Britannia Hospital

"Will they ever recover...?"

1982 1h 56m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 74

ComedyScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Britannia Hospital, an esteemed English institution, is marking its gala anniversary with a visit by the Queen Mother herself. But when investigative reporter Mick Travis arrives to cover the celebration, he finds the hospital under siege by striking workers, ruthless unions, violent demonstrators, racist aristocrats, an African cannibal dictator, and sinister human experiments.

“Will they ever recover...?”

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Cast

Graham Crowden
Professor Millar
Leonard Rossiter
Vincent Potter
Malcolm McDowell
Mick Travis
Joan Plowright
Phyllis Grimshaw
Mark Hamill
Red: The Media
Jill Bennett
Dr. MacMillan
Brian Pettifer
Biles
John Moffatt
Greville Figg

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Lindsay Anderson
Writers: David Sherwin
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 9% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

44 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Mick Travis Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Lindsay Anderson, shot by Mike Fash. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alan Price. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Ellis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Graham Crowden and Leonard Rossiter and Malcolm McDowell carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Lindsay Anderson directs. Mike Fash behind the camera. Alan Price scores. Michael Ellis cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 9% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
344 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Part of the "Mick Travis Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Lindsay Anderson, shot by Mike Fash. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alan Price. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Michael Ellis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Graham Crowden and Leonard Rossiter and Malcolm McDowell carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Will they ever recover...?".
10IMDB entry: tt0083694 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Only 74 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Mike Fash
Original score: Alan Price
Editing: Michael Ellis
Production design: Norris Spencer
Makeup / hair: Alan Boyle
Sound: Lionel Strutt
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $375,713
Return: 9% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Britannia Hospital (1982)

Part of

Mick Travis Collection

In the powder-keg political environment of the late sixties, Lindsay Anderson launched a pop-culture Molotov cocktail into British cinemas with his stunningly subversive If…., an anarchic vision of rebellion at a British boarding school starring Malcolm McDowell as the everyman turned guerrilla revolutionary Mick Travis. In two subsequent films—the freewheeling anti-establishment epic O Lucky Man! and the divisive gonzo comedy Britannia Hospital—Anderson and McDowell continued to trace the story of the Travis character and his outlandish adventures in a through-the-looking-glass England.