DVD Review: That'll Be The Day (1973)

The year 1973 was one in which movies embraced nostalgia -- American films like "Paper Moon," "Papillon," "The Way We Were," and "The Sting" were set in earlier times. Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye" was an homage to vintage film noir. John Avildsen's "Save the Tiger" examined the mid-life crisis of a man who longed for a culture that had long passed him by.

Perhaps the most notable American film that embraced nostalgia was George Lucas' classic "American Graffiti." Although it was about a period from less than a dozen years earlier, the culture had changed so drastically in seemed like much longer ago.

The British counterpart, also released in 1973, would be Claude Whatham's "That'll Be The Day," which has just been released to blu ray by Kino Lorber. Set in the late 50s and early 60s, the film looks at the period when British teenagers were fixated on American rock and roll. The focus is on Jim Maclaine (David Essex), who throws his schoolbooks in a river and emerges from his shyness to become a womanizing, deceptive lout who continues to explore his music with some passion but has no scruples with other people, including those who love him.

The film is filled with musicians who understood the era, having lived it themselves, including Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, John Hawken, and Billy Fury. The film is raw and uncompromising, its depiction of women as objects being quite unsettling, such as when Jim rapes a pleading schoolgirl, and responds to his reproaching friend (Ringo) with "you're no bloody Jesus!". But this brutally frank presentation is what the director is going for. Essex, a singer who had an international hit with "Rock On" the same year, turns in an excellent performance. Ringo is impressive as well.

It is the music that further sustains the narrative and performances, with classic rock and roll songs of the era dotting the soundtrack.

"That'll Be The Day" inspired a sequel, "Stardust," the following year, with David Essex repeating his role (although Ringo was replaced by Adam Faith), and Michael Apted directing. It was good, but "That'll Be The Day" is the better film, showing the many failings of the central character rather than embracing him as an antihero.

The film was a hit, as was its eventual sequel, and Kino's release offers the usual magnificent quality. It includes an audio commentary by noted pop culture journalist Bryan Reesman.

The blu ray is available here: That'll Be The Day