MUSICIANS
IN MOVIES
FROM THE
KING AND THE FAB FOUR, TO EMINEM AND 50 CENT. |
 An
orphaned street kid turned inner city drug dealer finally dares to leave
the violence behind and become the rap artist he was meant to be. At first
glance the plot for the new U.I.P movie Get Rich or Die Tryin' (in
cinemas 20 January) sounds unrealistic, even clichéd, until you realise
that it is loosely based on the life story of Curtis "50 Cent"
Jackson, the multi-platinum selling hip-hop protégé who stars
in the movie.
In this drama
enriched by parallels to Jackson’s own life, Marcus (Jackson) has
always known he was going to be a rapper, but when his mother is murdered,
he turns to dealing – hustling drugs pays the rent. Only his grandmother,
girlfriend Charlene, and violent but loyal friend Bama keep him grounded
as his world spirals out of control. As Marcus applies the same manic
intensity to his writing as he does to dealing, he finds that writing
down his words helps him to stay sane. For years, he endures this living
hell until a tragedy that nearly kills him forces Marcus to change his
life.
“I guess
you could say that Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is a collage of my life,”
offers Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, the hip-hop star who makes
his motion picture debut in the new film. “It’s
not so much my life story, as it is a story that has incidents similar
to some that happened in my life.”
Get Rich
or Die Tryin’ is the latest in a long line of movies built around
musicians turned actors, from the Elvis movies of the 1950's through to
Spice World and 8 Mile. Cinemas Online are taking a look back at just
some of them, starting with arguably the two most well known, Elvis Presley
and The Beatles.
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ELVIS
PRESLEY |
 The
King of Rock 'n' Roll scored big in his initial screen outings, revealing
early on a genuine charisma; later he even learned to act. After a creditable
debut in a supporting role in Love Me Tender (1956, renamed at the
last minute to capitalize on that hit song, which had been released just
prior to the movie), he went on to star in Loving You (1957) and
the film many consider his best, Jailhouse Rock (1957). These films
depicted a snarling, rock 'n' roll Elvis, not the kind of boy a girl would
bring home to mother. He seemed to get better with each new film, and was
given some solid properties like King Creole (1958) and Flaming
Star (1960, in which he played a half-breed Indian).
After his
celebrated Army hitch, however, Elvis' pictures became more bland and
standardized. Blue Hawaii (1961), Viva Las Vegas and Roustabout
(both 1964) were fun, but the formula soon wore thin, and the scores produced
fewer Presley hits. Colonel Tom Parker, who guided Presley's career, had
no interest in the quality of his movie vehicles; he just counted the
money and made sure Elvis kept working. Producers like Hal Wallis and
Sam Katzman had no incentive to make better Presley movies when the potboilers
they were turning out made a profit. By the time someone realized it was
important to give Elvis' screen career a shot of adrenaline, audiences
weren't interested, and mediocre films like Charro! and Change
of Habit (both 1969) couldn't turn things around. The entertainer
fared much better in a pair of whitewashed cinema verité-style
performance documentaries, Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970) and
Elvis on Tour (1972).
Barbra Streisand
approached Presley to play the Norman Maine role in her rock remake of
A Star Is Born (1976), which could have changed the course of his
career - and offered him his greatest challenge - but Colonel Tom vetoed
the idea. Presley died of a heart attack at his Tennessee mansion, Graceland;
his death at the age of 42 brought on, apparently, by years of dependence
on amphetamine drugs.
Awards
(for movies only)
Blue Hawaii
Nominated for Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album or Recording of Original
Cast from Motion Picture or Television
G.I. Blues
Nominated for Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album or Recording of Original
Cast from Motion Picture or Television
Won 2 Golden Apple Awards (Sour Apple for Least Cooperative Actor 1960
& 1966)
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THE
BEATLES |
 The
Beatles, one of the most influential and successful groups of all time,
made four movies in total, starting with 1964's A Hard Day's Night,
an exaggerated day in the life of the group during Beatlemania. In the movie,
the group travel from train to hotel to television studio with their road
crew, while "Grandfather" stirs up trouble, all the while managing
to perform a number of their singles.
As well as
never mentioning the word "Beatles," the film introduced the
term "grotty", which the writer insisted was a Liverpool term
for grotesque, albeit one that the group themselves had never heard of.
The title of the movie was something decided on at the last minute, with
the studio pressuring the producers to come up with a title, John Lennon
mentioned that Ringo was known for his malapropisms, and suggested that
one of them "a hard day's night" might be acceptable. The studio
executives hated it, but the producers convinced them to test the title
on the secretaries and other young employees (who would be the target
audience for the film). They approved the title, and Lennon and McCartney
sat down and wrote the theme tune overnight.
Their next
movie was Help!, filmed in 1965. This movie, a James Bond spoof,
featured an obscure Asian cult chasing Ringo in an attempt to sacrifice
him. Again, the title was a last minute decision, as the movie was originally
titled "Eight Arms To Hold You", although no one really liked
it, and by the end of shooting, it didn't really fit the story line. Around
the same time, Lennon had written the song Help!, and it became the title
instead.
Showing The
Beatles power, the scenes set in the Bahamas and the Alps were written
in expressly to pander to the groups demands for a sunny location and
a skiing holiday. During filming, Paul McCartney drove the director to
distraction by constantly playing the melody of a new song he was working
on called "Scrambled Eggs". By the time filming had wrapped,
"Scrambled Eggs" had acquired new lyrics and a new title: "Yesterday",
going on to become one of The Beatles best loved singles.
Magical
Mystery Tour (1967) followed next, a surreal comedy featuring The
Beatles taking a bus ride across country called "The Magical Mystery
Tour". As well as the group, this movie starred a number of cult
comedy stars such as Neil Innes (known as the seventh Python and part
of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and The Rutles)and Vivian Stanshall (also
of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band). Jimi Hendrix was cast in the film, but
had already agreed to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival, his breakthrough
performance. Ironically, McCartney was the person who suggested that Hendrix
should get invited to play the festival. After the premier showing in
December 1967, Ringo Starr apparently rang up the BBC complaining that
the poor ratings were due to them showing "this colourful film"
in B/W. The BBC responded by transmitting again, this time in glorious
colour a few days later. It still bombed.
Last, but
not least, The Beatles made the 1968 animated classic, Yellow Submarine,
almost starring the group attempting to return to colour and joy to Pepperland
after it has been taken over by the Blue Meanies. "Almost starring?",
yes, although the songs were sung by the group, and a live-action epilogue
was added later on, after The Beatles (who had originally used the movie
as an easy way to get out of their movie contract, having hated the cartoon
series based on them), saw the movie and were impressed with the results.
The main characters, however, were voiced by actors.
Awards
(for movies only)
A Hard Day's Night
Nominated for 2 Oscars (Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment
and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay), the BAFTA for Most Promising
Newcomer to Leading Film Roles and the Grammy for Best Original Score
Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show
Help!
Nominated for the Grammy for Best Original Score Written for a Motion
Picture or Television Show and the BAFTAs for Best British Cinematography
and Best British Costume
Yellow Submarine
Nominated
for the Grammy for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or
Television Show
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MADONNA |
 Following
the success (and failures) of movies showcasing the "acting talents"
of Elvis and The Beatles. a number of other movies written around musicians
were made, with differing success rates, from 1968's Head (starring
The Monkees), to the 1978 TV movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.
In the 1980's, musicians were being taken more seriously as headline actors,
with Madonna starring in a string of movies, from low budget films such
as A Certain Sacrifice (1985) and Vision Quest (1985, also
starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino). 1985 also saw the release
of Madonna's big screen breakthrough, Desperately Seeking Susan,
co-starring Rosanna Arquette and Aidan Quinn. Unfortunately, Madonna failed
to capitalise on the success of that movie, following it up with 3 flops
(Shanghai Surprise, Who's That Girl and Bloodhounds of Broadway),
before co-starring with Warren Beatty as Breathless Mahoney in 1990's
Dick Tracy.
Since then
her acting career has been characterised by its ups and downs, combining
critically panned disasters such as Body of Evidence and Swept
Away with the Oscar winning success of Evita. However, since
Madonna is a true Renaissance woman, acting is only one of the strings
to her bow, in addition to her incredibly successful music career, her
children's books, and her new role as Executive Producer of films such
as the Agent Cody Banks movies. And, looking at the list of actors who
have been prepared to act alongside her (to name a few, Tom Hanks, Sean
Penn, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, Antonio Banderas,
Willem Dafoe, Spike Lee, Rupert Everett and many more), Madonna must be
doing something right.
Awards
(for movies only)
Evita
Won the Golden Globe for Best Actress, won MTV Movie Award for Best Female
Performance and Best Movie Song
Body Of Evidence
Nominated for MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Female, won Razzie for
Worst Actress
Shanghai Surprise
Won Razzie for Worst Actress
Who's That Girl
Won Razzie for Worst Actress
Bloodhounds of Broadway
Nominated for Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress
Four Rooms
Won Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress
The Next Best Thing
Won Razzie for Worst Actress, Nominated for Razzie for Worst Screen
Couple
Swept Away
Won Razzie for Worst Actress, won Razzie for Worst Screen Couple
Die Another Day
Won Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress
Madonna was also nominated for the Worst New Star of the Decade and Worst
Actress of the Decade at the 1990 Razzies, and Worst Actress of the Century
at the 2000 Razzies
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THE
SPICE GIRLS |
 In
the 1990's, the music phenomenon were The Spice Girls; as well as releasing
3 hit albums, and numerous number 1 singles, the band were everywhere, with
sponsorship deals for over 35 products, including Pepsi, Walkers, Channel
5, Playstation, Impulse and Asda. The next logical step? Make a movie of
course...
Featuring
the girls, alongside Meat Loaf, Roger Moore, Richard Briers, Alan Cumming
and Michael Barrymore, Spice World (1997) told the story of the
band travelling around in a Union Jack painted bus (driven by Meat Loaf,
in a role originally given to Frank Bruno), trying to avoid the attentions
of filmmaker Piers who is trying to make a documentary about "the
real Spice Girls". The movie received mixed reviews, although some
people described the film as the "worst film ever made" (surely
a bit harsh), others realised that the movie was never intended to compete
with Citizen Kane or Gone With The Wind, and therefore were able to accept
the movie as a fun and harmless PR exercise.
Awards
(for movies only)
Spice World
Nominated for Razzie for Worst 'Musical' of Our First 25 Years in
2005. Nominated for 1999 Razzies for Worst New Star, Worst Original Song,
Worst Picture, Worst Screen Couple (for any combination of two characters,
body parts or fashion accessories), Worst Screenplay and Worst Supporting
Actor (for Roger Moore!). Won 1999 Razzie for Worst Actress (shared between
all 5 girls).
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EMINEM |
 When
Eminem released his breakthrough album, 1999's The Slim Shady LP, the level
of humour apparent in the lyrics didn't inspire a great amount of confidence
in the longevity or maturity of this artist. When plans were announced to
make a movie loosely based on his life before becoming a star, people were
still to be convinced. However, after directors such as Quentin Tarantino
wanted to come on board, the industry started to sit up and take notice.
Tarantino later had to pull out of the project (after committing to make
Kill Bill Vols 1 and 2), to be replaced by Oscar-winning director
Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys). The movie was a huge
critical and commercial success, breaking records for DVD sales.
8 Mile
(2002), a thinly disguised account of Eminem's life growing up in trailer-park
Detroit with his mother (played by Kim Basinger), showed Jimmy "B-Rabbit"
Smith, fighting to escape the violence and poverty of his upbringing by
forging a career in rap. The freestyle battles scenes at the end of the
movie show the skill involved in a musical genre often derided, and Eminem
proved he can act as well as rap, leading to a rash of award nominations.
Awards
(for movies only)
8 Mile
Won the 2003 Oscar for Best Original Song. Nominated for the 2003 Golden
Globe for Best Original Song - Motion Picture. Nominated for the 2004
Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or
Other Visual Media. Won the MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance
and Breakthrough Male Performance, and nominated for Best Movie.
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