That'll Be the Day (film)
That'll Be the Day is a 1973 British drama film directed by Claude Whatham, written by Ray Connolly, and starring David Essex, Rosemary Leach and Ringo Starr. It is set in the late 1950s/early 1960s and was partially filmed on the Isle of Wight.

Plot summary
Jim MacLaine's seaman father left the family when Jim was a young child. As MacLaine (David Essex) becomes a teenager, his shopkeeper mother wants her bright son to go to university but he drops out of school just before the exams, leaves home and becomes a deckchair attendant before a friend, Mike (Ringo Starr), helps him get a job as a holiday camp barman and then with the fun fair. The initially shy MacLaine quickly becomes a heartless fairground Romeo, having one nighters with everyone from schoolgirls to mature women and young mothers, and coping with a dishonest and dangerous environment. He is attracted to rock 'n' roll and plays the harmonica but does not act on this. His schoolfriend, Terry, has gone to university and stands as a reminder of what MacLaine could have been.  

After two years, MacLaine returns home to find his resentful mother struggling with running the store and caring for her invalid father. MacLaine  stays to help run the family store and her mother still has hopes that he can continue his education. He marries his conventional girlfriend but, despite the birth of a son, still feels the lure of rock ’n’ roll and goes to rock concerts when his mother thinks he is at night school. After talking with friends in a band, he leaves home. The film ends as he buys a guitar.

Characters
The Liverpool days of the Quarrymen/the Beatles and Rory Storm & the Hurricanes were said to be the inspiration for the fictional group called "Stray Cats" in the film.

Many of the characters were played by musicians who had lived through the era portrayed in the film including Ringo Starr of the Hurricanes and the Beatles, Billy Fury, Keith Moon of the Who and John Hawken of the Nashville Teens.

The film was produced by David Puttnam and is loosely based on the Harry Nilsson song "1941".

Cast
David Essex . . . Jim Maclaine
Ringo Starr . . . Mike
Rosemary Leach . . . Mary Maclaine
James Booth . . . Mr. Maclaine
Billy Fury . . . Stormy Tempest
Rosalind Ayres . . . Jeanette Sutcliffe
Keith Moon . . . J. D. Clover
Robert Lindsay . . . Terry Sutcliffe
Deborah Watling . . . Sandra
Brenda Bruce . . . Doreen
Beth Morris . . . Jean
Daphne Oxenford . . . Mrs. Sutcliffe
Kim Braden . . .Charlotte
Johnny Shannon . . . Jack
Karl Howman . . . Johnny
Sue Holderness . . . Shirley
Érin Geraghty  . . . Joan
Sacha Puttnam . . . Young Jim Maclaine
Peter Turner . . . Teddy Boy

Reception and reputation

Box office
The film was a hit at the box office (by 1985 it had earned an estimated profit of £406,000). 

Nat Cohen, who invested in the film, said it made more than 50% its cost. It was one of the most popular movies of 1973 at the British box office.

Critical reception
According to Anne Billson in the Time Out Film Guide, the film was a "hugely overrated dip into the rock 'n' roll nostalgia bucket, ... " also commenting "Youth culture my eye: they're all at least a decade too old. But good tunes, and worth catching for Billy Fury's gold lamé act."

Soundtrack 

Buddy Holly and the Crickets – "That'll Be the Day"
Billy Fury – "A Thousand Stars"
Billy Fury – "Long Live Rock"
Billy Fury – "Get Yourself Together"
Billy Fury – "That's Alright Mama"
Billy Fury – "What Did I Say"
Wishful Thinking – "It'll Be Me"
Dion and the Belmonts – "Runaround Sue"
The Everly Brothers – "Bye Bye Love"
The Everly Brothers – "Devoted To You"
The Everly Brothers – "Till I Kissed You"
The Everly Brothers – "Wake Up Little Suzy"
The Platters – "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"
Big Bopper – "Chantilly Lace"
Jerry Lee Lewis – "Great Balls of Fire"
Little Richard – "Tutti Frutti"
Danny and the Juniors – "At the Hop"
Frankie Lymon – "Why Do Fools Fall In Love"
Johnny Tillotson -"Poetry In Motion"
Jimmie Rodgers – "Honeycomb"
Larry Williams – "Bony Moronie" 
Del Shannon – "Runaway"
Ritchie Valens – "Donna"
Eugene Wallace – "Slow Down"
Jerry Lee Lewis – "Great Balls of Fire"
Brian Hyland – "Sealed With a Kiss"
Bobby Vee – "Take Good Care of My Baby"
Del Shannon – "Hats Off to Larry"
Bobby Darin – "Dream Lover"
The Paris Sisters – "I Love How You Love Me"
The Poni-Tails – "Born Too Late"
Johnny and the Hurricanes – "Red River Rock"
The Monotones – "The Book of Love"
Bill Justis – "Raunchy"
Johnny Preston – "Running Bear"
The Diamonds – "Little Darlin' "
Ray Sharpe – "Linda Lu"
Lloyd Price – "(You've Got) Personality"
Buddy Holly and the Crickets – "Well All Right"
Dante and the Evergreens – "Alley Oop"
Viv Stanshall – "Real Leather Jacket"
Stormy Tempest ( Viv Stanshall ) – "What in the World"
Wolverine Cubs Jazz Band – "Weary Blues" (featured in the film but not on Soundtrack recording)
Buddy Knox - "Party Doll"
Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs - "Stay"

Chart positions

Award nominations

BAFTA Best Supporting Actress: Rosemary Leach.

BAFTA Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles: David Essex.

Sequels
Essex returned as Jim Maclaine the following year, in the 1974 sequel, Stardust, which continues the story into the early 1970s.

An independent radio drama recording project, That'll be the Stardust!, was released in 2008. The story follows the musical journey of Jim Maclaine's son, Jimmy Maclaine Jr.