Eddie and the Cruisers is the story of a band and a man that were striving for greatness but hit a serious pitfall on their way up. When their second album bombed Eddie suddenly disappeared when his car went sailing through a guard rail to crash over a causeway. No body is found and to make matters worse the master tapes to the second album mysteriously disappear shortly after. The band is left to break up and go their own way. Eventually they get back together and decide that they want to achieve the greatness they were once seeking, but only one person knows where the master tapes to the second album are.
Being famous seems easy, it’s getting there that’s the problem.
10. The Palace of Depression was real.
It was built by a drifter out of trash, sand, and clay. The original structure is supposed to have been rebuilt since it was torn apart by vandals. Even the ticket booth that was used to charge admission is still there.
9. Initially the film was a flop.
Eventually it became a cult classic when it was aired on cable. The passage of time has kind of allowed people to forget about it again.
8. Tony Mart’s was an actual place.
The building and the business were very real, but the structure was demolished in the 1980’s. A new building now stands there.
7. The fraternity house is actually the home of the Haverford college president.
There are no fraternity or sorority houses at Haverford college so they had to improvise a bit.
6. The role of Eddie almost went to someone else.
The person that wanted the role, Rick Springfield, wasn’t believed to have the right look or the capability of playing Eddie Wilson.
5. The radio station used wasn’t realistic in its range.
There was no way that the radio station used to play Eddie’s music would have been able to be picked up in New Jersey when it was being broadcast in New York.
4. The high school used was actually a school for the mentally challenged.
One of the characters states that they became a teacher at Vineland high school. The building used is a school for the mentally challenged and existed as such for a while.
3. Real high school students were used in the film.
A lot of the actual high school students were used as extras in the movie and the high school was used for several shots as well.
2. Wendell Newton never says a word.
It was just one of those situations in which he didn’t have to say anything, he just had to be there. Those moments are sometimes more meaningful without a bunch of dialogue.
1. The band is dubbed.
Eddie and the Cruisers didn’t actually play the songs, they were played by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. It was made to look pretty realistic though, since the band looked like they knew what they were doing.
The film didn’t really take off until it hit cable and then people loved it.
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