The Buddy Holly Story
The Buddy Holly Story is a 1978 American biographical musical drama film directed by Steve Rash which tells the life and career of rock and roll musician Buddy Holly. It features an Academy Award-winning musical score, adapted by Joe Renzetti and Oscar-nominated lead performance by Gary Busey. The film also stars Don Stroud, Charles Martin Smith, Conrad Janis, William Jordan, and Maria Richwine, who plays María Elena Holly.
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| Produced by | Fred Bauer
Edward H. Cohen Frances Avrut-Bauer Fred T. Kuehnert |
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 screenplay by
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story by
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based on
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narrated by
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| Edited by | David E. Blewitt
James Seidelman |
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animation by
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layouts by
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backgrounds by
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color process
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production company
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| Running time | 114 minutes
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| Country | United States
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| Language | English
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| Budget | $1.2 million
or $2 million |
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| Box office | $14.3 million
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![The Muppet Show - Film Review Magazine Cover [United Kingdom] (July 1979)](http://img3.bdbphotos.com/images/130x130/z/s/zsij5yjynyweneyi.jpg?skj2io4l)
Buddy Holly: Hey, Riley, we're all plugged in and checked up... yeah, we're ready.
Buddy Holly: (to Ray Bob) Riley wants to hear you at the mike - that's the one right there; say somethin' into that mike.
Ray Bob Simmons: One, two, three, testing... one...
Buddy Holly: (to Riley) How's that sound?
Riley Randolph: All right, that's a good level, Buddy, hold it right there... Yeah, you better get ready, it's about thirty seconds till eight.
- The members of the Crickets had already sold their portrayal rights to the producer of a different Buddy Holly movie, so fictitious names had to be used for the Crickets here. Also, for story simplifcation, the three Crickets were reduced to two.
- The actors did their own singing and played their own instruments live during the filming of the production numbers.
- Gary Busey had previously been cast as Buddy Holly`s drummer, Jerry Allison, in a previous attempt at a Holly biopic titled "Three-Sided Coin". The film was cancelled by 20th Century Fox under pressure from producer Fred Bauer. So Busey had already an extensive knowledge about Buddy Holly from the screenplay for "Three-Sided Coin" written by Jerry Allison and Tom Drake and through conversations with Allison.
- * * According to Gary Busey in the DVD commentary, the line that Charles Martin Smith says about "A fighter who strafes and trains..." during the drive to Nashville was just Smith accidentally blurting out loud something he was thinking, thus Busey and Stroud`s genuine reactions.
- Also according to Busey and Director Steve Rash, the scene at the roller rink after the band`s first rock number in which the extras clapped and cheered was an unexpected reaction to their performance. As you can see in the film, Busey, Smith, and Stroud sort of lose their place and start nervously laughing.
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