Quadrophenia (1979)

Jimmy loathes his job and parents. He seeks solace with his mod clique, scooter riding and drugs, only to be disappointed.

Director:

Franc Roddam

Writers:

Dave Humphries (screenplay), Martin Stellman (screenplay)

Stars:

Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Phil Davis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Phil Daniels	...	Jimmy
Leslie Ash	...	Steph
Phil Davis	...	Chalky (as Philip Davis)
Mark Wingett	...	Dave
Sting	...	Ace Face
Ray Winstone	...	Kevin (as Raymond Winstone)
Garry Cooper	...	Peter
Gary Shail	...	Spider
Toyah Willcox	...	Monkey
Trevor Laird	...	Ferdy
Kate Williams	...	Mother
Michael Elphick	...	Father
Kim Neve	...	Yvonne
Benjamin Whitrow	...	Mr. Fulford
Daniel Peacock	...	Danny

Storyline

London, 1965: Like many other youths, Jimmy hates the philistine life, especially his parents and his job in a company's mailing division. Only when he's together with his friends, a 'Mod' clique, cruising London on his motor-scooter and hearing music such as that of 'The Who' and 'The High Numbers', does he feel free and accepted. However, it's a flight into an illusionary world.

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Plot Keywords:

sex scene | the who | casual sex | spontaneous sex | male full frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

Hell On Wheels!

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Before shooting commenced, several of the main cast were taken to the Metropolitan Police Training College in Hendon, North London, where they were taught how to ride their scooters properly by a police motorcyclist.

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Goofs

The fly-screen on the scooter that Jimmy steals disappears then reappears in the next shot.

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Quotes

Jimmy: Nothing seems right, apart from Brighton. I mean, Brighton was OK. Going to court with the Ace and that. And, like, I was a mod there, you know? I mean that's something, innit, eh?
Steph: Oh, what are you talkin' about? Brighton was a laugh. That's why we went down. It was a giggle, that's all.
Jimmy: Oh, yeah? And me and you, then? Was that just a giggle?
Steph: Oh, what do you think? All right, so I fancied you. We had it off together. But that don't mean nothin', does it?
Jimmy: It did to fuckin' me!

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Crazy Credits

Jeans By Levis

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Alternate Versions

There are at least 4 scenes that have been deleted from the final film. These scenes have never been released anywhere in full, apart from on a short documentary that came with the 1997 UK video, but even then they are shown as photographs and not the actual full scenes. Most notable was the entire deletion of almost all of the dialogue from Ace Face (played by Sting), including 2 extended scenes from the police van and one of all the mods meeting up on their scooters before going to Brighton. Supposedly, the reason that all of Ace Face's dialogue was deleted was that Sting and the producers both agreed that this ruined his 'mysterious' character that he was playing and also may have taken the focus of the protagonist of the story, Jimmy.

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Connections

Referenced in Author: The JT LeRoy Story (2016)

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Soundtracks

Green Onions
Written by Al Jackson Jr., Booker T. Jones, Lewie Steinberg and Steve Cropper
Performed by Booker T. & the M.G.s (as Booker T & The 'M.G.'s)
Published by Atlantic Records & WEA.

User Reviews

All the Young Dudes

I'm about as old as Sting is now.

When I was the age of the kids in this film, in my area of the world, we had two groups of kids, and you were either one or the other, unless you were a total loser, or just didn't care. In the movie, Jimmy and his crew were the mods; we had what were called the "baldies", because of the close-cropped hair. I placed my allegiance with the baldies. We wore what would be called "preppie" attire now: khaki trousers, button-down collar "Gant" shirts with the little loops in the back, high-polished leather oxfords in shell or wingtip styles, v-neck sweaters, and belts with big round buckles. The shoes were important in that the soles were heavy enough to inflict some damage in a fight. The shirts and trousers had to be perfectly pressed, and the shoes spit-shined. Yes, to any self-respecting baldie, appearance was extremely high on the list of importance. It was all about image, you see. Favorite baldie smoke: "boros"; favorite beverage: malt liquor.

In place of the rockers, we had the "greasers", for obvious reasons. Very similar to the rockers portrayed in the movie, with their black leather jackets, engineer boots, denims, and early Elvis-type hair. The greasers were more of your lower or lower middle class working kids, while the baldies were generally in a higher economic class. Music-wise, the baldies went for the Beatles, Stones and other British groups; the rockers hung onto Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. Your typical greaser smoked Camels and drank Grain Belt beer, or booze.

Others had mentioned "The Outsiders". If I remember correctly, in that film, the "Soc's" (pronounced "sowshuz) equated with the mods/baldies, but I can't recall what the rockers/greasers were called. Anyone?

I guess the point is that all young men go through this stuff, to varying degrees, all over the place. You have that dangerous period where you are not a little kid anymore but not yet a man, the hormones are screaming, you think your parents are the stupidest people on earth, you HAVE to make sure you get your share. You desperately need to prove your manhood, because you're not a man and you're insecure about that whole deal. So you fight, to measure yourself against the next guy. And your buds are much more important to you than your parents.

The Vespas in the movie were something we didn't have around here: more car-oriented, though the greasers did have their Harley's. If there was a popular bike, it would have been the Honda 50! Sort of shows you how old and decrepit I am now.

I really was blown away when I first saw the film. Seemed real raw and honest, and loved the "Britishness" of the whole thing. But we could all totally relate, because as you see, the English kids were alot like us.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 November 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Quadrophenia

Filming Locations:

Lewes Magistrates Court, High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Who Films, Polytel

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (Dolby Stereo)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1