The Complete Picture
The Smiths' Incomplete Video Compilation
Released on 8 December 1992 in VHS format (and on DVD in April 2000), The Complete Picture is a compilation of various Smiths music videos, along with several of their appearances on the UK television program Top of the Pops.
The cover art for the U.S. and Canadian releases features a photograph of actor Richard Davalos from the 1955 film East of Eden1. The image is a studio outtake from a scene that was ultimately shot from a different angle and thus did not appear in the film’s official release. The hand shown belongs to James Dean.
In all other regions the cover art consisted of a photograph of a man and woman sitting side by side at a table2. The photograph, titled “Biker Couple”, was taken by actor and director Dennis Hopper photo and is from his 1986 collection Out Of The Sixties.
The title of the compilation is something of a misnomer at first glance, as it does not include all Smiths music videos. In fact, it is a clever piece of lexical play on Morrissey’s part: when the Hopper photograph is rejoined as it appears across Best… I and Best… II, the complete picture is restored, both literally and rhetorically.
While the track listing shows twelve tracks, the twelfth entry, “The Queen Is Dead,” is in fact a short film by Derek Jarman. The film is structured as a video triptych and includes “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” (track 12.2) and “Panic” (track 12.3)3.
1 This Charming Man (Directed by Tim Broad)4
2 What Difference Does It Make?5
3 Panic (Directed by Derek Jarman)6
4 Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now7
5 Ask (Directed by Derek Jarman)
6 The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (Directed by Ken O’Neill)8
7 How Soon Is Now? (Directed by Paula Greif9 and Richard Levine)10
8 Shoplifters Of The World Unite11
9 Girlfriend In A Coma (Directed by Tim Broad)12
10 Sheila Take A Bow13
11 Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before (Directed by Tim Broad)14
12 The Queen Is Dead (Derek Jarman)
12.2 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Derek Jarman)
12.3 Panic (Derek Jarman)
This photograph was also used for the USA and Canada release of the Smiths’ 1992 Best…I compilation album.
A bifurcated version of this photograph was used in all regions apart from the USA and Canada for the 1992 releases of Best…I (showing the biker woman) and Best…II (showing the biker man).
None of the Smiths appear in this short film by Derek Jarman, which was first screened at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival. The segments devoted to each individual song were later used as promotional music videos.
According to Stéphane at Passions Just Like Mine, two different versions of the promotional video were filmed in 1983, the year the song was first released. The Complete Picture includes footage originally filmed for the UK television program The Tube, broadcast on 4 November 1983. In its original broadcast, the video featured the “London” version of “This Charming Man”. When the same footage was later reused for The Complete Picture, the audio was redubbed with the “Manchester” version of the song. The video shows the band performing in an empty room strewn with flowers, while Morrissey swings a bouquet of gladioli.
The video is taken from the Smiths’ Top of the Pops (BBC1, UK) performance broadcast on 9 February 1984, in which the band lip-synched the song.
This video is the so-called ‘live’ version that has footage from Jarman’s film short along with live footage from a soundcheck before a Smiths concert at Capital Congress Center in Ottawa, Canada on 2 August 1986.
Taken from the Smiths’ Top of the Pops performance broadcast on 31 May 1984, in which the band lip-synched the song.
Filmed at RAK Studios in London where the Smiths were recording The Queen Is Dead.
Greif’s surname appears misspelled as “Grief” in the official release credits
Sire Records, the Smiths’ North American label, produced this video without the band’s authorization, who were reportedly unhappy with it upon release. This displeasure appears to have diminished over time, however, as the video was later included on The Complete Picture. The Sire produced video combines vintage stock footage of industrial landscapes along with concert footage of the band, including a brief moment in which Johnny Marr gives Morrissey an impromptu guitar lesson. The footage of the band was filmed by Smiths sound engineer Grant Showbiz at Sheffield City Hall on 19 March 1984.
Taken from the Smiths’ Top Of The Pops performance broadcast on 5 February 1987. The studio version of the song is dubbed over the footage.
The video consists of close-up images of Morrissey singing against a backdrop of black-and-white clips taken from the 1964 film The Leather Boys. Released in August 1987, it was likely filmed while the status of the band was still unclear, though its release roughly coincided with word of the Smiths’ dissolution. In Autobiography, Morrissey laments that the video, along with that for “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,” is “frustratingly unwatchable, although Tim [Broad] did his best …” (p. 220).
Taken from the Smiths’ Top Of The Pops performance broadcast on 23 April 1987. The studio version of the song is dubbed over the footage.
Filmed on 18 October 1987. As with the video for “Girlfriend In A Coma”, it only features Morrissey, who is seen bicycling around Manchester with a gaggle of look-alike fans.