Neil Welch
David Essex takes the viewer on a trip around picturesque Isle of Wight locations, including Shanklin beach, Sandown High School, the bridge over the river round the back of Sandown Waterworks, Pontins Little Canada Holiday Camp. Shanklin Theatre, and outside the Rex at Ventnor which isn't there any more.Big excitement down here on the Isle of Wight back in 1970 when this was going on, actually. I'd recently left school, but my Dad still taught there and it was his classroom which was used as the location (later to become the music room, where my daughter did her music A level). I helped at lunchtime at Shanklin Liberal Club, where the cast and crew were fed and watered at lunchtime during the Shanklin Theatre filming (no-one famous, though!). And assorted school friends pop up as extras - hi there, Sudsy and Hoof! So the local connection means I always regard this movie with fondness, but I also like it for two other reasons. One it is an atmospheric evocation of an era important to me personally and, two, it showed Ringo that there was life after The Beatles.
didi-5
David Essex got the lead role, through two films, in this story of a wanabee pop star who leaves his family and home life for a shot at the big time. Abandoned by his father as a child, Jim lets history repeat itself simply for his ambition - through 'That'll Be The Day', which establishes him as a musical talent with room to grow, through to the bleak 'Stardust' which focuses on the ups and downs of fame.Ray Connolly's script for TBTD is ironic and clever, and gives scope to a large number of characters you remember - Rosemary Leach and Rosalind Ayres good as Jim's mother and girlfriend, Ringo Starr much better than expected as Mike who works on the fairground and takes the impressionable and cocky Jim under his wing. Mike would develop into Jim's manager in 'Stardust', where he was played by Adam Faith.Billy Fury plays TBTD's biggest concession to a 'real pop star' as the unlikeable Stormy Tempest, while Keith Moon and Karl Howman, both in the 'Stardust' band appear briefly. Also involved in the film was the great Bonzo vocalist Viv Stanshall.'That'll Be The Day' is often cited as the better film of the two Jim MacLaine feature, but I personally prefer the overblown, stoned, egotistical character we see in the sequel. David Essex is excellent throughout the two movies, though. The soundtrack album - a huge four-sider groaning with 50s period hits and pastiches - is still well worth a listen, although precious little of it appears in this film.
smiths-4
ITV have just shown the Jim Maclaine(David Essex) films of which this is the first and Stardust is the second and as an avid supporter and fan of sixties and seventies British cinema i thought i had to check it out.It doesn't disappoint with its gritty evocation of a fifties childhood with a lack of a father figure. Jim then turns to the Rock and Roll world when he buys a guitar from a pawn shop at the end. His rise and fall is taken up in Stardust with Adam Faith taking the Ringo Starr role as Mike.Great, forgotten film with superior performances from Essex and Ringo Starr and a good cameo from Keith Moon and Billy Fury.
Anthony Williamson
Striving hard for the authentic feel of the late 1950s scene in working class England and the realistic films of the period That'll be the day is unfortunately weighed down by the double burden of an unimaginative script and David Essex. He tries to be deep and meaningful but emerges as a tedious bore. The eyes of his fellow actors seem to glaze over whenever he recites his lines and because his character and performance are so lifeless you are left with the overwhelming desire to give him a good slap. The one redeeming thing about this whole misguided venture is that - much like during his recording career - he does hardly any real singing. Dull.
AD
