I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)

Directed by

Robert Zemeckis

Genre

teen film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 44m

Rated

PG

Rating

6.3 of 10 from 119 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A group of teenagers spend a day in New York City trying to get into the Ed Sullivan Show to see the Beatles. The story follows their separate attempts and shows the excitement and craziness of Beatlemania.

energeticchaoticnostalgicfast-pacedcomedichopefulexuberantfrenzied

What happens

I Wanna Hold Your Hand is a 1978 American historical comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and starring Nancy Allen, Bobby Di Cicco, Marc McClure, Susan Kendall Newman, Theresa Saldana, Eddie Deezen, and Wendie Jo Sperber. Its storyline follows a disparate group of teenagers over the course of one day in New York City as they attempt to gain entry to the Beatles' first live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. The film also examines the mass hysteria surrounding the event, dubbed "Beatlemania" for the fervency of the group's fans. The film's title is derived from the Beatles' 1963 song of the same name. The film marked Zemeckis's feature film directorial debut, and was also the first film to be executive-produced by Steven Spielberg. In order to get Universal to finance the low budget film, Spielberg had to promise studio executives that if Zemeckis appeared to be doing a poor job as first time director, he would step in and direct the film himself. I Wanna Hold Your Hand was released by Universal Pictures on April 21, 1978. Despite positive previews and critical response, the film was not a financial success and was considered a box office flop, unable to recoup its rather modest $2.8 million budget. The film is now regarded as a cult classic. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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