Desperately Seeking Susan

Roberta Glass, an unfulfilled housewife from Fort Lee, New Jersey, is fascinated by the messages between lovers Susan Thomas and Jim Dandy in the personals section of a New York City tabloid. She's particularly drawn to a section from Jim with the headline "Desperately Seeking Susan," which seeks a rendezvous in Battery Park. Meanwhile, in an Atlantic City hotel, the itinerant Susan reads the section after a tryst with mobster Bruce Meeker. She steals a pair of ornate Egyptian earrings from his coat before departing. The sinister Wayne Nolan notices Susan's embellished tuxedo jacket as she leaves. Arriving in New York City, Susan dons one of the earrings and stashes the other in her suitcase in a Port Authority locker. She asks to stay with her friend Crystal, a magician's assistant at the Magic Club, and learns that Meeker was killed at the hotel.

Hoping to spot the lovers, Roberta goes to Battery Park and sees Jim reunite with Susan before leaving with his band for Buffalo. Later, Roberta follows Susan to a vintage store and watches her trade in her jacket before losing sight of her. Roberta buys the jacket and finds Susan's locker key in its pocket. She posts another "Desperately Seeking Susan" column to meet with Susan and return the key. Meanwhile, Jim becomes concerned about the column and Susan's connection to Meeker's death. He asks his best friend Dez to check on her.

Waiting for Susan at Battery Park and wearing her jacket, Roberta is accosted by Nolan, who mistakes her for Susan because she's blonde and wearing the distinctive jacket. Susan spots Roberta, but can't reach her as police chase her for not paying her taxicab fare. Dez arrives on a moped and rescues Roberta, who falls and hits her head, causing her to lose her memory and her bag. Dez believes she is Susan and finds the locker key, taking her to the Port Authority to collect Susan's suitcase. There, Roberta finds the other earring, and Dez offers her to stay at his apartment for one night.

Believing that she must be Susan, Roberta retraces Susan's steps with Nolan in pursuit. She eventually arrives at the Magic Club, narrowly missing Susan who has been released from jail and discovered that her suitcase is gone. Roberta is then hired as Crystal's replacement. After Roberta's disastrous first performance, Nolan attacks her, demanding the earrings. He manages to escape as the police arrive. Roberta hits her head again, but this time, she regains her memory. Unfortunately, she's mistaken for a prostitute and arrested.

Meanwhile, Gary, Roberta's husband who is revealed to be in the midst of a casual affair, searches for her. He finds his way to the vintage store and is put in touch with Susan. She believes that Roberta and Dez are connected to Meeker's death and want to frame her. Susan arranges to meet Gary at a dance club and accompanies him home where they get high. Roberta calls from jail, but hangs up when Susan and Gary answer. After calling Dez to bail her out, they discover that his apartment has been ransacked by Nolan. Roberta and Dez end up sleeping together.

At Gary's house, Susan sees a television report about Meeker and Nolan stealing the earrings, which once belonged to Nefertiti. She realizes the truth from Roberta's diary and posts a column to meet her at the Magic Club. Dez attacks an intruder in his apartment who turns out to be Jim. He confesses to his relationship with "Susan" as Roberta slips away. She reads the column, as do Jim and Dez. They arrive at the Magic Club along with Gary, his sister Leslie, and Nolan. During her act, Roberta recognizes Nolan, who escapes backstage. Dez leaves as Roberta tries to explain the events of her disappearance to Gary, finally voicing her unhappiness and ending their marriage. Nolan threatens Susan at gunpoint, but is knocked out by Roberta. There, Roberta and Susan finally meet each other for the first time.

Later, Roberta finds Dez in a projection booth at the movie theater where he works. She introduces herself once again, and they kiss as Jim and Susan reunite in the theater below. In the closing frames, Roberta and Susan are celebrated as heroes in the newspaper and credited with returning the stolen earrings.

• Rosanna Arquette as Roberta Glass
• Aidan Quinn as Dez
• Robert Joy as Jim Dandy, Susan's boyfriend
• Mark Blum as Gary Glass, Roberta's husband
• Laurie Metcalf as Leslie Glass, Roberta's sister-in-law
• Will Patton as Wayne Nolan
• Madonna as Susan Thomas
• Anna Levine as Crystal
• Peter Maloney as Ian, a 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
• José Angel Santana (as Jose Santana) as Boutique Owner
• Giancarlo Esposito as Street Vendor
• Richard Hell as Bruce Meeker

Seidelman employed a wide range of artists in small appearances, including comedian Rockets Redglare as a taxi driver; former member of the Shirts Annie Golden as a band singer; performance artist Ann Magnuson as a cigarette girl; musician and painter John Lurie as the neighbor saxophonist; La Mama and Living Theatre member Shirley Stoler as a jail matron; Ambitious Lovers member Arto Lindsay as the newspaper clerk who places the "seeking" ads; and future Seinfeld-writer Carol Leifer as a party guest. Other notable appearances include actors Richard Edson as a man with newspapers, Victor Argo as Sgt. Taskal, Kim Chan as a park bum, and Michael Badalucco as a guy from Brooklyn. Triplets Eddy, David and Robert make an uncredited cameo as themselves.

Orion chairman Mike Medavoy initially campaigned for Barbara Streisand to play the title role.[6] The filmmakers initially wanted Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn to play Roberta and Susan, but the director decided to cast newcomers Arquette and Madonna instead and the studio wanted the movie to have younger actors in order to appeal to younger filmgoers. Bruce Willis was up for the role of Dez and Melanie Griffith was up for the role of Susan. Madonna barely obtained the role over Ellen Barkin and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Suzanne Vega also auditioned for the role.

The Statue of Liberty can be seen in the movie when it was still covered in scaffolding during its two-year renovation. Costume designer Santo Loquasto designed Susan's distinctive jacket (supposedly first worn by Jimi Hendrix), basis of the plot of mistaken identity.

The movie was inspired in part by the movie Céline et Julie vont en bateau (Céline and Julie Go Boating) (1974).[7] It also has an alternate ending included on the DVD, in which Susan and Roberta are invited to Egypt after helping return the earrings. They are depicted next to the pyramids on camels. Seidelman cut this scene, saying that it was unnecessary and audiences at the test screenings thought the film should have already ended much earlier (as explained on the DVD). The science fiction film The Time Travelers (1964) is playing in scenes 6 and 23 (melts at the movie's ending). All the scenes featuring Dez working as a projectionist were filmed at Bleecker Street Cinema. The scene with Roberta and Gary in their kitchen shows Roberta watching Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940).

The movie was filmed during the late summer and early fall of 1984, early in Madonna's rise to popularity, and was intended to be an R-rated feature. After the success of her 1984–85 hits "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl" from her Like a Virgin album, the movie was trimmed in content by Orion Pictures to get a PG-13 rating in order to also market the film to Madonna's teenage fanbase.[8]

The interior and exterior shots of The Magic Club were filmed at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights.[9] Some scenes were filmed at Danceteria, a club that Madonna frequented and which gave her a start in the music business.

Separated-at-birth triplets Robert Shafran, Eddy Galland and David Kellman have a cameo role, reportedly at Madonna's personal invitation.[10]

The soundtrack was released on both vinyl and CD together with the soundtrack to the film Making Mr. Right.[11] 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 Like a Virgin. The film captures the feel of the underground Bohemian/new wave scene of the early to mid-1980s New York City, a scene that 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, because licensing restrictions involving Madonna's record label prohibited her songs from being mixed in with other artists. The video for "Into the Groove" consists of clips from the film compiled by Doug Dowdle of Parallax Productions.

Madonna's wax statue at National Wax Museum of Ireland. Her early style largely inspired movie's costume which had an impact in yuppie culture

According to some authors, upon its release the film garnered cult status in some audiences,[30][31] with Hadley Freeman from The Guardian referring to the movie as a "80s cult classic".[32] The film also impacted the fashion of teenage girls,[31] and scholars in film studies, including Sarah Street have used the film as an example of the connection of fashion and cinema industries.[21] Tracey Lomrantz Lester from Glamour slightly referred to the movie as one of the best fashion films of the era,[33] while Derek Blasberg picked it as his favorite film that best embodied the 1980s fashion.[34] Movie's costume designer, Santo Loquasto reportedly sought inspiration for Susan's wardrobe in Madonna's own closet.[35] In 2019, Laird Borrelli-Persson from Vogue stated, "fashion's so corporate these days, Desperately Seeking Susan reminds us that clothing is a personal signifier of identity connected to place and time."[36] The style influenced other figures at some stage, like South African performer PJ Powers.[37]

Writing for Washington Post in 1985, Paul Attanasio considered the film as "the first big yuppie movie of the '80s", and further explains that yuppies are "the first generation to grow up exclusively on mass-marketed culture".[38] In 2017, Ben Reardon from Vice commented: "Desperately Seeking Susan defined the times and withstands performance after performance, and has been referenced, riffed on and re-rubbed by every designer and wannabe star till Doomsday."[39] Kirk Ellis, from The Hollywood Reporter, said in 2019, the movie "could well usher in a whole new subgenre: New Wave screwball comedy".[40]

Madonna's presence, "contributed significantly to its film success",[25] and her character also "becomes a pivotal plot point".[35] Author Alicia Malone also said, film director Susan Seidelman is probably best known for this film.[41] Associate professor Diane Pecknold in American Icons (2006) believes the film produced a new idiomatic phrase considering the newspapers headlines ([...] Desperately Seeking).[42]

The film was developed into a stage musical that premiered at London's Novello Theatre on November 15, 2007, following previews from October 16, 2007. It features music and lyrics by Blondie and Deborah Harry, including a new song written especially for the show. The production was directed by Angus Jackson, with book and concept by Peter Michael Marino and sets and costumes by Tim Hatley. Produced by Susan Gallin, Ron Kastner, Mark Rubinstein and Old Vic productions, the musical starred Emma Williams as Susan, Kelly Price as Roberta, and Steven Houghton as Alex.[43] Marino presented his solo comedy Desperately Seeking the Exit, which is based on his experiences, at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[44][45]

• List of American films of 1985
• After Hours - 1985 black comedy thriller film with a similar theme
• Something Wild - 1986 action comedy film with a similar theme
• Who's That Girl - 1987 screwball comedy film with a similar theme

• Amis, Martin (2011). Visiting Mrs. Nabokov: And Other Excursions. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0307777799.
• Austin, Guy (1996). Contemporary French Cinema: An Introduction. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719046114.
• Blasberg, Derek (2011). Very Classy: Even More Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady. Penguin. ISBN 978-1101563069.
• Deutsch, Didier C. (2000). MusicHound Soundtracks: The Essential Album Guide to Film, Television and Stage Music. Visible Ink. ISBN 1578591015.
• Greenberg, Brian; Watts, Linda; Greenwald, Richard A. (2008). Social History of the United States. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1598841282.
• Hall, Dennis; Hall, Susan G (2006). American Icons. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-98431-1.
• King, Norman (1991). Madonna: The Book. William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0688103898.
• Malone, Alicia (2017). Backwards and in Heels: The Past, Present And Future Of Women Working In Film. Mango Media Inc. ISBN 978-1633536180.
• Monaco, James (1991). The Encyclopedia of Film. Perigee Books. ISBN 0399516042.
• Quart, Barbara (1989). Women Directors: The Emergence of a New Cinema. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0313391106.
• Rettenmund, Matthew (1995). Encyclopedia Madonnica. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312117825.
• Smith, Ian Haydn (2019). Cult Filmmakers: 50 movie mavericks you need to know. White Lion Publishing. ISBN 978-0711240261.
• Street, Sarah (2001). Costume and Cinema: Dress Codes in Popular Film. Wallflower Press. ISBN 1903364183.
• Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2001). Madonna: An Intimate Biography. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 028307289X.
• Thamm, Marianne (2014). PJ Powers – Here I Am. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0143531524.

• Desperately Seeking Susan at IMDb
• Desperately Seeking Susan at AllMovie
• Desperately Seeking Susan at Box Office Mojo
• Desperately Seeking Susan at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Desperately Seeking Susan – The Musical