That'll Be The Day (film)
Encyclopedia
That'll Be the Day is a 1973 British
film starring David Essex
and Ringo Starr
, written by Ray Connolly
and directed by Claude Whatham
. It is set in the late '50s/early '60s and was partially filmed on the Isle of Wight
. A sequel, Stardust
, was released in 1974.
) mother was abandoned by his father when he was young. Later, as a suburban school dropout, Jim leaves home and drifts through a succession of dead-end jobs until he finds an outlet for his frustration in rock 'n' roll. Tossing away the chance of a university education much to the consternation of his mother, alienated MacLaine becomes a lowly deckchair attendant before streetwise friend Mike (Ringo Starr
) gets him a job firstly as a barman and then with the fun fair. The initially shy MacLaine quickly becomes a heartless fairground Romeo leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake. Eventually the prodigal son returns home to run the family store and marry his girlfriend, but despite the birth of a son, restless Jim feels the lure of rock’n’roll again.
/The Beatles
and Rory Storm & The Hurricanes
, said to be the inspiration for the group in the movie lead by character.
Many of the characters were played by musicians who had lived through the era portrayed in the film including Ringo Starr of The Hurricanes and The Beatles, Billy Fury
of The Hurricanes, Keith Moon
of The Who
, and John Hawken
of The Nashville Teens
.
The film was produced by David Puttnam
and is loosely based on the Harry Nilsson
song "1941."
Critic Anne Billson was less enthusiastic, calling it a "Hugely overrated dip into the rock'n'roll nostalgia bucket, ... " and "Youth culture my eye: they're all at least a decade too old. But good tunes, and worth catching for Billy Fury
's gold lamé act."
.
BAFTA Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles: David Essex
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
film starring David Essex
David Essex
David Essex OBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Since the 1970s, Essex has attained nineteen Top 40 singles in the UK , and sixteen Top 40 albums...
and Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, written by Ray Connolly
Ray Connolly
Ray Connolly is an English novelist, screenwriter and journalist.He is perhaps best known for writing the screenplays for the films That’ll Be the Day and the sequel Stardust and for his many interviews with the Beatles...
and directed by Claude Whatham
Claude Whatham
Claude Whatham was an English Film and television director mainly known for his work on dramas.-Career:...
. It is set in the late '50s/early '60s and was partially filmed on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. A sequel, Stardust
Stardust (1974 film)
Stardust is a 1974 British film directed by Michael Apted and starring David Essex and Adam Faith. The film is the sequel to the 1973 film That'll Be The Day...
, was released in 1974.
Plot summary
Jim MacLaine's (David EssexDavid Essex
David Essex OBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Since the 1970s, Essex has attained nineteen Top 40 singles in the UK , and sixteen Top 40 albums...
) mother was abandoned by his father when he was young. Later, as a suburban school dropout, Jim leaves home and drifts through a succession of dead-end jobs until he finds an outlet for his frustration in rock 'n' roll. Tossing away the chance of a university education much to the consternation of his mother, alienated MacLaine becomes a lowly deckchair attendant before streetwise friend Mike (Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
) gets him a job firstly as a barman and then with the fun fair. The initially shy MacLaine quickly becomes a heartless fairground Romeo leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake. Eventually the prodigal son returns home to run the family store and marry his girlfriend, but despite the birth of a son, restless Jim feels the lure of rock’n’roll again.
Characters
The film was praised at the time for its gritty realism, capturing the influence of the early Liverpool days of The QuarrymenThe Quarrymen
The Quarrymen are a British skiffle and rock and roll group, initially formed in Liverpool in 1956, that eventually evolved into The Beatles in 1960...
/The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and Rory Storm & The Hurricanes
Rory Storm
Rory Storm was an English singer and musician. Born Alan Caldwell in Liverpool, Storm was the singer and leader of Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, a Liverpudlian band who were contemporaries of The Beatles in the late 1950s, and early 1960s...
, said to be the inspiration for the group in the movie lead by character.
Many of the characters were played by musicians who had lived through the era portrayed in the film including Ringo Starr of The Hurricanes and The Beatles, Billy Fury
Billy Fury
Billy Fury, born Ronald William Wycherley , was an internationally successful English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death...
of The Hurricanes, Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, and John Hawken
John Hawken
John Hawken John Hawken John Hawken (born John Christopher Hawken, 9 May 1940, at Christchurch General Hospital, Bournemouth, Hampshire (now Dorset) is a British keyboard player. He studied classical piano between the ages of four and eighteen at which point he succumbed to the lure of rock and roll...
of The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens are a British pop band formed in Weybridge, Surrey in Summer 1962.-History:Arthur Sharp began his career in music as the manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surrey...
.
The film was produced by David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
and is loosely based on the Harry Nilsson
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
song "1941."
Critic Anne Billson was less enthusiastic, calling it a "Hugely overrated dip into the rock'n'roll nostalgia bucket, ... " and "Youth culture my eye: they're all at least a decade too old. But good tunes, and worth catching for Billy Fury
Billy Fury
Billy Fury, born Ronald William Wycherley , was an internationally successful English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death...
's gold lamé act."
Cast
- David EssexDavid EssexDavid Essex OBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Since the 1970s, Essex has attained nineteen Top 40 singles in the UK , and sixteen Top 40 albums...
. . . Jim Maclaine - Rosemary LeachRosemary LeachRosemary Leach is a British stage, television and film actress.She was born at Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Her parents were teachers related to Edmund Leach. She attended grammar school and RADA...
. . . Mary Maclaine - James BoothJames BoothJames Booth was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though handsome enough to play leading roles, and versatile enough to play a wide variety of character parts, Booth naturally projected a shifty, wolfish, or unpredictable quality that led inevitably to villainous roles...
. . . Mr. Maclaine - Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
. . . Mike - Robert LindsayRobert Lindsay (actor)Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.-Early life:Lindsay was...
. . . Terry Sutcliffe - Rosalind AyresRosalind AyresRosalind Ayres is an English actress. Active since 1970, Ayres may be best known by a wide audience for her role was in the 1997 film Titanic, in which she played Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon....
. . . Jeanette Sutcliffe - Billy FuryBilly FuryBilly Fury, born Ronald William Wycherley , was an internationally successful English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death...
. . . Stormy Tempest - Tony Rayment . . . Jive Dancer
- Keith MoonKeith MoonKeith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
. . . J.D. Clover - Deborah WatlingDeborah WatlingDeborah Watling is a British actress best known for her role as Victoria Waterfield, a companion of the Second Doctor in the BBC television series Doctor Who....
. . . Sandra - Karl HowmanKarl HowmanKarl Howman is an English actor and also a British voice-over artist.He is well known but notable to many television viewers for his work as Jacko in the mid-1980's and early-90's BBC TV sitcom Esmonde and Larbey's Brush Strokes and as the title character in the series Mulberry .However Howman first...
. . . Johnny Swinburne - Beth MorrisBeth MorrisBethany Morris is a British actress.She is probably best known for her performance as Drusilla in the 1976 BBC adaptation of I, Claudius...
. . . Jean - Sacha Puttnam . . . young Jim Maclaine
Soundtrack
Both That'll Be the Day and the sequel Stardust:- Neil SedakaNeil SedakaNeil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
- "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" - Maxine BrownMaxine Brown (soul singer)Maxine Ella Brown is an American soul and R&B singer.-Background and career:Maxine Brown began singing as a child, performing with two New York based gospel groups called the Angelairs and the Royaltones when she was a teenager...
- "Oh No Not My Baby" - Bobby VeeBobby VeeRobert Thomas Velline , known as Bobby Vee, is an American pop music singer. According to Billboard magazine, Vee has had 38 Hot 100 chart hits, 10 of which hit the Top 20.-Career:...
- "Take Good Care Of My Baby" - Del ShannonDel ShannonDel Shannon was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter who had a No. 1 hit, "Runaway", in 1961.- Biography :...
- "Hats Off To Larry" - The ZombiesThe ZombiesThe Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
- "She's Not There" - Bobby DarinBobby DarinBobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
- "Dream Lover" - Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas - "Do You want To Know A Secret"
- Dave EdmundsDave EdmundsDavid 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first...
and The Electricians - "Da Do Ron Ron" - The Beach BoysThe Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
- "I Get Around" - The DriftersThe DriftersThe Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
- "Up On The Roof" - Diana Ross and the Supremes - "Baby Love"
- The ChiffonsThe ChiffonsThe Chiffons was an all girl group originating from the Bronx area of New York in 1960.-Biography:The Chiffons were one of the top girl groups of the early 1960s...
- "One Fine Day" - Little EvaLittle EvaEva Narcissus Boyd , known by the stage name of Little Eva , was an American pop singer.-Biography:...
- "The Locomotion" - Tommy RoeTommy RoeTommy Roe is an American pop music singer-songwriter.Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" and "Dizzy" , critic Bill Dahl wrote that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his...
- "Dizzy" - The FortunesThe FortunesThe Fortunes are an English harmony beat group. Formed in Birmingham, The Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US and UK Top 10s...
- "You've Got Your Troubles" - Martha Reeves and The Vandellas - "Dancing In The Street"
- Carole KingCarole KingCarole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
- "It Might As Well Rain Until SeptemberIt Might As Well Rain Until September"It Might As Well Rain Until September" is a 1962 song originally written for Bobby Vee by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. King recorded the demo version of the song, however Vee's management baulked at releasing the song as a single, instead using it only as an album track...
" - Little Stevie Wonder - "Uptight"
- Jan and DeanJan and DeanJan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
- "Surf City" - Cat StevensCat StevensYusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
- "Matthew & Son" - Barbara LewisBarbara LewisBarbara Lewis , is an American singer and songwriter whose smooth style influenced rhythm and blues.-Career:Lewis was born in Salem, near Ann Arbor, Michigan...
- "Baby I'm Yours" - Barbara Lewis - "Make Me Your baby"
- Jimmy RuffinJimmy RuffinJimmy Ruffin is an American soul singer, and elder brother of the late David Ruffin of The Temptations. He had several hit records between the 1960s and 1980s, the most successful being "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted."-Life:...
- "What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted" - The ShirellesThe ShirellesThe Shirelles were an African-American girl group that achieved popularity in the early 1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens , Doris Coley , Addie "Micki" Harris , and Beverly Lee...
- "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" - The Box TopsThe Box TopsThe Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...
- "The Letter" - The Mamas and The Papas - "Monday Monday"
- The Lovin' SpoonfulThe Lovin' SpoonfulThe Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
- "Summer In The City"
Chart positions
| Chart | Year | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1973 | 1 |
Award Nominations
BAFTA Best Supporting Actress: Rosemary LeachRosemary Leach
Rosemary Leach is a British stage, television and film actress.She was born at Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Her parents were teachers related to Edmund Leach. She attended grammar school and RADA...
.
BAFTA Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles: David Essex
David Essex
David Essex OBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Since the 1970s, Essex has attained nineteen Top 40 singles in the UK , and sixteen Top 40 albums...
.