That'll Be The Day (film)

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That'll Be the Day is a 1973 British film starring David Essex and Ringo Starr and directed by Claude Whatham.

[edit] Plot summary

Abandoned by his father as a child, suburban school dropout Jim MacLaine (David Essex) leaves home and drifts through a succession of dead-end jobs until he finds an outlet for his frustration in rock 'n' roll. Tossing away the chance of a college education much to the consternation of his mother, alienated MacLaine becomes a lowly deckchair attendant before streetwise friend Mike (Ringo Starr) gets him a job with the fun fair. The initially shy Maclaine quickly becomes a heartless fairground romeo leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake. Eventually the prodigal son returns home to run the family store and marry his girlfriend, but despite the birth of a son, restless Jim feels the lure of rock’n’roll again.

[edit] Characters

The film was praised at the time for its gritty realism. Many of the characters were played by musicians who'd lived through the era portrayed in the film including Ringo Starr, The Who's Keith Moon, John Hawken of the Nashville Teens and Billy Fury.

The film was produced by David Puttnam and is loosely based on the Harry Nilsson song '1941'. A sequel Stardust was released in 1974.