Wagner as Hitler, Ringo Starr as the pope, and an anatomical anomaly that suggests an unfortunate mishearing – this film just gets worse and worse

Lisztomania (1975)

Director: Ken Russell

Entertainment grade: Fail

History grade: Fail

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a Hungarian composer. He became famous across Europe as a pianist.

Fame

Franz Liszt (Roger Daltrey) is at a party. "Liszt, my dear fellow!" says a fellow composer. "Oh, piss off, Brahms," Liszt sneers, and adds to his companion Richard Wagner (Paul Nicholas): "He's a right wanker." This is the high point of both intellectualism and wit in the film's dialogue. Afterwards, Liszt plays the piano to a throng of screaming teenagers. In the 1840s, long before Elvis, Beatlemania or Justin Bieber, Heinrich Heine coined the term "Lisztomania" to describe the hysteria of Liszt's fans. Women shrieked, swooned, took cuttings of his hair, collected the dregs from his coffee cups, and...