Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

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dave202
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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by dave202 »

I saw Rude Boy on it's first release when it was shown in Bonnie Dundee at The Vic, a cinema closed down around twenty years ago, and the building demolished as part of a ring road expansion. My ex-wife, now sadly departed, myself and two others, including Bunny, lined up amongst the punks and what-nots in Victoria Road, anxious to get in. Amongst the queue was someone much, much older that any two others in the queue, and given his age and look he'd seen "Rude Boy" and "cert 18" and put the wrong two and two together. Mind you, on reflection, Ray Gange's acting was abscene, wasn't it? Strangely, I saw Bunny on Saturday and she mentioned going to see the film!

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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by IkarisOne »

dave202 wrote:I saw Rude Boy on it's first release when it was shown in Bonnie Dundee at The Vic, a cinema closed down around twenty years ago, and the building demolished as part of a ring road expansion. My ex-wife, now sadly departed, myself and two others, including Bunny, lined up amongst the punks and what-nots in Victoria Road, anxious to get in. Amongst the queue was someone much, much older that any two others in the queue, and given his age and look he'd seen "Rude Boy" and "cert 18" and put the wrong two and two together. Mind you, on reflection, Ray Gange's acting was abscene, wasn't it? Strangely, I saw Bunny on Saturday and she mentioned going to see the film!
Yeah. The days, my friend. Back when you knew who was for real. The lines were so much clearer. Did you choose to step away from the herd, or follow it into the oblivion of mediocrity? You knew whoever took that step meant it- it certainly took a lot of guts back in my neck of the woods- there were a lot of parts of town you couldn't show your face if you were a punk.

It all changed so quickly, alas. I'd say that Rude Boy showing in November of 80 was really the very last days before the poseurs and dilettantes took over forever. Then came Hardcore, but that was never the same. I'm glad I was there for that too, though. And all the guys who were plugged to the Clash when it was for real were there too.

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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by JohnS »

I saw it on the big(gish) screen in 1982, shown by the university film society where I was studying an abortive first year of a degree course I soon dropped out of. It was in a lecture theatre sort of place, with decent sound and large screen, and was, by a big margin, one of the highlights of that year. It really was that exciting to finally see:
a) the Legendary Clash Film
b) the Legendary Clash Film On The Big Screen
(the latter point being relevant cos videos were starting to become commonplace. If I'd had the chance to watch it first on VHS I'd have done so eagerly; the full theatrical experience is another product entirely, and to this day I'll make a point of watching music films on the big screen if possible. I can still recall the thrill of the music kicking in during the intro sequence of Ray Gange running down the stairwell - it just exploded out of the speakers and had never sounded so good)
It was just astonishing to see colour, quality, extended action/live footage of the band I'd never seen, and only knew from B&W photos in the music press, and (once in a blue moon) TV appearances or videos. I can't really explain how exhilarating this was. If you were a young Clash fan in the UK provinces in the late 70s/early 80s the band were one of the most elusive, evasive and downright 'mystical' enigmas of the music scene. They didn't do TV pop shows (like the Jam, Buzzcocks, and all manner of other punk/new wave groups) and any music videos they made were impossible to see; they were always either recording, or touring abroad, it seemed. You'd read news reports on them in the music papers, perhaps accompanied by an archive live photo or posed publicity shots (always B&W - colour magazines were rare, and those that were around would never run stories about the Clash), and these still images informed your knowledge of what they actually looked like; you could only guess what they were like performing live.
I'd read with interest about Rude Boy's original release; heard John Peel playing extracts on his radio show; been desperate to watch the damn thing; but (as usual with many things from Planet Clash) it was a distant prize that was seemingly out of reach - it only got a brief, limited release in arthouse cinemas, and then disappeared. So I had to wait another two years to finally get to see it.
It was worth the wait, mind.
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The Baker
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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by The Baker »

The thing that pisses me off most about the movie is the interruption of songs. A great version of "London's Burning"
and even the studio rehearsal footage of a great "Garageland" rendition were ruined by cuts to other footage, then back
again to the song. That version of "Garageland" is complete on the Directors Cut bootleg cd, but the sound quality isn't
near as good as on the vhs or dvd. At least there are good sounding complete versions of the Glasgow Apollo songs on the
cd (that were cut up in the same manner in the movie). Overall though, I really like the movie - as someone else said, it's
a great snapshot of what England was like at that time.

Big E

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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by laxman »

IkarisOne wrote:Yeah. The days, my friend. Back when you knew who was for real. The lines were so much clearer. Did you choose to step away from the herd, or follow it into the oblivion of mediocrity? You knew whoever took that step meant it- it certainly took a lot of guts back in my neck of the woods- there were a lot of parts of town you couldn't show your face if you were a punk.

It all changed so quickly, alas. I'd say that Rude Boy showing in November of 80 was really the very last days before the poseurs and dilettantes took over forever. Then came Hardcore, but that was never the same. I'm glad I was there for that too, though. And all the guys who were plugged to the Clash when it was for real were there too.
I don't know about any of that from a UK perspective, but I did see it at the cinema when it first came out.

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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by IkarisOne »

I know the non-Clash, non-Gange footage is a big bone of contention, but I think it's important for context, most especially in the Director's Cut. I think that people would not have complained so much if the full cut was originally released. It all coheres a lot better IMO.

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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by laxman »

What was added in the Director's Cut compared to the original release? I can't remember.

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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by Heston »

laxman wrote:What was added in the Director's Cut compared to the original release? I can't remember.
If it wasn't the Clash playing "live", it was probably uneccessary. To even call Rude Boy a film is stretchin' it for me.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by BostonBeaneater »

Heston wrote:
laxman wrote:What was added in the Director's Cut compared to the original release? I can't remember.
If it wasn't the Clash playing "live", it was probably uneccessary. To even call Rude Boy a film is stretchin' it for me.
I disagree. Rude Boy gave insite into the awful conditions in London at the time. The more I learned about London and New York in the late 70s, the more punk made sense. Plus, I enjoy the story. Topper kicking Ray's ass was great fun.
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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by Heston »

BostonBeaneater wrote:
Heston wrote:
laxman wrote:What was added in the Director's Cut compared to the original release? I can't remember.
If it wasn't the Clash playing "live", it was probably uneccessary. To even call Rude Boy a film is stretchin' it for me.
I disagree. Rude Boy gave insite into the awful conditions in London at the time. The more I learned about London and New York in the late 70s, the more punk made sense. Plus, I enjoy the story. Topper kicking Ray's ass was great fun.
Would you have enjoyed without the Clash footage?

Fuckin' hell, I'm a Limey and it bored the shit out of me, then and now.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by Wolter »

Heston wrote:
BostonBeaneater wrote:
Heston wrote:
laxman wrote:What was added in the Director's Cut compared to the original release? I can't remember.
If it wasn't the Clash playing "live", it was probably uneccessary. To even call Rude Boy a film is stretchin' it for me.
I disagree. Rude Boy gave insite into the awful conditions in London at the time. The more I learned about London and New York in the late 70s, the more punk made sense. Plus, I enjoy the story. Topper kicking Ray's ass was great fun.
Would you have enjoyed without the Clash footage?

Fuckin' hell, I'm a Limey and it bored the shit out of me, then and now.
Well, I'm in the middle. It gave insight WHILE boring the shit out of me.
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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by IkarisOne »

[youtube][/youtube]

Here-maybe this will make him feel better.

Heston
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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by Heston »

IkarisOne wrote:[youtube][/youtube]

Here-maybe this will make him feel better.
I've just had to crank my speakers right up.

Soothsaying Synth-Pop at its finest!
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bazarboy75
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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by bazarboy75 »

Yep i had the chane fex years back to watch it in theater

great memories

Especially during the live sequence

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Re: Who saw Rude Boy in the cinema?

Post by busdriver »

I saw it on repeat play. Worked overnights in the Playhouse in Edinburgh at about the time of its release and they used to do a late night Friday and Saturday screening.

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