I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers:

Bob Gale (writer)
Robert Zemeckis (writer)

Release Date:

3 July 1985 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

these youngsters are suffering from a highly contagious disease called beatlemania. The symptoms are...screaming hysteria hyperventilation fainting fits seizures and spasmodic convulsions It isn't fatal but it sure is fun.

Plot:

If they missed Beatles' first appearance in the U.S.A. they would hate themselves for the rest of their lives...

Plot Keywords:

New Jersey | Ticket | New York | New York City | Beatlemania

Cast

Nancy Allen	...	Pam Mitchell
Bobby Di Cicco	...	Tony Smerko
Marc McClure	...	Larry Dubois
Susan Kendall Newman	...	Janis Goldman
Theresa Saldana	...	Grace Corrigan
Wendie Jo Sperber	...	Rosie Petrofsky
Eddie Deezen	...	Richard 'Ringo' Klaus
Christian Juttner	...	Peter Plimpton
Will Jordan	...	Ed Sullivan
Read Morgan	...	Peter's Father
Claude Earl Jones	...	Al
James Houghton	...	Eddie
James Hewitson	...	Neil
Dick Miller	...	Sergeant Brenner
Vito Carenzo	...	CBS Security Guard

Also Known As:

Beatlemania (USA) (working title)
Beatles 4-Ever (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-12 | USA:PG

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Eddie Deezen's character is named in part after someone Bob Gale worked with in St. Louis during an amateur film shoot.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Ringo's drumming in the studio is inconsistent with what's on the monitor.

Quotes:

Rosie Petrofsky: [The Beatles limo is taking off] Look, There they go!
Richard 'Ringo' Klaus: Hey, wait a minute! That limo got Jersey plates!
Tony Smerko: [Hesitates] Nah, it couldn't be.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

What a cute movie!

I never saw this until just today--I was afraid it would turn out to be a dumb film like "Beatlemania!" was--but it turned out to be one of the innocently charming films I've ever seen.

I am a big Beatles admirer, but I wasn't around for this particular time period (I grew up with them during the 70s instead). But this film was sure a fun treat to watch! Delightful slapstick, lots of times completely unbelieveable, but who cares? The fun is in watching these very likeable characters (except that annoying nerd who was goofy and funny but not likeakle, and the Beatle-hater who tries to axe the show... LITERALLY) go through their exciting and silly adventure in their attempts to get tickets.

I was really laughing HARD while watching this one, and highly recommend it!

Out of all the characters, the one whom I fell in love with the most was the one young girl who wanted more than anything else in the world to see her beloved Paul McCartney. Long dark hair, just *slightly* chubby, having cute puppy dog eyes and wearing a sweet little pink bow in her hair, I felt so sorry for her. She wanted SO much to see Paul, and it was both funny and terribly heartbreaking at the same time to watch her rush into a phone booth to call the radio station with the correct answer for a Beatles trivia contest and be so anxious with her handful of dimes that she practically *THROWS* them at the phone.

My favorite lines declaring the Beatles one of life's happiest pleasures come at a scene when the bride-to-be is driving with her future husband (who gives the impression with his short onscreen time that he'd be a real CREEP to her!). Check this scene out and listen to her lines, they're priceless to Beatle fans everywhere.

I'm afraid I'm not a good judge concerning whether or not non-Beatle admirers will react so favourably to this one... but if they dig slapstick and watching people go berzerk over such ridiculous things as the everyday napkins celebrities use, they just might. I mean hey, I love the Beatles, but I would NEVER go for the nonsense that goes on here! So for both Beatle fans and non-fans, I think it's safe for me to say that this movie works as both a fun piece of nostalgia and a satirical look of human nature gone wild and how crazy some will go when it comes to beloved icons.

Oh, and I'm sure Paul finds it VERY flattering as well! Hee hee...