That'll Be the Day
ActOne Cinema & Café, London, W3 6NA
Monday 19th October 2026
That'll Be the Day
USA 1980
Starring David Essex, Ringo Starr, Billy Fury
Rosemary Leach and Keith Moon
Director Claude Watham
As part of the ActOne fifth birthday celebrations we are screening 'American Graffiti' - George Lucas' classic 1973 coming-of-age comedy set during one night in a small town in California in the early 60s. In the same year David Essex - an up-and-coming singer, starred in 'That'll Be the Day' - a very British tale about Jim MacLaine, a wayward youth who runs away from home to live a freewheeling life working in holiday camps and fairgrounds. Produced by a young David Puttnam the film features cameos from musicians Billy Fury and Keith Moon along with Ringo Starr. Taking it's title from the iconic Buddy Holly song, That'll Be the Day, like American Graffiti, is set on the cusp of the 1960s - rock and roll is making way for a new kind of music and the more traditional morals and values of the 1950s are shifting to those of a new, more progressive era.
Written by journalist Ray Connolly the film is energetic and funny but also at times tough and dark in tone. It features a dynamite soundtrack and a winning central performance from Essex. The release of That'll Be the Day coincided with his biggest international hit 'Rock On' and was followed by a downbeat sequel Stardust in which MacLaine becomes a famous but unhappy rock star.
USA 1980
Starring David Essex, Ringo Starr, Billy Fury
Rosemary Leach and Keith Moon
Director Claude Watham
As part of the ActOne fifth birthday celebrations we are screening 'American Graffiti' - George Lucas' classic 1973 coming-of-age comedy set during one night in a small town in California in the early 60s. In the same year David Essex - an up-and-coming singer, starred in 'That'll Be the Day' - a very British tale about Jim MacLaine, a wayward youth who runs away from home to live a freewheeling life working in holiday camps and fairgrounds. Produced by a young David Puttnam the film features cameos from musicians Billy Fury and Keith Moon along with Ringo Starr. Taking it's title from the iconic Buddy Holly song, That'll Be the Day, like American Graffiti, is set on the cusp of the 1960s - rock and roll is making way for a new kind of music and the more traditional morals and values of the 1950s are shifting to those of a new, more progressive era.
Written by journalist Ray Connolly the film is energetic and funny but also at times tough and dark in tone. It features a dynamite soundtrack and a winning central performance from Essex. The release of That'll Be the Day coincided with his biggest international hit 'Rock On' and was followed by a downbeat sequel Stardust in which MacLaine becomes a famous but unhappy rock star.
