Work Is a Four-Letter Word

If you wanted to distill the crazy patchwork of Birmingham 68, you could do a lot worse than Work Is a Four Letter Word.

Filmed in Ladywood while demolition was in full swing, it concerns an odd young man (David Warner) who gets a job at the local sinister corporation ("every conceivable human need catered for") in order to grow psychedelic mushrooms in their basement. Cilla Black looks on in understandable confusion as the love interest, while the groovy bleeps on the soundtrack are provided by Delia Derbyshire. Yes, this is a real film! Because we are screening from an archival 35mm print, this rare outing will include occasional pauses for reel changes.