Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Martin Davidson Writing Credits Cast (in credits order) verified as complete Produced by Music by John Cafferty Cinematography by Fred Murphy . Kluge, the books author, loves the idea of the scene. It was just one of those situations in which he didnt have to say anything, he just had to be there. The backlash followed. [5] Davidson was getting close to rehearsals when Vance called him and said that he had found the bandJohn Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band from Providence, Rhode Island. "The original novel," he says, "had this great whodunit element that really propels the plot. A television documentary is soon in the works, exploring the mystery of the band's second album, which had disappeared from the vaults of Satin Records the day after Eddie's disappearance. We had 500 extras standing around, and Michael was having a hard time finding it. I wanted no part of that movie from the very beginning, says Davidson. We certainly hadn't told them to do that. [5] He showed Davidson his scrapbook, the places the band performed, the car they drove, and how they transported their instruments. Plot [ edit] But "Eddie" got a second life during the summer of 1984 on HBO. Eddie and the Cruisers the word man bar scene Precision Computing 334K views 5 years ago Runaround Sue John Cafferty - Topic 466K views 7 years ago EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS 2 : RUNNING THRU. No body is found and to make matters worse the master tapes to the second album mysteriously disappear shortly after. We try to add new providers constantly but we couldn't find an offer for "Eddie and the Cruisers" online. "[6], Davidson had the actors who played in Eddie's band rehearse as if they were getting ready for a real concert. [23] Looking back, Davidson said, "that picture should have been a theatrical success. Eddie read enough of Rimbaud to make an album called ''Season in Hell,'' and his friends wonder if he didn't, like the poet, willfully vanish. [7], After successful screenings on HBO in 1984, the album suddenly climbed the charts, going quadruple platinum. This post is not to review or rate "Eddie", but to explain the background of the plot for other posters who seem confused on this. Martin Davidson has said that the inspiration for the film came from a desire to "get all my feelings about the music of the last 30 years of rock music into it. Vance also told Davidson stories about the band, some of which he incorporated into the script. "One of the greatest movies ever," says Brad Furman, director of "The Lincoln Lawyer" and "Runner Runner." It's a really weird high. In addition, the music producer/supervisor for the film, Kenny Vance, appears on screen as Lew Eisen, the 1964 record company executive who refuses to accept the band's second album. the music. Kenny and Sal are making fun of it, making fun of his English bull----, rock-and-roll. You say not bad. Davidson, the director, didnt coddle him. Davidson was offered the job of directing a sequel to the film, but he was not keen on the idea and wanted no participation. Like what? It should be an unknown. People want to believe it really existed. Rewind the locations where they filmed the 1983 Drama movie starring Official Sites The sequel Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! [17] Embassy Pictures threw a promotional party for the film at a dance club in West Hollywood in September, 1983, where Cafferty and his band played. Vance began to get calls. And editor Priscilla Nedd-Friendly would go on to a slate of popular films, including Pretty Woman, American Pie and The Proposal. But Par never became a star. A television reporter named Maggie Foley investigates the mysterious disappearance of cult rock star Eddie Wilson. Joann is a stage choreographer in Wildwood, New Jersey, and Hopkins works in a casino in Atlantic City. The film bombed at the box office, grossing less than $4 million during a short run in 1983. I know this to be true cause my room was directly behind Joann Carlino where she is sitting playing . Yet when we see them at the college later in the film, no camera or film crews are in sight anywhere in the auditorium. "Eddie and the Cruisers" isn't a lost masterpiece, but it's a solid, thoughtful, enjoyable film about one of the great driving narratives of Western culture: The Artist Ahead Of His (or Her) Time, doomed to be ignored during life, then rediscovered after death. With 18k+ articles and 40 novels written, Tom knows a little something about storytelling. in 1989. | The problem is that it finally lacks the storytelling resources to tell enough of an intriguing story about a musical mystery man. Very haunting and super nostalgic. No, man. Eddie and the Cruisers Tender Years piano solo - YouTube The film was released in theaters on September 23, 1983, and grossed $1.4 million on its opening weekend. Michael Par, Tom Berenger, Joe Pantoliano, Matthew Laurance, Helen Schneider, David Wilson, Michael 'Tunes' Antunes, Ellen Barkin, Kenny Vance, John Stockwell, Joe Cates, Barry Sand, Vebe Borge, Howard Johnson (II), Joey Balin, Bruce Brown (III), Robin Karfo, Rufus Harley, Louis D'Esposito, Michael Toland, Bob Garrett, Joanne Collins Update Cast. During the documentary interviews, the band expresses a desire to relive the past, but many of their memories are humiliating. But when it was over, we hugged, and I knew I had a scene which would work in the movie., Barkin, a late bloomer nearing 30, played the hard-smoking reporter. The role of Eddie almost went to someone else. One of the characters states that they became a teacher at Vineland high school. INTERVIEW: Michael Par talks with TV STORE ONLINE about the cult classic STREETS OF FIRE", "Eddie and the Cruisers 35th Anniversary", "Ellen Barkin on great directors and her favorite roles, from Diner to Buckaroo Banzai", "Casey Kasem's American Top 40 10/27/84", "Casey Kasem's American Top 40 11/3/84", "Casey Kasem's American Top 40 1/12/85", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eddie_and_the_Cruisers&oldid=1148799347, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 8 April 2023, at 12:01. Vineland is currently trying to rebuild the Palace of Depression. Then Joe Brooks, who wrote the Debby Boone smash hit You Light Up My Life, offered a quarter of a million dollars to help produce it. There is no such thing, he says. Nobody wanted to put out the soundtrack at first, says Vance. 'Eddie and the Cruisers' was a massive '80s flop. How did it become a Eddie's music sounds good, but it also sounds a lot like Bruce Springsteen's, and it would not have been the rage in 1963." Flashbacks dramatize Eddie's life and the rise and fall of his rock and roll band, Eddie and the Cruisers. [4] He wrote the screenplay with Arlene Davidson and decided to use a Citizen Kane-style story structure. These are John Cafferty music, not Eddie Wilson music. Cafferty eventually relented. People still watch it and still tell me about it."[13]. Eddie wants to be great, but bassist Sal replies, "We ain't great. The VCR turned movies into songs, into hit songs, says author Sherman Alexie, a huge fan of the book and film. Ellen Barkin, as the reporter, has the film's most awkwardly written role. And you and I just met. , Nedd-Friendly, the editor, recently watched Eddie again and was reminded of Pars performance. ''Eddie and the Cruisers'' is rated PG (''Parental Guidance Suggested''). This scene happened after Joann saw and heard Frank playing the piano at Tony Marts. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. In September 2018, Tommy Marz released a series of interviews he conducted with members of the film's cast, as well as members of the production team. The high school used was actually a school for the mentally challenged. Ive now had these amazing experiences of people talking about that movie even now. Unlike the other Cruisers, who include Matthew Laurance and Joe Pantoliano, he isn't forced to shift frequently from 1963 to the present and back again; as a result, they all seem old for the early scenes and not old enough for today. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Man o man, I wanna thank whomever uploaded this movie. FILM: EARLY ROCK DAYS, 'EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS' - New York Times He wrote, despite a good cast, "terrific" music and an intriguing concept, "the ending is so frustrating, so dumb, so unsatisfactory, that it gives a bad reputation to the whole movie. However, they had no prior experience in distribution and were unable to properly release it in theaters. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. A television newswoman picks up the story of a 1960s rock band whose long-lost leader Eddie Wilson may still be alive, while searching for the missing tapes of the band's never-released album. Sesame Street Takes on Game of Thrones and Westworld in Awesome New Videos, Everything We Know about Marvels The Eternals Movie So Far, Everything We Know about The Alienist Season 3, Quentin Tarantino Is Now Bashing the MCU. Eddie and the Cruisers didnt actually play the songs, they were played by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) - IMDb It's about Eddie (Michael Pare), a New Jersey rocker who hit the big time in 1963 and then drove off a bridge. A homeless drifter built it out of junk, sand and clay, then charged admission for visitors. Eddie and the Cruisers is a 1983 American musical drama film directed by Martin Davidson with the screenplay written by the director and Arlene Davidson, based on the novel by P. F. Kluge. (as Priscilla Nedd) Casting By You know, 50 Shades of Grey didnt come out for 30 years, he says. In a surprise reveal at the ending, a bearded, much older looking Eddie is shown alive, watching the multiple televisions in the window of an appliance store, where the ending credits of Foley's documentary tribute to him and the band roll. Search the history of over 806 billion Rounding out the Cruisers are saxophonist Wendell Newton, background singer and Eddie's girlfriend Joann Carlino, and drummer Kenny Hopkins. And Eddie and the Cruisers, which was about music anyway, really became some version of a really great song., It came onto HBO, and I remember hearing immediately about sales of the album, says Matthew Laurance, who played band member Sal Amato. In a relatively short time, a deal was struck with Aurora and Davidson was given a $6 million budget. It would have been daring and edgy.. We'll just say it was your first movie and they just didn't release it." I don't know. Does he still think about making Eddie? Oh, you're right. The person that wanted the role, Rick Springfield, wasnt believed to have the right look or the capability of playing Eddie Wilson. Eddie and the Cruisers - Wikipedia But Eddie and I, we had a deal, we never talked about the future. Davidson remembered, "And six months later, somebody said, 'Your picture is appearing on HBO this weekend,' and I didn't even know."[10]. It contains some strong language. It would have to be an incredible script. Par thought playing Eddie Wilson again could spark his own comeback. It made me remember when I got the script and thought, This is superb. , Kluge, who took issue at the time with some of the plot decisions, has come to appreciate Eddie, even calling it a rock-and-roll Citizen Kane. So many lines from his book were taken verbatim. Do that. Filming & Production They held a movie-band meeting and sent David Wilson, playing drummer Kenny Hopkins, to talk to Davidson. Then, as the music heated up, so did the audience. I had a line when I say, Were not great, were just some guys from New Jersey. Ill be walking down Fifth Avenue and someone will yell at me, Sal, Im from New Jersey., Early on, director Martin Davidson had been struggling to raise money to adapt Kluges book. The band's first album, Tender Years, becomes a major hit, but recording their next album, "A Season in Hell," turns out to be a nightmare. Most importantly, the locations will have a status that shows whether they are verified correct and by whom. The Palace of Depression was a real place in Vineland, New Jersey. A scrappy, feather-haired TV reporter played by Barkin works the story. In the fall of 1984, the single "On the Dark Side" from the soundtrack album suddenly climbed the charts, as the film was rediscovered on cable television and home video, prompting the studio to briefly re-release the album. Mr. Davidson obviously cares a lot about the era, and there's plenty of other evidence that he knows how it looked and sounded; the same can be said for John Lyon, a k a Southside Johnny, who served as the film's technical adviser. Eddie and the Cruisers streaming: where to watch online? - JustWatch It's really a fun murder mystery. on the Internet. They weren't play-acting anymore. Author P.F. "It changed my life as a kid. "[9], According to Davidson, when he completed the film, three different studios wanted to distribute it, and he went with Embassy Pictures because they offered him the most money. "[7] Additionally, New Jersey musician Southside Johnny was hired as a technical advisor for the film.[8]. But we kept the cameras rolling. The passage of time has kind of allowed people to forget about it again. Davidson made a deal with Time-Life, a company that was going into the movie-making business. I was at this very college Im teaching at now when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan, he says. LX is our radical new locations feature that we've been beavering away on.. For years!Each location will have it's own page with then/now pictures, maps, StreetView, discovery story and the most detailed explanations on how the location was used. I like a real director. | 111 Eddie and The Cruisers Trivia Questions & Answers When their second album bombed Eddie suddenly disappeared when his car went sailing through a guard rail to crash over a causeway. Cut to New Jersey shore, 1963, Par in sleeveless T-shirt as rock hero Eddie Wilson.