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The Buddy Holly Story (1978)

PG 114 min  -  Biography | Drama | Music  -   3 November 1978 (Finland)
7.1
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Ratings: 7.1/10 from 3,818 users  
Reviews: 46 user | 15 critic

A film about the life and career of the early rock and roll star.

Director:

Steve Rash

Writers:

Alan Swyer (story), John Goldrosen (source material "Buddy Holly His Life and Music"), and 1 more credit »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Busey ...
Don Stroud Don Stroud ...
Charles Martin Smith ...
Conrad Janis ...
William Jordan William Jordan ...
Maria Richwine ...
Amy Johnston Amy Johnston ...
Dick O'Neill ...
Sol Gittler (as Dick O'Neil)
Fred Travalena ...
Neva Patterson Neva Patterson ...
Arch Johnson ...
John F. Goff John F. Goff ...
T.J. (as John Goff)
Gloria Irizarry ...
Jody Berry Jody Berry ...
Richard Kennedy Richard Kennedy ...
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Storyline

The musical career of Buddy Holly is chronicled, from the days when "Peggy Sue" was "Cindy Lou," a song about his first girlfriend, to the meteoric run of "That'll Be The Day" up the charts, to his marriage, breakup with the Crickets, reunion with the Crickets, and untimely death. Written by Jason A. Cormier <wildrose@mindspring.com>  

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Song | Star | Airplane Crash | Blizzard | Affection  | See more »

Taglines:

The Music You'll Love Forever. The Man You'll Never Forget. The Movie You Must Not Miss. See more »

Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(Finland) See more »

Also Known As:

A História de Buddy Holly See more »

Company Credits

Production Co:

ECA, Innovisions See more »
Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

As Gary Busey is about to sing "Mockingbird Hill", he looks down at a piece of paper taped to the top of his guitar. Busey had forgotten the lyrics to the song and wrote them down on that paper so he could remember them during his performance. See more »

Goofs

Factual errors: During his final concert, Buddy Holly is backed by a full orchestra. In reality, he toured with a small unnamed band consisting of Waylon Jennings on bass, Carl Bunch on drums and Tommy Allsup on lead guitar. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
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.
See more »

Crazy Credits

Caption shown at end of film:
"Buddy Holly died later that night along with JP 'The Big Bopper'
Richardson and Ritchie Valens in the crash of a private airplane just
outside of Clearlake... and the rest is rock 'n' roll!" See more »

Connections

References "The Ed Sullivan Show" (1948) See more »

Soundtracks

"Mockin' Bird Hill"
(uncredited)
Written by Vaughn Horton
Performed by Gary Busey See more »