Ken Russell was only involved with a film based upon The Who's 1969 album Who's Next.
Ken Russell . He is best known for his Oscar-winning films Women in Love ( 1969 ) , The Devils ( 1971 ) , The Who 's Tommy ( 1975 ) , and the science fiction film Altered States ( 1980 ) . Russell also directed several films based on the lives of classical music composers , such as Elgar , Delius , Tchaikovsky , Mahler , and Liszt . The Virginian ( 1923 ) is a silent film based upon the Owen Wister novel The Virginian and adapted from the popular 1904 theatrical play Wister had collaborated on with playwright Kirke La Shelle . Tommy is a 1975 British musical fantasy drama film based upon The Who 's 1969 rock opera album Tommy about a seemingly disabled boy who becomes a religious pinball champion .