Tommy Film locations, Portsmouth

BERNIE'S HOLIDAY CAMP SWIMMING POOL
Hilsea Lido, Swimming Pool, Hilsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire

THE CHURCH OF MARILYN MONROE

St Andrew's Church, Henderson Road, Eastney, Portsmouth, Hampshire.

This church was built to serve the Royal Marines Eastney barracks and was dedicated at a service on 17 November 1905 by the Lord Bishop of Winchester, it was built to the design known as 'Admiralty Pattern Churches'. Following the closure of Eastney Barracks in 1991 this building has subsequently been redeveloped into private housing.

In the film Tommy the "Church of Marilyn Monroe" scene is a surreal and darkly satirical moment that explores the commercialization and superficiality of religion. In this sequence, the church functions as a twisted place of worship where Marilyn Monroe, symbolizing fame and glamor, is treated as a saintly figure. At the center of the church is a statue of Marilyn in her iconic pose from The Seven Year Itch, with her white dress billowing upward, a striking and almost sacrilegious image that the worshippers revere with ritualistic intensity.

TOMMY BATTLES TO BE PINBALL WIZARD

The King's Theatre, Albert Road, Southsea, Hampshire.

In this scene Tommy battles against Elton John (character name Local Lad), wearing a massively high pair of Doc Marten boots, for supremacy as the Pinball Wizard, Tommy of course won the competition.

The boots modelled on the classic cherry red, Doc Marten, were 4ft 6½ inches high and constructed from glass fibre.

Elton John kept the boots after filming Tommy, he later sold them at one of his famous auctions in 1988, they were bought by a director of R Griggs, the makers of Dr. Martens.

TOMMY'S HOME AND OTHER SCENES
Fort Purbrook, Portsdown Hill Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire

In the film Tommy, scenes filmed at Fort Purbrook on Portsdown Hill Road, Portsmouth, were used for sequences involving the transformation of Tommy's family home into a surreal, cult like environment. The fortress like appearance of Fort Purbrook, with its imposing Victorian architecture, made it an ideal location for these scenes, capturing the intense and often unsettling atmosphere central to Tommy's storyline.

One of the most notable scenes shot at Fort Purbrook was the sequence where Tommy's followers gather, echoing a religious or cult like assembly. After Tommy, played by Roger Daltrey, regains his senses, he inadvertently becomes a spiritual leader, and people begin flocking to him as a kind of messianic figure. The fort's grand, fortress layout is used to great effect, serving as the backdrop for these gatherings, with rows of followers practicing rituals and looking to Tommy for guidance. This setting amplifies the film's themes of blind faith and the dangers of idolization, as the fort's structure adds a feeling of confinement and intensity to the scenes.

BERNIES HOLIDAY CAMP BALLROOM

South Parade Pier, South Parade, Southsea, Hants, PO4 0SW.

During the filming of Tommy in 1974, a significant fire broke out at South Parade Pier in Southsea, Portsmouth, where the production was shooting. This iconic scene in the film was part of Ken Russell's adaptation of The Who’s rock opera. The pier fire, which was partially scripted as a controlled event for the scene, quickly escalated beyond control, causing substantial damage to the structure.

The pier, which was already in a fragile state, was supposed to host a scene in which Roger Daltrey, playing the title character Tommy, is sent tumbling down the pier during a hallucinatory sequence. However, when the small, intended fire got out of hand, it engulfed much of the pier in flames, leading to a dramatic, unscripted moment for both the production and the locals who gathered to watch. Firefighters arrived to contain the blaze, but by the time they managed to bring it under control, significant portions of the pier had been damaged.

The incident became a memorable part of both Tommy's production history and South Parade Pier’s local lore. The pier was subsequently rebuilt and remains a landmark, but the fire underscored the sometimes chaotic and intense nature of Ken Russell’s filmmaking style. For the community, it added a layer of notoriety to the pier’s long history and contributed to its legend as a cultural site.

POUNDS SCRAPYARD, TIPNER

The scrapyard at Tipner, at the top of Portsmouth harbour, was opened just after the Second World War and is where much of the discarded military equipment from Portsmouth Dockyard ended up. It is now under re-development for housing and is situated just to the East of the M275 motorway, behind the Park and Ride site.

In this scene at the climax to the film, scrap maritime marker bouys were spray painted silver to depict giant pinballs, Tommy navigates his way through a surreal scene of giant pinballs and collections of burning pinball machines, after his followers riot and destroy the holiday camp.

The cast of Tommy

• Roger Daltrey as Tommy Walker
• Ann-Margret as Nora Walker
• Oliver Reed as Frank Hobbs (Uncle Frank)
• Tina Turner as The Acid Queen
• Elton John as The Pinball Wizard
• Eric Clapton as The Preacher
• Keith Moon as Uncle Ernie/Himself
• Paul Nicholas as Cousin Kevin
• Jack Nicholson as The Specialist
• Robert Powell as Group Captain Walker
• Pete Townshend as Himself
• John Entwistle as Himself
• Arthur Brown as The Priest
• Victoria Russell as Sally Simpson
• Ben Aris as Reverend Arthur Simpson
• Mary Holland as Mrs. Simpson
• Gary Rich as Rock Musician
• Dick Allan as President Black Angels
• Barry Winch as Young Tommy
• Eddie Stacey as Bovver boy
• Ken Russell (uncredited) as Cripple