I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

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 | USA | Beatlemania | Travel

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:

Will Jordan, as Ed Sullivan, announces next week's acts after The Beatles finish their segment. He says that a young man will appear who does an impersonation of him (Ed Sullivan), named Will Jordan.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end of the Ed Sullivan broadcast in I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, Will Jordan as Sullivan announces that The Beatles will return the following week for a broadcast co-starring the Budapest Ballerinas and Will Jordan himself. The actual announced co-star of that broadcast was, in fact, Mitzi Gaynor, and Jordan never appeared on an "Ed Sullivan Show" on which The Beatles also performed in person. However, one notable impressionist did appear on a Sullivan broadcast alongside The Beatles -- Frank Gorshin, on the real-life broadcast of February 9, 1964, that was depicted in the film.

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)

A Masterpiece

There is a scene that takes place about three quarters of the way through this film that is not only one of the ten funniest scenes in the history of movie-making, but probably does even a better job of summing up what the year 1964 was all about than Dr. Strangelove. It involves Christian Juttner, who must confront an evil looking one-eyed barber, and a snake-like pair of electric clippers.

And forget Burt Lancaster & Deborah Kerr on the beach in "From Here To Eternity." For sheer lustful passion, that scene doesn't even come close to Nancy Allen's roll in the hay with Paul McCartney's Hoffner bass.

A flawless masterpiece!