''Starstruck'' is a 1982 Australian comedy-drama musical film directed by
Gillian Armstrong and starring
Jo Kennedy
Jo Kennedy (born 1962) is an Australian actress, singer, film director and screenwriter.
She is best known for playing Jackie in the 1982 film '' Starstruck.'' Even though the film never had a proper US release, it found a cult following o ...
, Ross O'Donovan and
Margo Lee. The plot concerns two teenagers trying to break into the music industry. The film was shot on location in
Sydney,
New South Wales
)
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia. It was marketed with the tagline "A Comedy Musical." The hotel shots were filmed at the Harbour View Hotel in
The Rocks, near the south pylon of the
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...
.
Plot
Sydney teenager Jackie Mullens works as a barmaid in her mother's failing pub, but dreams of becoming a singing star. Her scheming 14-year-old cousin Angus aspires to be her manager. At a local club talent night, Jackie's performance impresses pop band The Wombats, who become her backing band. Jackie also begins dating the band's guitarist, Robbie.
In an attempt to get Jackie on a TV talent show, "The Wow! Show", Angus calls up the show's host, Terry Lambert, and tells him Jackie will be walking a tightrope between high-rise buildings, nude. Although the stunt backfires, Terry is intrigued enough to feature Jackie on the show. Jackie develops a crush on the suave Terry, and under his influence, she drops the Wombats from her act, tones down her quirky style of music and dress to be more conventional, and breaks up with Robbie who disapproves of these changes. Jackie's TV appearance with her new look and sound is a failure, and afterwards she discovers that Terry, who she thought was romantically interested in her, is actually gay. Humiliated, she reconciles with Robbie. Meanwhile, Angus' deadbeat father Lou has returned and begun romancing Jackie's hardworking mother Pearl, but the affair ends badly when Lou disappears with all the money from the pub's safe, leaving Pearl and the pub, which was already on the verge of closing, in dire financial straits.
In order to save both the pub and Jackie's singing career, Angus comes up with a plan for Jackie and the Wombats to crash The Wow! Show's New Year's Eve talent competition at the
Sydney Opera House by posing as stage crew and then taking over the stage. The plan works and Jackie wins the $25,000 prize, thus becoming a star and saving the pub.
Cast
The film marks
Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy Award, a Primetime Em ...
's first (albeit brief) appearance in a feature film, as the floor manager of a live-to-air television pop music program.
Production
The screenplay was written by journalist
Stephen MacLean, who had grown up in a Melbourne pub where his mother used to work; he also worked as a child actor.
[Scott Murray, "Starstruck", ''Cinema Papers'', April 1982 pp. 111–116] He pitched the idea of making an Australian musical to
David Elfick who commissioned a script. The first choice for director was
Graeme Clifford
Graeme Clifford (born 1942) is an Australian film director. His directing credits include the Academy Award-nominated film ''Frances'', '' Gleaming the Cube'' and the mini-series '' The Last Don'', which received two Emmy nominations.
Cliffor ...
who pulled out to make ''
Frances
Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...
'' (1982).
Gillian Armstrong became involved, attracted by the idea of making a film so different from her first, ''
My Brilliant Career''.
The budget was originally $250,000 but Elfick says it went over by a couple of hundred thousand dollars.
Lead actors Jo Kennedy and Ross O'Donovan were cast despite their limited experience because of their chemistry during auditions.
Production designer
Brian Thomson is best known for his work on ''
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also ...
'' and its
theatre production
Stagecraft is a technical aspect of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes constructing and rigging scenery; hanging and focusing of lighting; design and procurement of costumes; make-up; stage management; audio engineering; and pr ...
as well as its follow-up feature film ''
Shock Treatment
''Shock Treatment'' is a 1981 American musical comedy film directed by Jim Sharman, and co-written by Sharman and Richard O'Brien. It is a follow-up to the 1975 film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''.
While not an outright sequel, the film do ...
''.
Music
The film spawned a soundtrack album, which includes the hit single "Body and Soul" sung by Jo Kennedy. The song was written by
Tim Finn
Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowd ...
of
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand rock band formed in Auckland in 1972 by Tim Finn and Phil Judd and had a variety of other members during its existence. Originally started as a folk-oriented group with quirky art rock stylings, the band built ...
and had originally appeared as 'She Got Body She Got Soul' on the band's 1979 album ''
Frenzy
''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel ''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Squa ...
''. Jo Kennedy's version reached number 5 on the Australian charts in May 1982.
The film also featured music by
The Swingers
The Swingers were a New Zealand rock band who were together from 1979 to 1982 and whose biggest single was the song " Counting the Beat".
Background
Formed out of the remnants of the Suburban Reptiles, the founding members were Phil Judd (guit ...
(whose leader
Phil Judd
Philip Raymond Judd (born 20 March 1953) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter known for being one of the founders of the bands Split Enz and The Swingers.
Split Enz
In 1972, Judd and Tim Finn founded the arty folk band Split Enz. In its early ...
had previously been a member of Split Enz) and who perform on screen at key moments. The other members were Wayne Stevens (aka
Bones Hillman
Wayne Stevens (May 1958 – 7 November 2020), known by the stage name Bones Hillman, was a New Zealand musician best known as the bass guitarist for the Australian alternative rock band Midnight Oil, which he joined in 1987 and remained with un ...
, credited as Dwayne Hillman), and
Ian Gilroy
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
.
The closing credits include the name Phil Judd as sound recordist. It is not clear whether this refers to the musician or to
Phil Judd
Philip Raymond Judd (born 20 March 1953) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter known for being one of the founders of the bands Split Enz and The Swingers.
Split Enz
In 1972, Judd and Tim Finn founded the arty folk band Split Enz. In its early ...
, an audio engineer who specializes in movie soundtracks.
Charts
Reception
Box office
The film was classified NRC (Not Recommended for Children) which limited promotion options. Clips from the film were forbidden to be shown on the TV show ''
Countdown
A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
'' despite the fact that clips from Hollywood NRC-rated films screened on the show.
''Starstruck'' grossed $1,541,000 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $4,484,310 in 2009 dollars, which is equivalent to $5,613,523.05 in 2020 dollars.
Awards
''Starstruck'' received three
AFI Award nominations, for
Best Achievement in Costume Design,
Best Achievement in Production Design and
Best Original Music Score.
Home media
The film was released on VHS and on DVD in 2005, but has long been out of print in Australia.
[
In 2015 the Australian National Film and Sound Archive produced a new digital transfer of an original 35mm print, which may have been released by Umbrella Entertainment but by 2022 was out of print.
A 2-disc DVD with DTS soundtrack is available in the US from ]Blue Underground
Blue Underground is an American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult and exploitation movies on Blu-ray Disc and DVD.
It was originally formed as a shell company to oversee 'making of' documentaries during founder ...
.
See also
* Sydney in film
* List of Australian films
* Cinema of Australia
References
Further reading
* Murray, Scott (editor), ''Australian Film, 1978-1994'', Oxford, 1995.
External links
''Starstuck''
fan site
*
*
''Starstruck''
at Oz Movies
*
Starstruck at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starstruck (1982 Film)
1982 films
1980s musical comedy-drama films
Australian musical comedy-drama films
1982 independent films
Films set in Sydney
Films shot in Sydney
Australian independent films
Films directed by Gillian Armstrong
1982 comedy films
1982 drama films
1980s English-language films