Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) on Netflix
Eddie Wilson, the singer of the Cruisers, vanished when his car went off a New Jersey bridge in 1963. Reporter Maggie Foley later reopens the case of the band's missing album.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb6.9/109,903 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes33%
Trailer
Plot summary
Eddie Wilson fronted the Cruisers, a New Jersey bar band. Unable to write lyrics himself, he hired Frank Ridgeway as keyboard player and lyricist, over the objections of manager Doc Robbins and bassist Sal Amato. Their first album became a hit. For the second, A Season in Hell, Eddie pushed for something more ambitious, and his label turned it down. Then Eddie's car went off the Stainton Memorial Causeway in 1963, and his body was never found. Years later the label reissues the first album, which climbs higher on the charts than it first did, and a documentary revisits the band. Television reporter Maggie Foley asks whether Eddie could still be alive.
Cast
- Michael 'Tunes' Antunesas Wendell Newton
- Howard Johnsonas Wendell's Replacement
- Joe Catesas Lois
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Eddie and the Cruisers (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Extras hired for a college concert scene stopped play-acting once the music heated up: Paré recalls the screaming and applause became spontaneous, and Davidson recalls girls dashing for the stage and tearing at Michael's shirt while the cameras kept rolling.
- Nine months after the film left theaters, its main song On the Dark Side was number one on Billboard's Mainstream, Rock and Heatseeker charts and number seven on the Hot 100.
- The film flopped so badly it was pulled from theaters after just three weeks, with all of its promotional ads pulled after only one week.
- Star Michael Paré was discovered working as a chef in a New York City restaurant before landing the lead role.
- Director Martin Davidson personally optioned P. F. Kluge's source novel with his own money at significant financial risk before the film ever secured a studio deal.
