Quadrophenia was first shown at the Cannes film festival on this date in 1979. 10 facts about it:
The film was set in London and Brighton in 1964 and is about a young Mod called Jimmy Cooper, who escapes from his dead-end job as a postroom boy by dancing, partying, taking amphetamines, riding his scooter and brawling with Rockers. The story covers a period of emotional turmoil in his life.
The title is a play on the word schizophrenia, as the protagonist, Jimmy, has four distinct personalities. Each personality type was said to represent a member of The Who.
Quadrophenia was a rock opera by The Who, the original album having been released in 1973. Quadrophenia was the sixth studio album by The Who and the only one to be entirely composed by Pete Townshend. He wrote it because the band were getting fed up of playing their first rock opera, Tommy, and wanted some new material. The young man on the cover of that album was called Terry Kennett, a 23-year old paint sprayer who Townshend met in a pub. There is a rumour that he didn’t turn up for one of the photoshoots because he was appearing in court, having been charged with stealing a Bus.
In the movie, Jimmy was played by Phil Daniels, but he wasn’t the first choice. The Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten was Pete Townshend's first choice for the role.
Birds of a Feather’s Linda Robson auditioned for the part of Steph, before the part went to Leslie Ash. Steph was supposed to have a '60s pixie crop, but Leslie Ash didn’t want to have her hair cut, so she has a longer style instead.
The pinball machine that Jimmy plays is a Buckaroo, manufactured by Gottlieb in 1965. It’s the same machine that Elton John plays in Tommy.
Before shooting began, the actors spent a month at the Metropolitan Police Training College in Hendon, North London, learning to ride scooters properly.
Eagle eyed viewers may spot several goofs in the film, in the form of things which wouldn’t have existed in 1964. For example, in the house party scene, Jimmy puts on My Generation. This single came out in 1965, the year after the film was set, and on the streets, a cinema is seen to be showing Grease, which came out in 1978. There are also cars on the streets which didn’t fit the time. The producers explained that closing the roads and making sure only cars that were around in 1964 were visible would have made the film too expensive to make. Also, since helmets weren’t a legal requirement in 1964, but were by the time filming took place, the priority was watching out for the police was the priority, rather than paying attention to whether parked cars fit the time period!
The scene where Jimmy and his mates are on their bikes overlooking the sea and pier and say, ‘That’s Brighton’, it’s actually Eastbourne.
There is a Quadrophenia Walk you can take in Brighton, which takes in all the locations featured in the film.
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