O Lucky Man!

"Smile while you’re makin’ it. Laugh while you’re takin’ it. Even though you’re fakin’ it. Nobody’s gonna know …"

1973 3h 4m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🍅

82%

FRESH

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 122🍅82%Rotten Tomatoes★7.6IMDB · 8,949

ComedyMusicFantasyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An ambitious coffee salesman has a series of improbable and ironic adventures seemingly designed to challenge his naive idealism.

“Smile while you’re makin’ it. Laugh while you’re takin’ it. Even though you’re fakin’ it. Nobody’s gonna know …”

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Cast

Malcolm McDowell
Michael Arnold Travis / Plantation Thief
Ralph Richardson
Sir James Burgess / Monty
Rachel Roberts
Gloria Rowe / Madame Paillard / Mrs. Richards
Arthur Lowe
Mr. Duff / Charlie Johnson / Dr. Munda
Helen Mirren
Patricia / Casting Assistant
Graham Crowden
Stewart / Prof. Millar / Meths Drinker
Peter Jeffrey
Factory Chairman / Prison Governor
Dandy Nichols
Tea Lady / Neighbour

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Lindsay Anderson
Writers: David Sherwin, Malcolm McDowell
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

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

RUNTIME

Did you know

At 184 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

53 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 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#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Lindsay Anderson directs. Miroslav Ondříček behind the camera. Alan Price scores. David Gladwell cuts. A long sit — settle in. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1At 184 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.
2Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
353 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
5Part of the "Mick Travis Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Lindsay Anderson, shot by Miroslav Ondříček. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Alan Price. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor David Gladwell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Malcolm McDowell and Ralph Richardson and Rachel Roberts carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Smile while you’re makin’ it. Laugh while you’re takin’ it. Even though you’re fakin’ it. Nobody’s gonna know …".
11IMDB entry: tt0070464 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 11 themes, including "dark comedy", "surreal", "ambition", "film in film".

The technical file

Cinematography: Miroslav Ondříček
Original score: Alan Price
Editing: David Gladwell
Production design: Jocelyn Herbert
Makeup / hair: Colin Jamison
Runtime: 184 min · 3h 4m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,500,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: O Lucky Man! (1973)
Rotten Tomatoes: 82% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 8,949 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 2 BAFTA 3 wins & 2 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

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.