# Stardust (1974 film)
**Stardust** is a 1974 British musical drama directed by [Michael Apted](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-apted) and written by Ray Connolly, the sequel to *That'll Be the Day* (1973). It follows the fictional rock singer Jim MacLaine, played by [David Essex](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-essex), from his early days fronting a band called the [Stray Cats](https://www.edgepedia.org/stray-cats) through international superstardom, drug addiction, and mental breakdown.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Michael Apted; screenplay by Ray Connolly[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974) |
| Producers | Sanford Lieberson and David Puttnam, for Goodtimes Enterprises; distributed by Columbia Pictures[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974) |
| Lead cast | David Essex (Jim MacLaine), Adam Faith (Mike), Larry Hagman (Porter Lee Austin), Keith Moon (J.D. Clover), Dave Edmunds (Alex)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974) |
| Release | US theatrical release November 12, 1974; runtime listed at 1h 53m; rated R[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974) |
| Story | The rise and fall of a rock singer in the mid-1960s, with the Stray Cats' career arc modeled on the Beatles[2](https://time.com/archive/6846632/cinema-the-glory-road/) |
| Award | Writers Guild of Great Britain award for the best British screenplay of 1974[3](https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/how-thatll-be-the-day-and-stardust-came-to-be-written/) |
| Restoration | StudioCanal 4K restoration released in 2019, scanned from the original camera negative[4](https://vintageclassicsfilm.co.uk/movies/stardust/) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film picks up where *That'll Be the Day* left off, opening in 1963 or 1964 as Jim MacLaine walks through a fairground to find his friend Mike on the day US President Kennedy was assassinated.[5](https://www.reelstreets.com/films/stardust-1974/) MacLaine leads the Stray Cats, a Merseybeat-style combo whose members include musicians [Dave Edmunds](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-edmunds) and [Keith Moon](https://www.edgepedia.org/keith-moon), and the band gains a shrewd manager, Mike, played by [Adam Faith](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-faith), himself a real-life pop star.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974)
The band's rise deliberately parallels the Beatles: from a subterranean club to a poll-winners' party to fame in America. Apted said on a DVD extra that this was no accident, since he, producer David Puttnam, and writer Ray Connolly were of the Beatles' generation.[6](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/stardust-1974/) After the bandmates part ways, MacLaine pursues a solo career, composes a grandiose rock opera dedicated to his mother, performs it once for a massive television audience, and then withdraws to a Spanish castle as drugs, alcohol, and ego take their toll.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974) Roger Ebert, the [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize)-winning film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times*, described the character as having elements of [Paul McCartney](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-mccartney), Bob Dylan, and [Jim Morrison](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-morrison) mixed into a personality not strong enough to withstand superstardom.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/stardust-1975)
## Production
Connolly recalled that David Puttnam urged him to write a sequel even before *That'll Be the Day* was released. By then David Essex was a huge star, but [Ringo Starr](https://www.edgepedia.org/ringo-starr), who had played a meaty supporting role in the first film, did not want to return as the road manager. The part went to Adam Faith.[8](https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/screenplays-for-the-cinema/) Tony Curtis was expected to play the American manager but dropped out at the last minute, and [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures), which held the US distribution deal, sent the television star [Larry Hagman](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-hagman). Connolly rewrote the part as a Texan to fit Hagman, who later told *Playboy* that his performance as J.R. Ewing in *Dallas* was suggested by his role in *Stardust*.[8](https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/screenplays-for-the-cinema/)
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) got under way in February 1974 on a chilly morning at a [West London](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-london) church, with roughly thirty extras engaged to swarm around the fictional rock star. As Connolly recounted in the *Daily Mail* in 2017, the extras proved unnecessary: when David Essex showed his face, hundreds of local girls mobbed him, and that pattern continued throughout the shoot as Essex's own fame grew.[9](https://londononlocation.co.uk/films/stardust/)
On viewing the finished film, the censor wanted to give it an X certificate because of nudity and drug use; Puttnam convinced him otherwise, arguing that nothing in the film encouraged drug taking.[3](https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/how-thatll-be-the-day-and-stardust-came-to-be-written/) The film was shot with what the Cinema Museum's retrospective called gritty realism by cinematographer Tony Richmond, and it was only Apted's second feature.[10](https://cinemamuseum.org.uk/scheduled/rock-and-roll-double-bill-by-lost-reels-born-to-boogie-1972-and-stardust-1974/)
## Music
The soundtrack combines period hits with original material. The 2019 restoration's distributor lists vintage music by [Little Richard](https://www.edgepedia.org/little-richard), The Beach Boys, Carole King, The Shirelles, Jefferson Airplane, the Bee Gees, The Righteous Brothers, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Cat Stevens, and The Animals.[4](https://vintageclassicsfilm.co.uk/movies/stardust/) The Stray Cats' own songs were composed largely by Dave Edmunds, who also appears in the band.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974) David Essex wrote a song called "Stardust" played over the end titles, and the film was accompanied by a hit album.[3](https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/how-thatll-be-the-day-and-stardust-came-to-be-written/)
Some critics found the original songs unconvincing as period pieces: one audience review on Rotten Tomatoes judged them generic and anachronistic, with 1970s-era guitar effects that did not fit the fictional mid-1960s timeline.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974)
## Reception and legacy
Upon release, *Stardust* was an even bigger hit than *That'll Be the Day* had been, despite what Connolly called a real downer of an ending; he and Puttnam considered a third film but resisted the idea.[3](https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/how-thatll-be-the-day-and-stardust-came-to-be-written/) *Time* magazine's 1975 review called it the film that had shown most cunningly and colorfully the internal battles of superstardom.[2](https://time.com/archive/6846632/cinema-the-glory-road/) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a Tomatometer of 47% based on three critic reviews.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974)
The film is now regarded as part of a 1970s cycle of British pop-music films. Scholars place it alongside *That'll Be the Day*, *Quadrophenia* (1979, also produced by Puttnam), and *Flame* (1975) as works that depicted the rock and roll dream turning into a nightmare.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974) A University of Liverpool thesis groups it with the pop-music nostalgia films of the decade, reminiscent of George Lucas's *American Graffiti* (1973).[11](https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3515/4/BoschiElena_Sep2010_3515.pdf) After years of limited availability, the film was restored by StudioCanal in 2019 and has since been available on streaming services in the United States.[4](https://vintageclassicsfilm.co.uk/movies/stardust/) • [12](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/stardust-1974)
## References
1. [Stardust (1974), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stardust-1974)
2. [Cinema: The Glory Road, Time, March 3, 1975](https://time.com/archive/6846632/cinema-the-glory-road/)
3. [How That'll Be The Day and Stardust came to be written, Ray Connolly](https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/how-thatll-be-the-day-and-stardust-came-to-be-written/)
4. [Stardust, Vintage Classics](https://vintageclassicsfilm.co.uk/movies/stardust/)
5. [Stardust (1974), Reelstreets](https://www.reelstreets.com/films/stardust-1974/)
6. [Stardust (1974), Starburst Magazine review](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/stardust-1974/)
7. [Stardust movie review, Roger Ebert, January 1, 1975](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/stardust-1975)
8. [Screenplays for the cinema, Ray Connolly](https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/screenplays-for-the-cinema/)
9. [London on Location: Stardust](https://londononlocation.co.uk/films/stardust/)
10. [Rock and Roll double bill: Born to Boogie (1972) and Stardust (1974), The Cinema Museum](https://cinemamuseum.org.uk/scheduled/rock-and-roll-double-bill-by-lost-reels-born-to-boogie-1972-and-stardust-1974/)
11. [Elena Boschi, PhD thesis, University of Liverpool, 2010](https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3515/4/BoschiElena_Sep2010_3515.pdf)
12. [Stardust streaming: where to watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/stardust-1974)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Musical and music films (individual works) › Musical films of the 1970s and 1980s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license