirdos, realize that there is no place like home, pack it in and take the train back up North. That's basically it. Not really funny anymore (the humor is embarrassing in some places) but great eye candy for jaded baby boomers like myself. The Anchor bay dvd has a good wide screen picture from a nice print. It is NOT anamorphic. There are absolutely no extras on the disc... not even a trailer. I think this obscure little film deserved at least a commentary from some of those concerned. I really enjoyed Spencer Davis' comments on Anchor Bay's "The Ghost Goes Gear" dvd..... another overlooked little gem. Not a classic by any means, but a charmimg little slice of the Sixties.