Production
Director Ian Sharp was working at the BBC as a documentary filmmaker. They gave him a three-month sabbatical to make the movie, which Sharp says ignited his interest in working in drama. [5]
The film's star Gerry Sundquist was best known for his work in the National Theatre and was cast even though he could not dance. "It all happened so quickly," he later said. "I couldn't believe it. I was a bit worried at first - it's not exactly Richard the Third is it?... It's about a boy who is really untogether at the beginning. He's got lots of energy and zitz and he wants to be the greatest in a dance competition. But he's like me – he's got two left feet." [1]
Sunquist did intensive training to be able to dance. [1] The film was shot over three weeks. [2]
Reception
The Guardian said the film "limps a bit" but "does have some life about it. It isn't as atrocious as it could have been... The trouble is the dancing is actually pretty awful." [2]
The Observer criticised the "poor music and the truly terrible dancing" but thought "several things combine to make it [the film] oddly likeable - the unglamorous view of teenage camaraderie, the unforced affection of Gerry's relationship with his parents, and some odd quirky scenes here and there." [6]
Variety wrote: "In relocating the elements of Saturday Night Fever virtually intact to London, but with an added dollop of downbeat British realism, The Music Machine aspires to tell the scene like it is, instead of like it was packaged. Plot, characters and production values, however, stand considerably less scrutiny than those of the original, and the comparison, albeit invited, ends up invidious. With some appeal nonetheless to fans of disco at any cost – however low – the film could cut the odd caper at box-offices close to home, if promoted via its strong soundtrack to the very young-in-mind, and preferably young-in-fact. Prospects beyond these shores, besides possibly in the traditional British Commonwealth markets, look shaky. James Kenelm Clarke's script tilts directly at unseating the Saturday Night Fever myth. It plots an unemployed youth's finally successful attempts to win a dance competition against the local champ, played by David Easter, who not only looks like John Travolta, but dances and dresses like him as well. Raw, likeable talent defeats smooth, arrogant image." [7]
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