Yesterday's Hero

British-Australian co-production has former football (soccer) star Ian McShane, grizzled, out-of-shape and boozing, offered a comeback opportunity; he gets support from football club chairman Paul Nicholas and his girlfriend, pop singer Suzanne Somers, who once had a fling with McShane during his glory years. Would-be feel-good drama (written by Jackie Collins, of all people!) with schizophrenic ingredients, such as the overlong disco numbers which come butting into the narrative like television commercials. A decent actor, McShane gives the picture whatever interest it has; there is no energy, and the plot comes to a foregone conclusion. Somers, wearing clothes "from her closet", seems to have been beamed in from an entirely different program (as if two TV stations got jammed together). A dogged underachiever, one that went unreleased in the States despite Suzanne's popularity at the time from "Three's Company". *1/2 from ****

One of those films so utterly banal and predictable as to be almost enjoyable on that account alone, the soccer world of Yesterday's Hero seems now nearly as distant as that of the superior Arsenal Stadium Mystery of forty years earlier. A time when virtually all weekend games kicked off at 15.00 on a Saturday, muddy pitches on some grounds from early winter on, teams rather than 'squads' and when you could pronounce all the players' names. A wealthy owner signing a player over the head of the manager would also look absurd back then, but now seems commonplace, so in that regard the film is prescient.

Not a big fan of Ian McShane but he's excellent here, giving the only really convincing performance and blends in well with the footage from the Forest/Southampton League cup final. (To me he has a passing resemblance to the superb England goalkeeper of the era, Peter Shilton.) Neither Adam Faith nor Paul Nicholas were great actors to say the least, the latter also turning up in another Jackie Collins' epic The World Is Full Of Married Men, released shortly prior to this. So for fans of Ms Collins and Mr Nicholas, 1979 was their year.

YESTERDAY'S HERO is a slightly schizophrenic film; there is the engaging plot concerning the washed-up, boozy ex-professional footballer played by Ian McShane, and the "pop stars" plot concerning Adam Faith and THREE'S COMPANY's Suzanne Somers.

Both Faith and Somers are adequate actors, but their awful pop music performances are laughable and interminable. Somers must have had some influence in the production, as no sane filmmaker would have featured her endless, insipid stage performances which fill so much screen time. Somers prances and twists around embarrassingly while singing stupid songs, and Faith does his usual ho-hum pretty boy stuff. Fast-forward through their songs unless you are die-hard fans, and you will actually have a nice little character study which is fit for more than one viewing.

McShane portrays the soccer player character with his usual capable aplomb, giving the character a dark pathos and haggard appeal. A film made today, especially in the US, would have cast someone fit and beautiful in the role. It is satisfying to see McShane's scrawny build and tired, convincingly hung-over face in the role, as he truly seems to inhabit the character in the film.

Trivia for McShane fans: Ian McShane's father, Harry, played for Manchester United and other professional teams during the 1950's and 60's. Ian flirted with becoming a soccer player as a youngster but today his fans are happy he wasn't good enough to make the grade.

One of the last films I ever reviewed for the Sydney Sun many years ago. Just on a quarter of a century since, the fondness hasn't grown I have to say!

McShane is passably good as the ex soccer star with a heavy dependence on the frosty brew and who dreams of the big comeback! Nope, this wasn't a biopic of Georgie Best. An adaptation of a Jackie Collins story no less - which should give you some idea of its classical pedigree.

Dear old Adam Faith (pop icon of the early 60's - WHAT DO YOU WANT, POOR ME and for a fortnight, Sunday Mornings' most requested song on the Jean Metcalfe hour.....SOMEONE ELSE'S BAYBEE!) plays Jake Marsh trying to help McShane in his quest. Kind of a BUDGIE role for him!..know wot I mean?

What DOES tag this as a memorable production. Can you believe a seventeen year old Cary Elwes no less as a disco dancer? It was his first screen appearance. Long long way from the London of the 70's to LIAR LIAR and TWISTER!

No great shakes of an Aussie/UK co-production. Think you could be hangin' out for a while waiting for the dvd!

A famous singer (Suzanne Somers), and an aging pro soccer player (Ian McShane), who hooked-up years before, find themselves crossing paths again, in England, in this drama, that has a hard time getting started, but ends up being good enough, for an "E For Effort". Somers gets top billing in Yesterday's Hero (1979). Somers' Cloudy Martin, is one-half of a pop-music duo, known as Martin and Simon (Paul Nicholas). In the real world, I guess, they are like the Captain and Tennille, type-of, late-1970s pop music. The soundtrack is very disco driven. The way their performances are presented in the film, look very much like performances from television hits like, the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971-1974) and Donny and Marie (1976-1979). The music in Yesterday's Hero (1979), is pretty bad. Suzanne isn't a convincing singer, however it definitely sounds like her. It's not dubbed.

Yesterday's Hero (1979), is a British production, that was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The low budget used for the film, which is obviously visible in this production, unintentionally, but positively, gives the film some realism and a grittiness, that produces a fairly cool, 1970s-style to it. Unfortunately, I could only find a VHS, 4:3 version of the film, which also looked squeezed. I am hoping, the day I stumble across Yesterday's Hero (1979) again, next time, hopefully, I can watch a new HD version of it. It may improve the grade, that I gave the film. The muddy VHS quality was a rough watch. This film feels like a hallmark, lifetime type of movie, but it was released before cable networks were a thing. Even though it has a PG rating, there is an evident TV-movie effect going on. The film was directed by Neil Leifer.

Yesterday's Hero (1979), is a mix of staged singing sequences, interwoven between a soccer practice or game. Ian McShane plays Rod Turner, who among, the other things I mentioned, is also a drunk. It's good that he runs into Cloudy and Simon, because they decide to help Rod, make a comeback in pro soccer. The TV-movie aura felt in the film, is reenforced by acting lines, that felt like they were written for TV and not written, for a theatrical film. This was an era when they still said, "let's make love", on television, instead of "let's have sex". Yesterday's Hero (1979), is kind of lame, but it still deserves an E for Effort. The plot begins to feel like, its coming out of control and it has an abrupt ending. I'm talking quick. There are some funny moments, like seeing Ian McShane load 15 kids into a 1970s, European station wagon, which looks like a tank, because he teaches soccer to kids, but transportation was somewhat cheap. In the final credits it says, Suzanne Somers' wardrobe - from her closet.

PMTM Grade: E+ (5.2) = 5 IMDB.