That'll Be The Day (1973)

★ 6.2 1h 27m IMDb

Drama Music

Britain, 1958. Restless at school and bored with his life, Jim leaves home to take a series of low-level jobs at a seaside amusement park, where he discovers a world of cheap sex and petty crime. But when that world comes to a shockingly brutal end, Jim returns home. As the local music scene explodes, Jim must decide between a life of adult responsibility or a new phenomenon called rock & roll.

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Cast

David Essex as Jim MacLaine Age 78 David Essex OBE (born David Albert Cook) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Since the 1970s, Essex has attained nineteen Top 40 singles in the UK (including two numbers ones), and si...

Ringo Starr as Mike Age 85 · Liverpool, England, UK Richard Starkey MBE (born 7 July 1940), better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When...

James Booth as Mr MacLaine Died 2005 · Croydon, Surrey, England, UK From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James Booth (born David Geeves; 19 December 1927 - 11 August 2005) was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though handsome enough to pl...

Rosemary Leach as Mrs. MacLaine Died 2017 · Much Wenlock, Shropshire, England, UK From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Rosemary Leach (18 December 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a British stage, television and film actress and singer. She was born at Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Her...

Billy Fury as Stormy Tempest Died 1983 · Liverpool, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Billy Fury, born Ronald William Wycherley (17 April 1940 - 28 January 1983), was an internationally successful English pop singer from the late 1950s to the ear...

Director Claude Whatham

Cast David Essex, Ringo Starr, James Booth, Rosemary Leach, Billy Fury, Rosalind Ayres, Robert Lindsay, Keith Moon, Deborah Watling, Brenda Bruce

John Chard 7/10 Mar 15, 2020

The road to stardom(dust) begins here.

That'll Be the Day is directed by Claude Whatham and written by Ray Connolly. It stars David Essex, Ringo Starr, Rosemary Leach, Rosalind Ayres and Robert Lindsay. Cinematography is by Peter Suschitzky.

It's 1958 Britain and Jim MacLaine (Essex), fed up with school and his home life, leaves home and takes a series of dead-end jobs and is introduced to crime and sex. Even this isn't enough to off set his feeling of a hum-drum existence, could the upcoming Rock "N" Roll boom be his saviour?.

With perfect cast decisions, including rock star cameo's, a top grade music soundtrack - and director Whatham having a brilliant sense of teenage life in late 50s Britain, there's plenty to enjoy here.

Said to be based on the early life of John Lennon, it's important to note that this is actually not a rock movie. This is more of a kitchen sinker than anything else, which is ok of course, just be prepared if you haven't seen it before. 6.5/10

CinemaSerf 6/10 Nov 10, 2022

'Jim MacLaine" (David Essex) is a restless teenager in 1950s Britain. He leaves home and best friend "Terry" (Robert Lindsay) and gets a cheap room at a seaside resort when he makes a living renting out deck chairs - not the most fulfilling job as the rain pours down! He's quite a bright lad, though, and despite his increasing penchant for one-night-stands, he realises that he must sort out his future - and with a bit of help from new-found friend "Mike" (Ringo Starr) a career in music becomes his goal. It's not very realistic, no - serendipity plays an unlikely hand all too often as this young man manages to swim against the tide of mediocrity just a little too successfully, but as a piece of social commentary set against a backdrop of limited post-war opportunities for young folk it has some resonance, Essex is an handsome man and plays the cheeky, troubled, character well and, of course, we get to see Mr. Starr's posterior tattoo! This film is not great, indeed it's not really very good - but it moves along well enough and features a soundtrack that gets your toes tapping too.