by Republic Pictures
Sales Rank: 83443
Price: $14.98
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 <I>Rebel Without a Cause</I>--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, <I>Stardust</I>. <I>--Sean Axmaker</I>
Viewer Reviews I've been hoping to get ahold of a DVD of this, but settled for the VHS so I would at least have some form of it. This is mostly available from British online stores and thus only in PAL form and/or "Region 2" DVDs - incompatible with US DVD players.
Getting the chance to see the REAL Keith Moon and Ringo Starr doing great jobs as actors in a Rock n Roll historical fable is a real treat. I only paid a few bucks for this and it's a cornerstone of my Rock Library.
Now if I could just get this as a DVD with the sequel "Stardust" which continues the tale into the 70's - That would be hip...
