ABBA: The Movie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ABBA - The Movie | |
|---|---|
 ABBA The Movie film poster |
|
| Directed by | Lasse Hallström |
| Produced by | Stig Anderson, Reg Grundy |
| Written by | Robert Caswell, Lasse Hallström |
| Starring | Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog, Robert Hughes, Tom Oliver |
| Distributed by | Universal Music |
| Release date(s) | 26 December 1977 |
| Running time | 96 mins |
| Language | English, Swedish |
| IMDb profile | |
ABBA: The Movie is a feature length film about the pop group ABBA's 1977 Australian tour. It was directed by Lasse Hallström, who directed most of the group's videos, and who went on to greater things. The Movie has become something of a cult film among ABBA fans.
The film's release coincided with the release of ABBA: The Album, that year's studio album from the group, and features many songs from that album as well as many of their earlier hits, and one, "Get on the Carousel", unavailable anywhere else.
[edit] The plot
The film has a very loose plot which is little more than a vehicle to link together the concert footage. It concerns the adventures of Ashley (Robert Hughes), a naïve radio DJ who is sent by his boss (Bruce Barry) to get an in-depth interview ("not an interview, a dialogue", demands his boss) with the group, whose fame and stature neither he nor Ashley have the first clue about, which is to be aired on the day ABBA leave Australia. Needless to say, Ashley singularly fails (and the fact that he has accidentally left his press card behind at the radio station doesn't help matters!), and – armed with his trusty reel-to-reel tape recorder – is forced to follow the group all over Australia, experiencing repeated run-ins with the group's bodyguard (Tom Oliver), as well as his increasingly exasperated boss, who is threatening to fire Ashley unless he gets the interview. Eventually, a stroke of luck at the hotel where Ashley happens to be staying at the time has him bump into Stig Anderson, the group's manager, who grants him an interview. Unfortunately, he sleeps in (earlier in the movie, in a dream sequence, Ashley has become ABBA's best friend; the dream sequence was also used as the video for the single "The Name of the Game" in some territories) and ends up missing the appointment. Just as Ashley is about to give up (by this time, he doesn't even care that his press card – which has also been travelling across Australia, continually forwarded by the postal service – has finally arrived!), something truly miraculous happens: he bumps into the group in a lift at the hotel and manages to finally get the interview he needs – just in time to meet the deadline for the show to go out on air. He puts together the final edit in the back of a taxi on the way back from the airport, as ABBA depart Australia for Europe. With only seconds to go, Ashley makes it back to the radio station and the interview is broadcast.
[edit] Cast
- Anni-Frid Lyngstad*, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus*, Agnetha Faltskog* .... ABBA
- Robert Hughes .... Ashley, the disc jockey
- Tom Oliver .... Bodyguard/Bartender/Taxi driver
- Bruce Barry .... Radio station manager
- Stig Anderson* .... Manager
- with: Calvin Cross†, Ivar Dahlborn†, Harry Lawrence†, Michael Manson†, Sandy Manson†, Ray Marshall†, Frances Matthews†, Thomas Minor†, Ake Olsson†, Karlene Rogerson†.
- Lena Andersson*, Lena-Maria Gardenäs-Lawton*, Maritza Horn* .... Vocal backing group
- Ulf Andersson*, Ola Brunkert, Lars Carlsson*, Anders Eljas*, Wojciech Ernest*, Malando Gassama*, Rutger Gunnarson*, Finn Sjöberg*, Lars Wellander* .... Musicians
* Playing themselves. † Not credited with specific rôle on-screen.
