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If you're like me at all, you get a kick out of seeing a great director's early work. It let's you see how things have changed, and it also gives you a rare opportunity to glimpse the director's "secret" side. When most directors are just starting out, they do projects that are near to their hearts, ones that take you back in time, or show a sense of humor that has since gotten shelved in exchange for "big movies." One of the best of the bunch is from director Robert Zemeckis, the guy that brought us such fare as the Back to the Future trilogy and Forrest Gump. He teamed with a writer named Bob Gale early on, and also got some help from another guy just nudging his way into prominence, Steven Speilberg. They pair did two movies together, basically cutting their teeth for the eventual studio circuit, and both of them are very funny. One, Used Cars, is an over-the-top comedy starring Kurt Russell, who used the film to completely break away from his old Disney image once and for all. The other, though, feels to me like a labor of love. I Wanna Hold Your Hand, made in 1978, is a slice of recent history, concerning one of the biggest events in most baby boomers' lives. The film takes place during the week rock-n-roll changed forever, the week the Beatles came to New York to be on "The Ed Sullivan Show." It follows a group of kids who, for one reason or another, have to get in to see The Fab Four make their debut in America. One girl, Rosie, played by Wendie Jo Sperber (later on TV's "Bosom Buddies"), is dying to see The Beatles. Another, Grace (Theresa Saldana of "The Commish"), wants to protest the Liverpool Invasion because they are taking away from folk music. Yet another girl, Pam, played by Nancy Allen (Robocop, Out of Sight), has no care for the Beatles at all, because her fiance is pressuring her to get married. Sperber meets up with another Beatle freak (Eddie Deezen of Grease fame) while trying to gain access to the Boys' hotel room. Saldana finds an ally in Tony (Bobby Di Cicco), a guy who only despises The Beatles because of their hair. These two hope to swing tickets through a MopTopped kidnamed Peter (Christian Juttner) whose dad has commandeered his tickets until he gets a crew cut. It sounds a little confusing, I know, but, as we now know from Zemeckis' work, he loves the multiple storyline, and balances it well. His cast is perfect for the subject, because all of them were relatively unknown at the time, and they were fresh and young, just the age to be affected by all the Beatlemania that swept the country in 1964. Out of all of the cast, though, the two biggest standouts are Wendie Jo Sperber, who later went on to fame more in television than movies, and Nancy Allen, who became Brian DePalma's "scream queen" for a while. Through Allen, we get to see a very funny character grow, as her Pam goes from not caring about all the hoopla to being a pure Beatlemaniac. She's just a poor little teen with an engagement ring, scared of marriage and growing up. But, through a string of funny accidents, ends up locked in the Fab Four's hotel suite, the Nirvana a million girls dreamt of that week. Suddenly, after her panic, she begins to melt. In a virtually wordless scene, she slowly moves around the room, touching the Beatles' cigarette butts, their dishes and silverware, their guitars, and, finally, the crown jewel, she lays down amongst the Beatles' cherished bedsheets. As she makes this round of the room, her whole personality changes, and she goes from quiet and shy to a weeping heartstruck fan, like so many others did that weekend. It is one of the funniest scenes Zemeckis has ever filmed, and one of Allen's best performances. And, at the end, of course, everyone, through one means or another, gets in to the Sullivan show, just in time to hear those immortal words..."Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!!!" I know it may seem a trifle dated, but that's the point. It shows an innocent age, and how something so revolutionary can affect both music and its fans. Folks, you're missing out if you never see I Wanna Hold Your Hand. It's a bit of brilliance from a group of newcomers that scored big by taking us all back to the past.
Get "reel" soon,
See past Alternative Medicine columns: A Christmas Story | To Kill A Mockingbird | I Wanna Hold Your Hand | Kingpin | Joe Versus the Volcano | The Commitments | Indian Summer | The Big Lebowski | Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Empire Records | That Thing You Do! | The Ten Commandments | The Third Man | Waiting for Guffman
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