Wednesday 21 November 2012

A David Essex double bill...with a little help from a stellar cast.

The first of the two films, That'll Be The Day is the better of the two and really sets a standard which Stardust can't quite meet. Ringo Starr totally nails his part, delivering his lines with perfect humour and timing. He's convincing and likeable and also a good sport, appearing in his underwear and there's even a bum shot (I don't think it was a stunt bottom!) Having seen him in A Hard Day's Night and Help, it is strange to see him go from squeaky clean Beatle to cheeky Scous chappy with a bit of a mouth on him, but he makes the transition perfectly. Billy Fury appears as a singer and Keith Moon as a drummer, as the other notable famous cameos. As for David Essex, he appears confident yet unassuming and it's an enjoyable viewing experience. As for Stardust, although given the filming locations of some of the scenes, it was clear they had a larger budget, this sequel fell short of the mark for me. I enjoyed it but it wasn't as good as its predecessor. Ringo Starr had the good sense not to participate in this film. The cliches are just too Beatley...it seems to me that the industry realised that they had to give the world The Beatles again. Early on, it's a street similar to Mathew Street in Liverpool, and set inside a music club inside a cellar, like The Cavern...there's even a house which looks very much the same as John Lennon's house in Weybridge. It would have been in poor taste and a bad career move for Ringo to have included himself in this! Later on, the film goes into a documentary mode, like the Albert Maysles footage of The Beatles. It was just a bit too cliched for me and the acting not as strong, although Marty Wilde was good.

1 comment:

  1. Can't imagine the cute one in the Beatles having a bad mouth. I think he's one of the coolest ones from the Beatles, other than George Harrison. Both of those two were my favorites :D But, maybe he was trying to get away from that squeaky clean image?

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