Stardust

The sequel to That'll Be the Day (1973), telling the rise and fall of a rock star. The first film covered Jim MacLaine starting out in music at the end of the 1950s. This one moves from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s. Jim puts a band together, brings in his old friend Mike as road manager, and the group grows fast. What follows is familiar, but the film tells it without decoration: the machinery of touring, dealing with the press, drugs, everyone around him slowly turning into an employee, and the star drifting out of his own life. What is interesting is the casting: some of the parts are played by real musicians. David Essex leads and Adam Faith plays Mike; Keith Moon of The Who, Dave Edmunds and Marty Wilde are also in it. Ray Connolly wrote it and Michael Apted directed. It did well at the British box office. A solid example for anyone who likes 1970s British cinema and stories about the music industry. For a viewer expecting a nostalgic rock film, the narrative darkens steadily and the ending offers no consolation.