STARDUST (1974) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: MICHAEL APTED / SCREENPLAY: RAY CONNOLLY / STARRING: DAVID ESSEX, ADAM FAITH, LARRY HAGMAN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Stardust continues the adventures of Jim MacLaine (Essex) a few years after the events of That’ll Be the Day, which saw him on the first steps to becoming a pop star. To be precise, it opens at a funfair on November 22nd, 1963 – the day President Kennedy was shot. This time Jim is not here to work or pull birds but to persuade his old mate Mike (Faith) to be the road manager of his group The Stray Cats.
Mike becomes Jim’s Mr Fixit, who gets him girls and gigs. The road to fame begins with a touch of blackmail and wheeler-dealing by Mike to get a bigger van for the group, it’s still a fairly broken down wreck, but it is slightly superior to the accommodation he gets for the rest of the band members. The bartering skills of Mike also proves useful when he helps renegotiate a better contract for the band with the owner of a Cavern Club-like venue, and through the improbable help of a wealthy ‘launderette king’ businessman they get a recording deal.
As the director Michael Apted says on one of the DVD extras, it’s no accident that the story follows the career arc of The Beatles as he, producer David Puttnam and writer Ray Connolly were of a similar generation. Michael started his career in television in Manchester and whenever The Beatles performed in front of the cameras he knew they would soon make a big impact on the pop world. This contrasts with Claude Whatham, the director of That’ll Be the Day who was a bit older than them and was not as clued in to rock ‘n’ roll, however, his kitchen sink drama approach to that film does give it a grimy authenticity. Stardust in comparison is far brighter and action packed, carrying The Stray Cats to fame in the USA and the life of being besieged by mobs of fans and management men who treat Jim like a product rather than a creative artist.
Mike in league with the loud mouthed US manager Porter Lee Austin, played by Larry Hagman (Dallas), isolates Jim from his fellow band members and his French girlfriend. He becomes of prisoner of fame and only lives in hotel rooms, and even when he goes on ‘holiday’ in Bermuda, Porter expects him to write a few songs for the new album they want out before Christmas. Not surprisingly the pressure is too much and Jim seeks a refuge away from this madness but all does not go well…
The extras include a stills gallery and interviews with Puttnam, Connolly, and Apted who provide an insightful guide to the making of this tragic look at the price of fame that is still as relevant today as it was back in 1974.
