Forty years ago, the world went wild for Desperately Seeking Susan. Ascrewball New York fantasia including amnesia, Egyptian artefacts, mistaken identities, an armful of bracelets and an absolutely fabulous jacket! It made Madonna a movie star, won her co-star Rosanna Arquette a Bafta. In recent years, spawned a plethora of GIFs. We did some desperate seeking of our own and came up with some curious facts about the movie.
Women in power
Desperately Seeking Susan was a revolutionary movie – even by today’s standards. Women starred in the film and took charge behind the scenes, writing, producing, and directing it. It took a while, however, for the revolution to occur.
Scriptwriter Leora Barish (left) spent years being told “only women and gay men” liked her story about a bored New Jersey housewife who develops a fascination with a free-spirited, adventurous, New York femme fatale called Susan. When it was finally made, it struck a chord with audiences across the globe.
Madonna’s chutzpah
Madonna’s music career hadn’t quite taken off when director Susan Seidelman (above, left) decided she was perfect for the role of Susan. Studio head Barbara Boyle needed convincing, so a then-26-year-old Madge marched into Barbara’s office, fell on her knees and said, “I’ll do anything to get this part.”
When Barbara said she understood Madonna was a singer, Madonna asked, “You understand from whom?” “My son, David,” replied Barbara. Madonna instantly took a pencil and paper off Barbara’s desk and wrote, “Dear David, Tell your mother to give me this role.” At that point, the studio exec knew Madonna had the sass required for the part.
Perfect timing
Madonna’s first number-one single Like a Virgin was released in 1984, two weeks before the movie finished filming on the streets of New York. Her sudden fame drew crowds of curious onlookers.
“It was like watching a skyrocket,” says director Susan.
“She was on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and watching that rise so quickly was fascinating. By the time we were in our last week of shooting, there was security and all the things that are needed when you shoot with stars on the street.”
The studio wasn’t sure if Madonna’s sudden fame would help or hurt the film. “There was almost no post-production time,” publicist Reid Rosefelt later recalled.
“They thought Madonna’s career might be over by the time the movie came out.” Little did they know!
That jacket
A designer jacket featuring a gold pyramid features heavily in the movie – worn both by Madonna’s character Susan and by Rosanna’s character Roberta. Madonna, 66, still has her jacket but Rosanna, 65, is missing hers. The actor dated rocker Peter Gabriel, 75, in the late ’80s and gave it to his daughters to share.
“I should have kept that forever,” she laments.
“I called them and they can’t find it. Life goes on. I have my Pulp Fiction coat and my After Hours jacket. Why didn’t I keep that? It was so original and interesting.”
Bruce’s lucky escape
An unknown bartender/actor called Bruce Willis was in the running for the part of Madonna’s punk musician boyfriend Jim. The role ended up going to actor Robert Joy (above) and to rub salt in Bruce’s wounds, he was then hired to work as the bartender at the wrap party! Two years later, Bruce bumped into director Susan and couldn’t thank her enough.
“Because he didn’t get the part in Desperately Seeking Susan, he’d moved to LA to try his luck there and was quickly cast in a TV series called Moonlighting,” she says.
“The show turned out to be a huge hit.”
The pits
She might have been an inexperienced actor, but Madonna displayed a talent for improvisation right from the get-go. In one scene in a bus terminal, her character goes to the bathroom to freshen up.
“While filming, Madonna suddenly flipped the nozzle on a wall-mounted air blower and used it to dry her armpits,” recalls director Susan.
Madonna’s spontaneous move became a classic movie moment and later exploded as a popular internet GIF.
The ending
Spoiler alert! Desperately Seeking Susan ends with both Susan and Roberta getting their guys.
But, says Rosanna, “the original ending was that they didn’t go off with the guys – they go off together on an adventure and you see them on camels in the desert, in the Sahara. I think that ending is such a better ending and I wish they would’ve kept it.”
