That'll be the day.

That'll be the day.

One of my all time favourite films. I will be writing this in two parts; first will be the first part of the story (that'll be the day) and the second film (stardust) - both amazing films that I could watch on a loop for days.

In both films we follow the life of Jim Maclaine, the film begins with his father coming home from WW2, after fighting, when Jim is around 5 years old. But it seems that it is too much for his father and one day he packs his suitcase and abandons Jim and his mother. In his adolescents Jim is bored with the 'normal' life, sat in history lessons it is obvious how smart he is, there is even talk of him going to university but on the morning before his exams he throws all of his belongings into the river, when his friend, Terry (played by Robert Lindsay), is left stunned watching Jim ride away on his bike Jim shouts "Go on tell 'em, tell 'em I've got Jenkins bloody earache!"

Jim leaves home to live by the sea, it seems like he has thrown his life away, this is a boy with so much opportunity - one whom could have gone on to be a teacher, or a doctor - but he gave it all away to pursue is dream to be a rock and roll star. It is by the sea where Jim gets a job with the a holiday camp and this is where good old Ringo Starr steps in, playing happy chappy and conman Mike - teaching Jim the ways of getting the women, but it seems that Jim needs no help - writing the number '18' with lipstick on another one of his girls that he has pursued. 

Ringo pulls off his character extremely well, this is possibly his finest acting roll and though he is 33 at the time, he pulls of playing a young man extremely well, the same could also be said for Essex. Other famous faces we see during the film include; Billy Fury and Keith Moon - both in the campsite's band. Essex walks in on them during rehearsals and begins tapping on the drums "You don't play the drums, do you?" Stormy Tempest (Billy Fury) asks Jim, "No, mouth organ" Jim replies, it is from that that Keith Moon makes his famous appearance, "I think what Mr Tempest is trying to say is that he'd like to get rid of me but you can't, can ya?!"  he pauses for a second "Stop me", from there he begins banging away on his little drum set - it is nothing compared to the mass of drums he has during Who concerts yet he manages to thrash out a great drum solo.

From the traditional 50's holiday camp Mike takes Jim under his wing at a fairground, this is where Mike's conman skills come together as he shows Jim the ropes of getting extra money for themselves. This is the rise and fall of their friendship, when Jim walks around the fairground one night he see's in the distance Mike getting beaten up by a gang of people (them being angry at him for conning them), does Jim help? No, instead he walks on and ends up leaving the fairground to go back home.

Almost giving up his dream, Jim lives with his mother again and his grandfather, he helps out at the shop and becomes friends with his old comrade Terry, falling in love with Terry's sister, Jeanette - marrying her, sleeping with Terry's girlfriend on his stag doo, and then having a baby with Jeanette. For a while it seems as though Jim can handle it - he keeps it together until the world of rock and roll begins calling him again, like his father had done previously, he packs a bag and leaves home. Ending the film with Jim buying an electric guitar.

The story line comes together more when you see the second half, which I will write about at some point today. But it is a great foundation for the second half, I've never seen a film where we follow a character so intimately - we follow Jim's pain, even feel sympathy towards him during some scenes. David Essex plays him brilliantly, it's a wonder why he hasn't starred in more films than what he has done, Essex melds in with all the actors he works with during the film; he seems to have chemistry with all of them - especially with Ringo Starr.

The soundtrack is one of the first albums I ever bought on vinyl - 30p at a car boot sale and it was extremely under-priced. If you love 50's/60's rock and roll then you'll love this, it's a great compilation of hits that are heard throughout the film, all of songs each play their part in making the film that little more believable, in the sense that each song you hear makes you realize why Jim was so attached and attracted to a life of rock and roll.

It's on of those films that will live on forever.