Cinema Eclectica

The title is Buddy Holly, the star is David Essex, and the mood is pure Edward Heath. Claude Whatham's 1973 coming-of-age film might be set in the 1950s but it's really an artefact of Britain's long post-60s comedown, bleak, pessimistic and extremely brown. Remarkably, this tale of a wannabe rock star shrugging and screwing his way through a drizzly holiday camp made Essex a teen idol, and it has a slew of '50s and '60s stars supporting him: Keith Moon, Billy Fury and, as his sleazy mentor, no less a figure than Ringo Starr. In this week's Pop Screen, Graham and Mark discuss the oft-underrated acting talents of the one-time Richard Starkey, as well as all the other issues the film brings up: the surprisingly durable stage and screen career of David Essex, the round of musical chairs that led to this being directed by the rock-sceptic Whatham, and the film's connections to the life of John Lennon. About the only thing we don't cover is the sequel, Stardust, because... ...that's our Patreon exclusive for next