Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

A bored suburban housewife, seeking adventure to her life, accidentally gets hit on the head, wakes up with amnesia, and is mistaken for a free-spirited New York City drifter named Susan.

Director:

Susan Seidelman

Writer:

Leora Barish

Stars:

Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rosanna Arquette	...	Roberta Glass / 'Susan'
Madonna	...	Susan
Aidan Quinn	...	Dez
Mark Blum	...	Gary Glass
Robert Joy	...	Jim
Laurie Metcalf	...	Leslie Glass
Anna Levine	...	Crystal
Will Patton	...	Wayne Nolan
Peter Maloney	...	Ian
Steven Wright	...	Larry Stillman D.D.S
John Turturro	...	Ray
Anne Carlisle	...	Victoria
José Angel Santana	...	Boutique Owner (as Jose Santana)
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Street Vendor
Richard Hell	...	Bruce Meeker

Storyline

Bored Roberta spots a regular personal ad in the paper titled 'Desperately Seeking Susan'. She heads off to New York, following one of the ads, and finds Susan. When Susan sells her jacket, Roberta - trying to emulate her mystery ad writer - buys the jacket and wears it. Little does she know someon is looking for the jacket - and its owner...

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Plot Keywords:

housewife | jacket | new york | amnesia | personal ad | 

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Taglines:

Roberta is desperate to be Susan. Susan is wanted by the mob. The mob finds Roberta instead...

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Recherche Susan désespérément

Filming Locations:

8th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$27,400,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (original release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The orange baseball jersey that Susan wears after her clothes have been stolen, sports the letters MC. These are Madonna's initials; her full name is Madonna Ciccone.

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Goofs

When Susan picks up The New York Mirror newspaper, the word lotto is spelled Looto on the front page

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Quotes

Dez: Some guy grabbed you?
Roberta: Yes, he was after me. Well, not me exactly. He was after Susan, who he thinks I am, but I'm not!

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Connections

Referenced in Pop Up Video: Movie Magic 1: Movie Theme Songs (1998)

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Soundtracks

"ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER"
Written by Cy Curnin (uncredited), Rupert Greenall (uncredited), Jamie West-Oram (uncredited),
Alfie Agius (uncredited) and Adam Woods (uncredited)
Performed by The Fixx
Courtesy of MCA Records Inc.

User Reviews

actually a really good movie

yay! madonna actually does have one good movie! (and yes, we are talking about this one.) she plays susan, who is the definition of a free-spirit. and rosanna arquette is just as delightful as she always is, and frankly i would expect nothing less.

the soundtrack is an 80s gem. madonna's song "into the grove" is proudly featured and really sets the mood in the club scene. and the 80s fashion provides such an effective blast from the past that one really finds himself back in 1985.

this was overall a really good movie. it was fun and the characters were likable. i recommend that you rent it for an evening in with the friends.