ABBA: The Movie (1977)

An incompetent radio DJ tries to get an interview with the Swedish pop group during their famous week-long 1977 tour of Australia.

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers:

Lasse Hallström, Robert Caswell (as Bob Caswell)

Stars:

Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anni-Frid Lyngstad	...	Self
Benny Andersson	...	Self
Björn Ulvaeus	...	Self
Agnetha Fältskog	...	Self
Robert Hughes	...	Ashley Wallace, the disc Jockey
Tom Oliver	...	Bodyguard / Bartender / Taxi Driver
Bruce Barry	...	Radio Station Manager
Stig Anderson	...	ABBA Manager
Calvin Cross	...	Featured Fan
Ivar Dahlbom	...	Featured Fan
Harry Lawrence	...	Featured Fan
Michael Mansson	...	Hotel receptionist (as Michael Manson)
Sandy Mansson	...	Girl in box office (as Sandy Manson)
Ray Marshall	...	Featured Fan
Frances Matthews	...	Featured Fan

Storyline

Movie detailing ABBA's mega-successful tour of Australia during mid-1977. While it mostly contains back-stage footage and as well as ABBA's famous songs such as "Dancing Queen", "Tiger", "Name Of The Game" and "Eagle" among others sung filmed during their concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, it has the sub-plot of young country and western radio disc-jockey, Ashley, whose boss orders him to have a deep interview with ABBA and the problems he has trying to reach them as he forgets his press pass and ABBA's main bodyguard, (Tom Oliver) is determined to stop him...

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Plot Keywords:

man wears eyeglasses | abba | interview | australia | radio | 

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Taglines:

The MUSIC! The SONGS! The MAGIC! The COLOUR! The MAGNIFICENCE!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film featured three new songs of the band ABBA which were then first performed during this 1977 concert tour of Australia.

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Goofs

Throughout the film, Ashley pursues ABBA through the cities of Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne in that order. The actual tour went in the order of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

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Quotes

Music Critic: Well, their image is very clean and it does provide a large contrast to a great number of popular groups. They don't have anything to do with... violence. Their music and their performance, has to do with having a good time. I think most parents would react very favorably to ABBA. At the concerts, amongst the public, you see sometimes two, even three generations of family.

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Alternate Versions

Available in three different final soundmixes! One mono, and two different in stereo, one with only three frontchannels, and one with a fourth surround channel.

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Connections

Featured in ABBA: The Winner Takes It All (1999)

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Soundtracks

Eagle
Written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
Performed by ABBA
Published by Union Songs AB

User Reviews

Very good

ABBA are my favourite group and I rented the movie from the library. It is mainly showing their 1977 tour in Australia. They perform most of their popular hits such as Waterloo and Fernando. You will find it quite interesting as it just shows how popular ABBA were in the 1970's. The film is made into a story. Be entertained by this great documentary. I didn't know that you could still get it anyway, but I was really happy to ind it. I had always wanted to see it and I was very amazed when I saw it. If people like ABBA, they will enjoy the movie. Scenes include the press conference, concerts, the Radio DJ searching for them and also his dream.

Details

Country:

Sweden Australia

Language:

English Swedish

Release Date:

2 February 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

ABBA: The Movie

Filming Locations:

Football Park - Turner Drive, West Lakes, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$38

Company Credits

Production Co:

Polar Music International, Reg Grundy Productions Pty. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo 3 Channel Stereo Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1