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"Hammersmith Is Out" (1972)a hilarious take on "Faust" has stayed with me all these years. I hadn't seen it in almost 50 years, but when it came out on DVD, I had to buy it!

This movie is a scream!

Why it's so rarely on TV, cable or otherwise, is beyond me. I've only seen it listed twice in 40 years. It's directed with decidedly politically incorrect tongue-in-cheek satirical panache by none other than Peter Ustinov, letting down his stiff British upper lip.

Richard Burton as Hammersmith was in full-blown "have fun living life with a nod, a wink and a fifth of Scotch" phase, this coming at the phase-out of the Swingin' Sixties and four years after the masterfully, purposefully over-the-top glory of his poet, Macphisto, in the cinematic wonder that is "Candy" (1968).

Through a manner I'll never explain (my lips are sealed), complete psycho Svengali Hammersmith is able to turn the absolute dumbest hayseed the world has ever known, Billy Breedlove (Beau Bridges, who's a riot) into the world's richest man.

Along the way, they pick up the dame, an almost equally dumb and hilarious Elizabeth Taylor, who is such a knockout that words defy description. Zonga!

One pretty good example of Ustinov's ribald, blue-collar Southern type of comedy this is, is demonstrated by the band playing onstage at a club the trio check out: it's an all-girl topless band called the Tits.

Let's hope some enterprising programmer digs this one out. The world must see "Hammersmith Is Out"!.

I saw this film years ago and it is one of the insecurities I remember best along with "The Man w/ the Balloons" and "Always Leave Em Laughing". Tho not an especially good movie (way over the top to be "good") it is memorable! Some scenes stick in my head 40 yrs after seeing it! If you get a chance to see it, take the dive. It's fun, just don't take it seriously.

Peter Ustinov's unjustly obscure Burton-Taylor vehicle. A black comedy updating of Faust to 1970s America, in which obnoxious, nose picking hick Billy Breedlove (Beau Bridges) who works at an insane asylum is taken in by the literally devilish inmate Hammersmith (Richard Burton) who promises to make Breedlove "rich and strong, strong and rich" if he releases him from his cell. Now on the run from the law, the pair are joined by a white trash waitress (Liz Taylor) for a satirical road trip across America, where Hammersmith's ability to make good on his promise sees Breedlove transported from stripclub owner, to big business tycoon to political office. As tends to be the case in Burton-Taylor vehicles though, its not long before everyone is miserable, drunk and yelling insults at each other. Being accused by Taylor's character of having a "monkey penis...peanut balls" is but one of many indignities to befall Breedlove as his pursuit of money, lust and power turns sour. Dare you turn Mr Hammersmith loose?

Slow-witted nut-house orderly Beau Bridges (as William "Billy" C. Breedlove) smells his shirts to determine which to wear, cleans up with breath spray and goes out to the local diner. There, he is fully serviced by beautiful blonde-wigged waitress Elizabeth Taylor (as Jimmie Jean Jackson). The horny pair make plans to run away with criminally insane inmate Richard Burton (as Hammersmith), after Mr. Bridges helps him escape from the asylum. Bridges has made a Faustian deal with Mr. Burton, who is either the devil or a very close associate. With the Burtons on his side, Bridges becomes filthy rich, but there is a price to pay...

This was the last of the Taylor/Burton feature films, which peaked with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966). Many of the couple's subsequent films were so startlingly bad you wonder what was behind their collective thought process. Faust was a favorite topic (especially for Richard) and having smugly humorous Peter Ustinov as director and co-star certainly helps. Today, the tame sex scenes and long segment with the trio out enjoying a topless band called "The Tits" in a topless bar aren't much, but they were not widely distributable in 1972. The film was meant as a comedy for arty urban cinema audiences, apparently...

There were some good reviews and Taylor won a "Best Actress" award at the Berlin Film Festival, but "Hammersmith" didn't exactly set the world on fire. Taylor is typically vulgar - very appealing as the hash-slinging waitress - but the character eventually becomes her standard shrew; this makes its own point, however, in the context of the film. Burton appears pickled but pleased, and Bridges has fun being grungy. Reading "Studies in Anal Retention", Mr. Ustinov keeps his tongues in cheek. Assistant orderly Anthony Holland (as Oldham) secretly enjoys his time in Beau's bed. In a sexy black bathing suit, Taylor splashes water on a perfectly fine copy of "Flash" comics (#205, April/May 1971). The door was left open for a sequel, but got shut up...

******* Hammersmith Is Out (5/12/72) Peter Ustinov ~ Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Beau Bridges, Peter Ustinov

I must admit that I did not see this film until around 1995, when the film was already 23 years old.

I have never read Faust, or even had an understanding of his works, but that did not lessen the pure escapist joy I had watching this film. The theme music stays with me to this day, and I have only seen the film ONCE! That's right, saw the film ONCE 15 years ago, and I can still hum the theme song, even with the campy 70's chorus...

Burton is solid as always - not quite up there with "Where Eagles Dare", but certainly watchable. Ustinov and Bridges (and Taylor) do a decent enough job in keeping up.

This film is a (very) rare gem, I have only seen it on television ONCE, and I have never seen it on VHS or disc. This film has achieved cult status with myself, mainly due to the fact that I saw it once only, and watched it with my wise-cracking comedian brother. Whenever we need to make a hippie in-joke, we'll start singing the theme tune.

A film so strange (not Eraserhead strange, but odd and out-of-place) that it rightly deserves a cult-film status. I gave it a 7 rating, but this may have been as low as 4 if I had been subjected to repeated viewings... like "It's a Beautiful Life"! Enjoy it if you can ever find it...