Main Cast: Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn, Mark Blum, Robert Joy
Release Year: 1985
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
A petite New Jersey housewife finds self-fulfillment through amnesia in this new wave comedy of errors set in New York's hip '80s downtown scene. Rosanna Arquette stars as Roberta, who turns to the personals for vicarious thrills after her four-year marriage to staid hot tub salesman Gary (Mark Blum) grows stale. Her favorite classified ads trace the romance of Jim (Robert Joy), a struggling musician, and Susan (Madonna), a SoHo vamp who's just narrowly escaped being murdered alongside one of her other boyfriends -- a gangster who recently stole some Egyptian jewelry. Through a series of complicated missteps, Roberta ends up losing her memory and convincing both herself and a broodingly handsome young man named Dez (Aiden Quinn) that she's the elusive, adventurous Susan. Soon, Roberta finds herself being romanced by Dez and pursued separately by her husband, Jim, Susan, and by a murderous mobster who's looking for the stolen jewels. For her second feature outing, which was partially inspired by Jacques Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating, director Susan Seidelman filled her cast with hipster extras, downtown personalities, and New York thespians. Notable faces include comedian Steven Wright; future indie mainstay John Turturro; future TV stars Michael Badalucco and Laurie Metcalf; punk singer Richard Hell, who also starred in Seidelman's Smithereens; and performance artist Ann Magnunson, who would star in the director's Making Mr. Right. The big dance-club sequence was filmed at Danceteria, the disco that helped launch Madonna's career. The scene, and the film, helped propel "Into the Groove," one of the singer's all-time club classics, into the charts even though it was actually a b-side to the single "Angel." ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Review
A classic Hollywood screwball comedy transposed to modern-day Manhattan, Desperately Seeking Susan offered mid-'80s moviegoers a mall-friendly version of hip New York style, much like Madonna did throughout her early musical career. Although it's often (and correctly) touted as the pop superstar's most successful big-screen performance, Desperately Seeking Susan is actually Rosanna Arquette's picture, and the pixie-cute actress acquits herself admirably as she portrays a bored homemaker who plays dress-up the same way thousands of preteen girls did during the real life Madonna "wannabe" years. Wearing the singer's thrift-store fashions, cavorting with SoHo scenesters, and playing a perky amnesiac without coming off too cutesy, Arquette is a virtual stand-in for the audience of middle Americans at whom the film is pitched. Director Susan Seidelman does fill her picture with actual underground personalities, but they're all at the periphery, from the Robert Smith types who fill the Danceteria to offbeat romantic leads Aidan Quinn and Robert Joy, who bring rough-edged charm to their proto-slacker characters. Laurie Metcalf has fun as Roberta's shrill, easily shocked sister-in-law, while Madonna expands her gamine music-video performance with wise-cracking self assurance and visual flair. Hardly a triumph for either its director or its singer-turned-actress co-star, Desperately Seeking Susan is, instead, a pleasant, vaguely feminist day trip from the New Jersey suburbs to the heart of the East Village. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Laurie Metcalf - Leslie Glass; Anna Levine - Crystal; Will Patton - Wayne Nolan; Peter Maloney - Ian; Steven Wright - Larry Stillman D.D.S; John Turturro - Ray; Anne Carlisle - Victoria; Shirley Stoler - Jail Matron; Victor Argo - Sgt. Taskal; Paul Austin - Policeman; Michael Badalucco - Guy from Brooklyn; Adele Bertei - Prisoner; Timothy Carhart - Victoria's Boy Friend; Kim Chan - Park Bum; Curt Dempster - Coffee Shop Manager; Richard Edson - Man with Newspapers; Giancarlo Esposito - Street Vendor; Annie Golden - Band Singer; Richard Hell - Bruce Meeker; John Hoyt - Space Commander; Patrick John Hurley - Policeman; Ilene Kristen - Party Guest; Carol Leifer - Party Guest; Arto Lindsay - Newspaper Clerk; Isabel Lorca - Party Guest; Ann Magnuson - Cigarette Girl; Harsh Nayyar - Egyptian Diplomat; Lazaro Perez - Enrique the Guard; Richard Portnow - Party Guest; Gary Ray - Band Member; Rockets Redglare - Taxi Driver; Jose Santana - Boutique Owner; John Lurie - Neighbor Saxophonist; Henry Adler - Magic Club Drummer; Gary Binkow - Band Member; Steve Bosh - Newscaster; Elie J. Boubli - Egyptian Ambassador; Daisy Bradford - Daisy; Stanley Burns - Ventriloquist; Peter Castellotti - Coffee Shop Cop; Iris Chacon - TV Singer; Michael R. Chin - Choy; Wendy Dasteel; Steve Eidel - Party Guest; Marty Gold - Magic Club Pianist; Joyce Griffen - Prostitute; Rosemary Hochschild - Cocktail Waitress; Mary Joy - Cocktail Waitress; Shirley Kaplan - Waitress; Michael Kaufman - Party Guest; Richard S. Lowy - Adrian the Hairdresser; Donna Ritchie - Hot Tub Girl; Gilda Tortorello - Ray's Mom; J.B. Waters - Jail Matron; Alvy West - Magic Club Saxophonist; Keita Whitten - Store Customer; Billy Hopkins; Risa Bramon Garcia; Michael Bramon - Band Member
Credit
Speed Hopkins - Art Director, Linda Murphy - Boom Operator, Billy Hopkins - Casting, Risa Bramon - Casting, Santo Loquasto - Costume Designer, Joel Tuber - First Assistant Director, Susan Seidelman - Director, Andrew Mondshein - Editor, Michael Peyser - Executive Producer, Werner Sherer - Hair Styles, Thomas Newman - Composer (Music Score), Timothy R. Sexton - Musical Direction/Supervision, Danny Goldberg - Musical Direction/Supervision, Madonna - Songwriter, Richard Dean - Makeup, Francis Kenny - Camera Operator, Santo Loquasto - Production Designer, Edward Lachman - Cinematographer, Sarah Pillsbury - Producer, Midge Sanford - Producer, Paul Petschek - Research, Madonna - Singer, Betty Everett - Singer, Les Lazarowitz - Sound/Sound Designer, Lou Graf - Sound Editor, Peter Odabashian - Sound Editor, Mark Rathaus - Sound Editor, Scott Leva - Stunts Coordinator, Michael Peyser - Unit Production Manager, Leora Barish - Screenwriter, Craig Bolotin - Screenwriter, Francis Kenny - Additional Cinematography, Claudette Didul - Production Assistant, Ruth Mullen - Production Assistant, Ernie Karpeles - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Reid Rosefelt - Publicist, Mitchell Dubin - First Assistant Camera, Ray Quinlan - Gaffer, James Fitzpatrick - Gaffer, Dave Lowry - Grip, John Panuccio - Grip, Robert Prate - Grip, Ralph Fratianni - Grip, Don Zappia - Grip, Tom Prate - Key Grip, Louis Cerborino - Music Editor, Les Bloom - Properties Master, Lee Dichter - Re-Recording Mixer, Ira Hurvitz - Script Supervisor, David H. Dreyfuss - Second Assistant Director, Andy Schwartz - Still Photographer, Maurice Schell - Supervising Sound Editor, Todd Thaler - Additional Casting, Jay Dranch - ADR Editor, Ahmad Shirazi - Assistant Sound Editor, Brunilda Torres - Assistant Sound Editor, Randall Coleman - Assistant Sound Editor, Kenton Jakub - Assistant Sound Editor, Laurie Mullen - Assistant Sound Editor, Stuart Stanley - Assistant Sound Editor, William A. Campbell - Costumes Supervisor, Melissa A. Stanton - Costumes Supervisor, Vincent Delaney - Electrician, James Manzione - Electrician, Thomas McKibbin - Electrician, Bruce Kitzmeyer - Foley Editor, Julie Lamm - Post Production Accountant, Bill Sorice - Scenic Artist, Tommy Southern - Scenic Artist, Margot E. Therre - Scenic Artist, Debbie Sarjeant - Second Assistant Camera, Billy Durnin - Set Dresser, Rick Nelson - Set Dresser, Chris Vogt - Set Dresser, Morris Weinman - Set Dresser, Rocco Derasmo - Transportation Captain, George De Titta, Jr. - Set Decorator, Frank Graziadei - Cable Person, Michael Sporn - Title Design, Glenn Lloyd - Art Department Coordinator
Arquette plays Roberta, an unfulfilled suburban housewife living in Fort Lee, New Jersey, who is fascinated with a woman she only knows about by reading messages to and from her in the personals section of a New York Citytabloid. This fascination reaches a peak when one such ad with the headline "Desperately Seeking Susan" proposes a rendezvous in Battery Park with the man who regularly seeks her. Roberta goes to Battery Park too, and gets a glimpse of the woman (played by Madonna) whose life so fascinates her. In a series of events involving mistaken identity, amnesia, and other farcical elements Roberta goes from voyeur to participant in an Alice in Wonderland-style plot, ostensibly motivated by the search for a pair of stolen Egyptian earrings.
Arquette won a BAFTA Award for her portrayal of Roberta; the fact that the award was for a "supporting role" reflected the surge in popularity that Madonna was experiencing at the time, since in terms of billing, number of scenes, lines of dialog, and plot, Arquette was actually the film's star.
The film captures the feel of the underground Bohemian/New Wave scene of the early to mid-1980s New York City, a scene that in real life helped Madonna get her big break in the music business. Madonna recorded a song for the movie, titled "Desperately Seeking Susan". It ended up not being used in the film, and a demo she just finished at the time called "Into the Groove" was used instead. The demo version can only be heard in the movie. The song was a huge commercial success but was not included on the film's soundtrack, despite being heard in the film. The music video for "Into the Groove" consists of clips from the film compiled by Doug Dowdle of Parallax Productions.
Production
The filmakers had initially wanted Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn to play the roles of Roberta and Susan, but the director decided to cast newcomers Rosanna Arquette and Madonna instead. Bruce Willis was up for the role of "Dez". Melanie Griffith was up for the part of "Susan" as well. Madonna barely beat out Ellen Barkin and Jennifer Jason Leigh to the part of Susan. Suzanne Vega also auditioned for the role of Susan, but was passed over.
The Statue of Liberty can be seen in the film when it is still covered in scaffolding during its two year renovation. The DVD commentary track for the film (recorded in 1996) noted that after Madonna's first screen test, the producers asked her to take four weeks of acting lessons and get screen-tested again. Although the second screen test was not much of an improvement, the director still wanted her for the role, as much for her presence and sense of style as for anything else.
Costume designer Santo Loquasto designed Susan's pyramid jacket.
The film was inspired in part by the 1974 film Céline et Julie vont en bateau (Céline and Julie Go Boating).[citation needed] The film also has an alternate ending included on the DVD, where the duo, Susan and Roberta, are invited to Egypt after helping to return the earrings. They are depicted next to the pyramids on camels. The director cut this scene from the end saying that it was unnecessary and audiences at the test screenings thought the film should have already ended much earlier (as explained on the DVD). The 1964 science fiction movie The Time Travelers is playing in scenes 6 and 23 (melts at the end of the movie). All the scenes featuring where Dez (Aidan Quinn) worked as a projectionist was at Bleecker Street Cinema. The scene between Roberta and Gary in their kitchen show Roberta watching Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca.
The movie was filmed during the late summer and early fall in 1984, early in Madonna's rise to popularity, and was intended to be an R-rated feature. However, following the success of the singer's 1984–85 hits "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl", the film was trimmed in content by Orion Pictures to get a PG-13 rating so that Madonna's teenage fanbase could see it.[citation needed]
The interior / exterior shots of The Magic Club were filmed in Harlem. Some of the scenes were filmed in Danceteria, a club that Madonna frequented and which gave her a start in the music business.
Stage musical
The film has been developed into a stage musical which received its world premiere at London's Novello Theatre on November 15, 2007, following previews from October 16, 2007. The musical version features music and lyrics by Blondie and Deborah Harry, including a brand new song written especially for the show. The production was directed by Angus Jackson, with book and concept by Peter Michael Marino, and sets and costumes by Tim Hatley. Produced by Susan Gallin, Ron Kastner, Mark Rubinstein and Old Vic productions, the musical starred Emma Williams as Susan and Kelly Price as Roberta, with Steven Houghton as Alex.
Despite a star-studded opening night, the musical was critically mauled, and announced its final performance just thirteen days after opening night for December 15, 2007, losing over £3.5 million. A new production of the musical produced by Toho Co. opened at the Theater Creation in Tokyo, Japan on January 6, 2009 directed and translated by G2.
