Adam writes… It’s Friday evening here in London Town and welcome to The London Music Tours Film Festival. In this series, I’ll recommend a music movie for your weekend viewing. In the post I’ll add a location map, a soundtrack/soundtrack highlights playlist and (where possible) any bits of trivia that might enhance your viewing pleasure. This post is a Double Bill!
These posts were curated in conjunction with members of The Monday Night Music History Club who recommended some of their favourite music films.
That’ll Be The Day & Stardust – Double Bill
Director: Claude Whatham (That’ll Be the Day), Michael Apted (Stardust)
Year: 1973 (That’ll Be the Day), 1974 (Stardust)
Starring: David Essex, Ringo Starr, Adam Faith, Billy Fury, Keith Moon, Dave Edmunds
Awards: 2 BAFTA Nominations (That’ll Be the Day). BAFTA Best Screenplay (Ray Connolly, Stardust)
With their gritty realism and cynical sensibility, these movies are almost like the last flourish of the English New Wave of the 1960s.
David Essex stars as Jim MacLaine, a disaffected teenager in late 1950s England. Essex was a colossal pop star at the time and is terrific across both films.
As That’ll Be The Day begins, we see him flunk his school school exams and set off to live a bohemian life. When he gets a job at a travelling fun fair, he meets Mike (played by Ringo Starr) and his interest in Rock’n’Roll music is awakened.
In Stardust we follow Jim’s band, The Stray Cats, as they rise from clubs to theatres to the charts and then the USA…
A Tale of Two Mikes
Ringo’s performance as Mike is his finest hour as an actor. Hangdog, funny, cynical and hard bitten. The only great disappointment of this short franchise is that Ringo turned down the role of Mike for Stardust. Why? Too depressing, he said. And you can see his point. Jim MacLaine’s ascent to superstardom, and his simultaneous descent into addiction and egomania, make for a bleak, if compelling watch.
The role of Mike in Stardust is ably taken by Adam Faith. Faith had been an early 60s pop star in the wake of Cliff Richard and by the late 60s and early 70s he moved into acting. And he really has the chops.
The pace of Stardust is much faster, much more episodic. And each episode is a mirror of a real incident in the story of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The meteoric rise of The Beatles; the funeral scene has echoes of the real-fide funeral of Brian Jones; the slow demise of Syd Barrett and the hucksters of old school Denmark Street are all referenced. .
Trailer
Soundtrack
That’ll Be the Day…
Trivia
That’ll Be The Day is set in 1959, but the soundtrack gets a little ahead of itself using tracks from 1960 and 1961.
Dave Edmunds (of Rockpile & Love Sculpture) not only stars as one of The Stray Cats in Stardust, but also wrote and recorded all the original material for the film.
Ray Winstone appears as an extra in Stardust.
The crowd scenes in Stardust were filmed at David Essex concerts.
Location
The final, bleak scenes in Stardust are filmed in Andalusia, Spain…
London Music Tours
First time visitor to this site? Hello! My name’s Adam and I am an award-winning, qualified tour guide. I specialise in music-themed guided tours here in London. I’ve been a tour guide for 20+ years and I offer a regular schedule of walking tours throughout the year. For the full, up-to-date calendar click HERE.
Private tours are always available, too. Use the form at the bottom of this post to get in touch to book a private tour.
I’m qualified as a Westminster Guide (with distinction), a former visiting lecturer in tour guiding at the University of Westminster and an ex-national newspaper arts journalist . In my spare time I play guitar and sing and buy too many records. Drop me a line anytime using the form below.
To join one of my non-music-themed walking tours, visit the London Walks website HERE.
