The Buddy Holly Story (1978)

Fond memories.....

Having been a professional musician for 47 years, this film takes me back to a wonderfully innocent era. The opening scene had me in tears - my very first gigs were at the local skating rink sock hops. I really didn't think Busey would be able to pull this off, but it has got to be one of his finest performances - my other favorite being his portrayal of the road manager in "A Star Is Born". The best thing about this film is is that Busey is actually doing the playing and singing....no cheesy lip-sync...and does a damn fine job even if he doesn't sound that much like Buddy. January 25, 2008

Great movie, great music!

This is a keeper! If you like good music, or good acting or just feeling good, this is the movie for you. Gary Busey plays Buddy Holly with style, and he sings and plays all by himself. All music in the movie is live, by the way. The rest of the cast is brilliant too.
This movie claims to be more or less the true story about Buddy's rise to fame, and terrible death, and from what I can see it's pretty accurate. The DVD quality isn't the best, but it's definitely on the top half of the scale. Remember, it's from 1978 and was a low budget flick. Get it while you can! November 13, 2007

Gary Busey's Masterpiece

This film is without a doubt the crowning achievement in Busey's career. Losing out to Jon Voight for Best Actor 1978 was a shame. Gary Busey doesn't just portray Buddy Holly; he brings him back to life.

During the opening moments at the roller rink Buddy tells his band mates (Don Stroud & Charles Martin Smith) "...lets do Ollie Vee".
What happens next is a live performance (no lip-syncing or over-dubbing) of Holly's heart pounding barn stomp that will have you on your feet and dancing around the room. I simply cannot watch it only once. Absolutely mesmerizing. This is one of the most inspirational 3 minutes in film ever.

While the script gets a bit flimsy with the facts, it's really unimportant overall to the story of his brief flame of a life.
This film celebrates the passion and determination that possessed Buddy Holly and it comes alive in the hands of a clearly inspired and devoted Busey.

Memorable scenes include the Crickets improvisational creation of "Peggy Sue" while driving to Memphis, when Stroud's (composite) character Jesse alters Buddy's tempo from slow ballad to the snappy rocker we all know and love. While the "Madman Mancuso-cops through the station door" scene is a bit over the top, the closing moments are truly inspired filmmaking. With Buddy winding up his performance (again Busey's voice recorded live) of "True Love Ways" at the Surf Ballroom, the film editor freezes on his close up and holds it in an almost imperceptible zoom while a simple paragraph of text reminds us of what happened later that night in Clear Lake Iowa, and the credits roll.

This is in my opinion the best ending of any film I ever seen.

Maybe Busey isn't in the same class as Laurence Olivier, Robert De Niro, & Warren Beatty (the other 3 nominees that year) but this film is magic, and it will always be. August 29, 2007

BUDDY DESERVES A BETTER MOVIE!

"The Buddy Holly Story" is a good film,but the story never really digs deep or leads us anywhere except to the inevitable end. Busey does get brownie points for doing his own singing and he plays his part well. It's a good film, but watching it back to back with "La Bamba" it pales in comparison. The DVD had a "this has been formatted to fit you TV screen" warning before the movie?? even though it states widescreen on the case.??? The transfer looks very good and the soundtrack was rocking!
August 25, 2007

Whose Story?

I have very mixed feelings about this movie.
Nearly everything about the lives of Buddy and the Crickets has been altered/amended/fictionalized.
Jerry Allison, J B Maudlin, Nikki Sullivan, Sony Curtis, Norman & Vi Petty, Bob Montgomery etc., have all been written out of the movie.
Buddy & the Crickets tours to UK and Australia are not even mentioned.
I'm one of the lucky ones who actually saw Holly and the Crickets live in concert in Southampton during their 1958 tour of UK and I have stayed a fan ever since.
I don't think our "cousins" across the pond have any idea what an impact the music of Holly and the Crickets and the post-Holly Crickets had on the music scene in this country and how they inspired a generation of Brit musicians. The "British Invasion" of USA in the 1960's had a lot to do with Holly and the Crickets.
Even today, when the Crickets come over (yes, they are still going, Sony, J B and Jerry!), they play to to sold-out concerts up and down UK.
Paul McCartney admits that the Beatles name and style of writing and singing were inspired by Buddy Holly and then by Sony Curtis, Jerry Allison and J B Mauldlin's Crickets. The Rolling Stones first hit was "Not Fade Away"
So, watching the "Buddy Holly Story" is a bit of 1950's nostalga for me, but I keep thinking that it sounds like Buddy & the Crickets on a "bad hair day".
It could have been so much better. Brave of Busey to do the singing, but why not have used the original recordings?
I think the old expression "Half a loaf.......!" applies to this movie (but I still gave it a 5)
August 9, 2007

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