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Stardust (1974 film)

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Stardust
Original film poster by Arnaldo Putzu
Directed byMichael Apted
Written byRay Connolly
Produced byDavid Puttnam
Sanford Lieberson
StarringDavid Essex
Adam Faith
CinematographyAnthony B. Richmond
Edited byMichael Bradsell
Distributed byEMI Films (UK)
Columbia Pictures (U.S.)
Release dates
24 October 1974 (UK)
12 November 1975 (U.S.)
Running time
111 min.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£555,000[1]

Stardust is a 1974 British musical drama 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. Its tagline is: "Show me a boy who never wanted to be a rock star and I'll show you a liar."

Plot

Following on from the events in the late 1950s/early 1960s of That'll Be the Day, the film features the characters Jim Maclaine, Jeanette, and J.D. as they move into the mid 1960s/early 1970s and covers the growing career of aspiring rock star MacLaine. After MacLaine forms a band, the Stray Cats, he seeks out his old funfair friend Mike to become its road manager.

Mike acquires a better van, accommodation, and a recording session for the group. The band becomes a success and MacLaine becomes the lead vocalist, attracting a great deal of media attention. His relationship with the band deteriorates and he becomes a successful solo artist. The film finishes by relating the detrimental effects of this success on MacLaine and his relationships.

Characters

By the end of the Stardust, the timeline has roughly caught up to the 1974 release of the film. Many of the characters were played by British musicians who had lived/were living through the era portrayed in the film including Essex, Faith, Marty Wilde, Keith Moon, Dave Edmunds, and Paul Nicholas.

Main cast

Actor Role
David Essex Jim MacLaine
Adam Faith Mike Menary
Larry Hagman Porter Lee Austin
Ines Des Longchamps Danielle
Rosalind Ayres Jeanette
Marty Wilde Colin Day
Edd Byrnes TV Interviewer
Keith Moon J. D. Clover
Dave Edmunds Alex
Paul Nicholas Johnny
Karl Howman Stevie
Richard LeParmentier Felix Hoffman
Peter Duncan Kevin
John Normington Ronald Harrap
James Hazeldine Brian
David Daker Ralph Woods
David Jacobs Himself

Reception

The film was a hit at the box office and by 1985 had earned an estimated £525,000 in profit.[1][2]

Awards and nominations

BAFTA Writers' Guild of Great Britain for Best Original British Screenplay WINNER: Ray Connolly.

BAFTA Best Supporting Actor NOMINATED: Adam Faith.

Soundtrack

The Stardust soundtrack album was released in October on Ronco Records to coincide with the opening. Some of the later songs in the film were performed by the artists in the film's fictional Stray Cats themselves.

Legacy

The film is the sequel to the 1973 film That'll Be the Day, in which Essex plays a younger Jim Maclaine, through the 1950s and 1960s.

An independent radio drama recording project, That'll be the Stardust!, was released in 2008.[3] The story follows the musical journey of Jim Maclaine's son, Jimmy Maclaine Jr.

References

  1. ^ a b Alexander Walker, National Heroes: British Cinema in the Seventies and Eighties, Harrap, 1985 p 79
  2. ^ Harper, Sue (2011). British Film Culture in the 1970s: The Boundaries of Pleasure: The Boundaries of Pleasure. Edinburgh University Press. p. 211.
  3. ^ "Tony G. Marshall's "That'll be the Stardust!"". CosmicDwellings.com. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
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