The classic Mod movie Quadrophenia is to have its 40th Anniversary celebrated with a special Londonscreening this Spring.
Franc Roddam’s 1979 directorial debut, based around THE WHO’s 1973 rock opera, is to be shown at Islington Assembly Hall on, appropriately enough, Bank Holiday Monday 6 May, with the screening followed by a Q&A with a number of the film’s stars including Phil Daniels (Jimmy), Leslie Ash (Steph), Mark Wingett (Dave) and Trevor Laird (Ferdy), hosted by broadcaster and DJ, Eddie Piller.
Quadrophenia is centred around Jimmy, a young Mod, who escapes from his dead-end job as a mailroom boy by dancing, partying, taking amphetamines, riding his scooter, and brawling with the motorcycle-riding Rockers. He discovers one of his childhood friends Kevin is now a Rocker and witnesses him attacking his Mod friends one night. The Mods vs Rockers violence escalates on a Bank Holiday trip to Brighton.
Although much of the movie is based, and was shot, around The Who’s stamping ground of Shepherd’s Bush, it has strong ties with Islington where various members of the cast, including Daniels, grew up or attended the nearby Anna Scher Theatre School. The location of the café where the Mods congregate was Alfredo’s in Essex rode, which became a haven for Scooterists for several years, while the nearby Mildmay Tavern was a major Mod hangout during the late-70s Mod revival.
Tickets for the screening are available here.
