What is the 1970s film That’ll Be the Day with David Essex and Ringo Starr?

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  1. Ted H
    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 50's/early '60s and was partially filmed on the Isle of Wight. Jim MacLaine's (David Essex) 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. 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". A sequel, Stardust, was released in 1974. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That%27ll_Be_the_Day_%28film%29 Named after a Buddy Holly song and set to a score of early American rock hits, Claude Whatham's story of a restless working-class lad in Britain the late 1950s (reportedly inspired by the early life of John Lennon) is a portrait dissatisfaction and disaffection. Real-life rocker David Essex (of the hit single "Rock On") stars as a Jim MacLaine, a schoolboy who chucks it all in a spontaneous rebellion. Not so much an angry young man as simply frustrated and directionless, he drifts through seasonal jobs, scamming girls with his veteran carnival buddy (a cocky Ringo Starr with rocker sideburns) and killing time in dance clubs. The overwhelming emptiness finally sends him wandering back to his dreary hometown for a more respectable life, but it's no better fit. While music is never the focus of the film, the nascent rock & roll scene simmers around the edges through American records and British cover bands (Billy Fury and Keith Moon appear in cameos). The drab small towns and chilly seaside holiday camps evoke a stifling sense of conformity and social stagnation--think of it as a uniquely British take on Rebel Without a Cause--that becomes the crucible for the rebellious British rock & roll explosion around the corner. It's considered to be one of the great rock films, and it spawned a sequel, Stardust. http://www.amazon.com/Thatll-be-Day-David-Essex/dp/B00004Y6AR With John Lennon’s 70th birthday being recognized next month, I wanted to explore 2 types of films: those that starred former Beatles and those loosely based on their exploits. That’ll Be The Day, the first part of the Jim MacLaine story starring David Essex and Ringo Starr, happens to fall under both of those headings. The film, which was perhaps inspired by Lennon’s early life in Liverpool, has been mostly forgotten due to having been released the same year as American Graffiti (not to mention during a time period when such stories were popping up everywhere). When considered as a singular story, That’ll Be The Day/Stardust pretty much follows the standard formula of the rags-to-riches, drugs-to-destruction superstar drama. http://recycledcinema.com/history-and-theory/film-history/david-essex-double-feature-thatll-be-the-day-stardust/
  2. + -

    Abandoned by his father at an early age, Jim MacLaine seems to have inherited the old man’s restlessness. Despite his apparent intelligence, Jim decides not to take the exams that would pave his way to university. He lives, for a time, a life consisting of dead-end jobs and meaningless sex, before returning home to work in his mother’s shop. But still he can’t settle down; he begins to think that the life of a pop musician might be the thing for him.

    John
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