films named after songs

[axomoxia]

Twenty Four Hour Party People!

Andy

 

[Dr. Furface]

Absolute Beginners

That title was from the book it was based on, as was the song, which was written for the film.

 

[D'wards]

Really? I've seen the film but I didn't know that it was based on a song.

Aye - here's the lyrics of the song:-

My name is Joe Roberts I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8
I always done an honest job as honest as I could
I got a brother named Franky and Franky ain't no good

Now ever since we was young kids it's been the same come down
I get a call over the radio Franky's in trouble downtown
Well if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way

Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"

I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good

Well Franky went in the army back in 1965 I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin' till it was like we were gettin' robbed
Franky came home in '68, and me, I took this job

Yea we're laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mine

Well the night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lyin' on the floor lookin' bad bleedin' hard from his head there was a girl cryin' at a table and it was Frank, they said
Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
Well I must of done one hundred and ten through Michigan county that night

It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates behind the wheel was Frank
Well I chased him through them county roads till a sign said Canadian border five miles from here
I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear

Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin'
Nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good


......and this is the plot of the film:-

The Indian Runner, Sean Penn's debut film as director is a brooding tale of two brothers — one peaceful and sedate, the other violent and aggressive — whose natures, left unchecked since they were children, are set to the boiling point as they head toward middle-age. David Morse is the quiet brother, Joe Roberts, who is a deputy sheriff in a small town. His older brother Frank (Viggo Mortensen) shows up on Joe's doorsteps, after a recent run-in with the police. Frank tells Joe that he is coming back home to stay and that he has given up his criminal life. His wife Maria (Valeria Golino) is skeptical, but Joe tells her that he is prepared to help Frank get his life back together. Frank has almost convinced himself that his future holds real promise and he's ready to start a new life with his pregnant girlfriend Dorothy (Patricia Arquette). But, once again, Frank's violent temper explodes, and everyone's plans for Frank's future crumble into rubble.

 

[Silva]

Twenty-Four Hour Party People

 

[alef]

Many Beatle films not yet mentioned:
Hard Day's Night
Help!
Magical Mystery Tour
Let It Be

Another is the absolutely terrible and depressingly popular:
Pretty Woman

 

[tangentlama]

Unchained Melody (From 1955 prison-farm film "Unchained" starring Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch) - does that count? gwan!

 

[Leica]

Aye - here's the lyrics

Thanks.

As Tears Go By and In the Mood For Love...

 

[Mrs Magpie]

White Christmas, the song was in a film called Holiday Inn first, then they built a whole film around the song a few years later.

 

[Wicked Nadine]

Alfie with Sir Michael Caine (1966)

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Alice's Restaurant
Car Wash
Harper Valley PTA
Coal Miner's Daughter
Jumping Jack Flash
The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia

 

[Leica]

Just found out that there is a film named after and based on the story of Bobbie Gentry's Ode to Billie Jo.

 

[belboid]

it's taken you nine months to read ruffnecks first post!

 

[Leica]

well I hadn't heard of the film back then
Alright, Sweet and Lowdown, it's a Gershwin song.