Eddie and The Cruisers - Production

Production

Martin Davidson has said that the inspiration for the film came from a desire to "get all my feelings about the music of the last 30 years of rock music into it". He optioned P. F. Kluge's novel with his own money and at great financial risk. He wrote the screenplay with Arlene Davidson and decided to use a Citizen Kane-style story structure. He remembered, "That was in my head: the search." Davidson made a deal with Time-Life, a company that was going into the movie-making business. However, they quickly exited the business after making two films that were not financially successful. He was understandably upset and a couple of days later he went out to dinner and met a secretary who had worked on his first film. He told her what had happened to his film and she gave his script for Eddie and the Cruisers to her business partners. In a relatively short time, a deal was struck with Aurora and Davidson was given a $6 million budget. During their short existence, Aurora made three films - The Secret of NIMH, Heart Like a Wheel, and Davidson's film.

In order to get a credible looking and sounding band for the film, Davidson hired Kenny Vance, one of the original members of Jay and the Americans. He showed Davidson his scrapbook, the places the band performed, the car they drove in, and how they transported their instruments. Vance also told Davidson stories about the band, some of which he incorporated into the script. Tom Berenger has said that he did not try to learn piano for the film but did practice keyboards for hours in his trailer. Matthew Laurance actually learned how to play the bass through rehearsals. Only Michael "Tunes" Antunes, the tenor saxophone player for John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, and Helen Schneider were professional musicians in the cast. Michael Pare was discovered in a New York City restaurant working as a chef. He said of his role in the film that it was "a thrill I've never experienced. It's a really weird high. For a few moments, you feel like a king, a god. It's scary, a dangerous feeling. If you take it too seriously ..." Davidson had the actors who played in Eddie's band rehearse as if they were getting ready for a real concert. Pare remembers, "The first time we played together - as a band - was a college concert. An odd thing happened. At first, the extras simply did what they were told. Then, as the music heated up, so did the audience. They weren't play-acting anymore. The screaming, stomping and applause became spontaneous". Davidson recalls, "One by one, kids began standing up in their seats, screaming and raising their hands in rhythmic applause. A few girls made a dash for the stage, tearing at Michael's shirt. We certainly hadn't told them to do that. But we kept the cameras rolling". Additionally, New Jersey musician Southside Johnny was hired as a technical advisor for the film.

According to Davidson, when he completed making the film three different studios wanted to distribute it and he went with Embassy Pictures because they offered him the most money. However, they had no prior experience in distribution and were unable to properly release it in theaters. Davidson remembered, "And six months later, somebody said, 'Your picture is appearing on HBO this weekend,' and I didn't even know".