March 29, 1985 // The Desperately Seeking Susan movie is released in the USA. [Video's & More]

Desperately Seeking Susan is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette and Madonna.

Plot

Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) is an unfulfilled suburban housewife living in Fort Lee, New Jersey who is fascinated with a woman she only knows about by reading messages to and from her in the personals section of a New York City tabloid. This fascination reaches a peak when one such ad with the headline "Desperately Seeking Susan" proposes a rendezvous in Battery Park with the man who regularly seeks her. Roberta goes to Battery Park too, gets a glimpse of the woman (Madonna), and in a series of events involving mistaken identity, amnesia, and other farcical elements, Roberta goes from voyeur to participant in an Alice in Wonderland-style plot, ostensibly motivated by the search for a pair of stolen Egyptian earrings.

Cast

• Rosanna Arquette as Roberta Glass
• Madonna as Susan Thomas
• Aidan Quinn as Dez
• Mark Blum as Gary Glass, Roberta's husband
• Robert Joy as Jim, the man who placed the "Desperately Seeking Susan" ad
• Laurie Metcalf as Leslie Glass, Roberta's sister-in law
• Anna Levine as Crystal
• Will Patton as Wayne Nolan
• Peter Maloney as Ian the magician
• Steven Wright as Larry Stillman D.D.S.
• John Turturro as Ray, the master of ceremonies at the Magic Club
• Anne Carlisle as Victoria
• Jose Santana as Boutique Owner
• Giancarlo Esposito as Street Vendor
• Richard Hell as Bruce Meeker
• Rockets Redglare as Taxi Driver
• Annie Golden as Band Singer
• Richard Edson as Man with Newspapers
• Ann Magnuson as Cigarette Girl
• John Lurie as Neighbor Saxophonist
• Victor Argo as Sgt. Taskal
• Shirley Stoler as Jail Matron
• Arto Lindsay as Newspaper Clerk
• Kim Chan as Park Bum
• Michael Badalucco as Guy from Brooklyn
• Carol Leifer as Party Guest

Awards and reviews

Rosanna Arquette won a BAFTA Award for her portrayal of Roberta; the fact that the award was for a "supporting role" reflected the surge in popularity that Madonna was experiencing at the time, since in terms of billing, number of scenes, lines of dialogue, and the plot, Arquette was actually the film's lead. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Madonna also received positive reviews for her portrayal of Susan. In her review for the New Yorker, critic Pauline Kael praised Madonna's performance as "an indolent, trampy goddess."
The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby named the film as one of the 10 best films of 1985.

Soundtrack

Desperately Seeking Susan (Soundtrack)
Film score by George Doering, Rick Cox, Dan Greco, Michael Fischer, Thomas Newman
Released	1993
Recorded	1985
Genre	Instrumental / Score
Label	Varèse Sarabande

Desperately Seeking Susan (soundtrack) features the original score for the film Desperately Seeking Susan with Madonna and Rosanna Arquette. The soundtrack was released on both vinyl and CD together with the soundtrack to the film Making Mr. Right. The soundtrack does not feature any of the other songs in the film including Madonna's "Into the Groove" which can be found on the European 1985 re-release of her Like a Virgin album. The film captures the feel of the underground Bohemian/New Wave scene of the early to mid-1980s New York City, a scene that in real life helped Madonna get her big break in the music business. Madonna recorded a song for the movie, titled "Desperately Seeking Susan". It ended up not being used in the film, and a demo she just finished at the time called "Into the Groove" was used instead. The demo version can only be heard in the movie. The song was a huge commercial success but was not included on the film's soundtrack, despite being heard in the film, due to licensing restrictions, which did involve Madonna's record label, that none of her songs was allowed to get mixed in with other artists. The music video for "Into the Groove" consists of clips from the film compiled by Doug Dowdle of Parallax Productions.

Track listing

Desperately Seeking Susan - Music composed by Thomas Newman

1. "Leave Atlantic City!"
2. "Port Authority by Night"
3. "New York City by Day"
4. "Through the Viewscope"
5. "St. Mark's Place"
6. "A Key and a Picture Of"
7. "Battery Park / Amnesia"
8. "Jail / Port Authority by Day"
9. "Rain"
10. "Running With Birds in Cages"
11. "Trouble Almost"

Making Mr. Right - Music composed and performed by Chaz Jankel

1. "Chemtech Promo Video"
2. "Ulysses' Escape"
3. "Night Visit"
4. "Frankie's Drive"
5. "Ulysses"
6. "In the Lab"
7. "Sondra and Jeff"
8. "Mr. Right"
9. "Wedding Reception"
10. "Parting Glance"

Songs that appear in the film but not on the released soundtrack:

• "Into the Groove" – Madonna (Madonna, Stephen Bray)
• "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" – Betty Everett (Rudy Clark)
• "One Fine Day" – The Chiffons*
• "Urgent" – Junior Walker (Mick Jones)
• "You Belong to Me", – Carly Simon (Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart, Chilton Price)
• "Lust For Life" – Iggy Pop
• "Sucker M.C.'s" – Run–D.M.C.
• "Mashed Potato Time" – Dee Dee Sharp
• "One Thing Leads to Another" – The Fixx
• "Respect" – Aretha Franklin (Otis Redding)
• "Someday, Someway" – Marshall Crenshaw

• There are two versions of the opening scene; one version opens with "The Shoop Shoop Song" and one version opens with "One Fine Day". "One Fine Day" was used for the European version where licensing restrictions prevented the use of the "Shoop Shoop Song" (as explained on the 1996 DVD commentary).