The film focuses on a group of four friends, Pam (played by Nancy Allen), Rosie (played by Wendie Jo Sperber), Janis (played by Susan Kendall Newman) and Grace (played by Theresa Saldana), who are traveling from their hometown of Maplewood, New Jersey to New York City to try and get into the Ed Sullivan show to see The Beatles perform. Of the group, Rosie is the most enthusiastic of the group as she falls into hysterics at even the sight of a cardboard cut out of Paul McCartney. Pam is about to get married and trying to be practical about her impending nuptials, but decides to go along anyway. Grace is an avid photographer and is plotting to get her own pictures of the Fab Four. Janis, on the otherhand, looks down her nose at The Beatles music and is planning to protest the show. Deciding to start at the hotel the Beatles are staying at to catch a glimpse, Grace figures they need a Limo to get as close as possible and convince their friend Larry (played by Marc McClure), who has access to one, to help. Also joining them for the ride is Tony (played by Bobby Di Cicco), who hates the Beatles and wants to disrupt the broadcast. Their plan works, but in the ensuing chaos when Tony is mistaken for a Beatle, the friends get separated. Rosie makes it into the hotel and crosses paths with a Beatlemaniac named Richard (played by Eddie Deezen) before getting thrown out by a hotel security guard (played by Dick Miller). Grace tries to sneak into the studio but is stopped by a stagehand who promises to let her in once the show starts...for $50. Janis starts to soften in her opinion of the band when she meets Peter (played by Christian Jutter), whose Dad is holding his tickets to the show hostage until his son gets a haircut, losing the mop top cut he has now, leading Janis to team up with him to get the tickets back. Meanwhile, Pam manages to catch a glimpse of the Fab Four as the depart through the back of the hotel and manages to sneak up to their room, overcome by the sight of their belongings. All of this leads to an assortment of shenanigans as each of the characters tries to scheme and sneak their way into the Ed Sullivan Show before the show starts.
The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script he wrote with Bob Gale. The two of them manage to craft an amusing ode to Beatlemania while crafting plenty of hoops for our hapless characters to jump through in pursuit of their prize. At the same time, the way they both show and don't show The Beatles at the same time is ingenious. Using a combination of stand-ins, either far away or obscured, along with footage from the actual show they manage to get away with it. Which is just as well as the film's story is with the kids anyway as they try to get into the show. What Zemeckis and Gale capture so well within the film is how it feels to be a fan of something as well as the excitement and euphoria that can come along with that against the backdrop of maybe the most hysterical and excited fans, ever. Yet, they never make fun of the character themselves for their fan driven pursuits and we as the audience want to see each one of them reach their goal. They also keep the action moving at a strong pace as we move from one misadventure to another. Zemeckis also elects not to have a standard score to the film, instead populating it with a number of Beatles songs throughout. It's also a nice touch that the four main girls' initials correspond to each of the members of the Beatles.
The acting in the film is great, starting with Wendie Jo Sperber who is a force of nature as Rosie. She is a massive fan of The Beatles and carries a handheld radio with her throughout the film, flying into a panic any time a drawing for tickets to the show is announced, even jumping out of a moving car at one point to call in. In an amusing running gag, she doesn't even stop to put money in the pay phone and instead just throws a handful of change at the phone. As the film progresses, her path keeps crossing with the Beatle obsessed Richard and Eddie Deezen brings him to life in all his obnoxious, hilarious glory as Richard manages to hinder Rosie's attempts to see the Fab Four more than he helps. Nancy Allen has fun with her character's arc as Pam, who finds herself second guessing her engagement through the assorted adventures she has herself. Theresa Saldana is a lot of fun in portraying Grace's single minded determination to getting pictures of the Beatles and willing to pretty much do whatever it takes to do it. I also appreciated her blossoming relationship with Larry, who Marc McClure brings his character's shy, nervous self to life. I also loved how their storyline turned out, although I won't dare spoil it. I also enjoyed Susan Kendall Newman as Janis, who starts off the film as a bit of a snob, looking down her nose at the Beatles because of their popularity, but comes around to it the more immersed in the fandom she becomes. I liked her unlikely friendship with the much younger Peter, and their scheme to get his tickets to the show from his strict father, along the way finding an equally unlikely ally in Tony.
This film kicked off the filmmaking careers of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. They would reteam with Steven Spielberg (who produced this film) the following year with 1941 (which would carry over four cast members from this film as well, Wendie Jo Sperber, Nancy Allen, Bobby Di Cicco and Eddie Deezen) and are probably best known for creating the Back to the Future trilogy. Still, as far as debuts go, this is a pretty strong one and is certainly one of the more underrated and lesser known screwball comedies. The film was recently remastered for release through the Criterion Collection and the results are fantastic. If you are a fan of the film, like I am, it's the version to have. If you haven't seen it, and are a fan of the Beatles, I wholeheartedly recommend checking it out.
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