More July Birthdays - KEN RUSSELL July 3, 1927 – November 27. 2011.

Russell on the set of The Boyfriend (1971)

Also this month genuinely outrageous maverick British auteur Ken Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011), whose best films pack a jolt of baroque bad taste and an eye for the grotesque. As critic Mark Kermode correctly assessed, Russell “proved that British cinema didn't have to be about kitchen-sink realism —it could be every bit as flamboyant Fellini.” Of course, I love Russell’s bona fide masterworks like Women in Love (1969) (I certainly appreciate Oliver Reed and Alan Bates’ nude wrestling scene) and The Devils (1971). But I also like his lesser regarded later works like Valentino (1977), Crimes of Passion (1984), Gothic (1986), The Lair of the White Worm (1988) and Whore (1991). And I'm eternally grateful to Russell for giving the opportunity for the glorious sex-kitten-gone-berserk Ann-Margret (pictured) and hot tamale Tina Turner to go full-tilt batshit crazy in Tommy (1975)!

Ken Russell, July 3, 1927 – November 27. 2011

Ann-Margret Tommy 1975