Purple Rain (1984)

In July 1984, the movie Purple Rain opened in the US and Britain. Its soundtrack album sold a million copies in the first week of release and it topped the US charts for 24 weeks.

Spawning three hit singles (two of them chart-toppers) including one of the biggest selling singles of 1984, the album then went on to win an Oscar.

And Prince – the small, sexy, androgynous dandy with a taste for purple, ruffles, Edwardian tailcoats and minimalist underwear – its author, songwriter, producer, arranger and leading man, became a megastar.

The movie was assumed to be an autobiography of Prince’s early days playing at Minneapolis music venue ‘First Avenue’, and focused on the struggles of the brooding and mopey musician as he tried to navigate his domestic abuse impulses and his love of frilly shirts.

Prince plays ‘The Kid’ and though his band The Revolution seems to have a loyal following, the club owner (Billy Sparks) thinks they aren’t drawing the crowds they should be. He sides with The Kid’s chief rival, the zoot-suited Morris Day and his band The Time.

When a foxy new Russ Meyer-esqe babe, Apollonia, shows up on the scene, The Kid woos her with motorcycle rides and by ogling her from behind his oversized sun glasses.

Strangely he still lives with his parents, where his washed-up musician father (Clarence Williams III) beats up his mother (Olga Karlatos) on a nightly basis – a habit The Kid seems to be picking up with Apollonia.

Meanwhile, his bandmates Wendy and Lisa (played by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, natch) are peeved that The Kid won’t listen to the song they wrote – and there’s a dude in the band who always wears full surgical scrubs (including the mask).

Morris and his sidekick (Jerome Benton) talk Apollonia into fronting their sexy girl group, which sends The Kid on another hissy rampage. This is followed by his father killing himself.

Finally, The Kid must come up with one killer song to keep his job, win back the girl, and explain all his antisocial behaviour – that song is called Purple Rain.

Critics, who loved Prince and wanted to praise him but found the film narcissistic and plotless, latched on to the stunning concert footage as the reason to recommend it.

Not that people needed much persuading – The film took $60 million at the box office in its first two months of release in America and made more money in 1984 than the hugely popular Ghost Busters.

The Kid
Prince
Apollonia
Apollonia Kotero
Morris
Morris Day
Mother
Olga Karlatos
Father
Clarence Williams III
Jerome
Jerome Benton
Billy
Billy Sparks
Jill
Jill Jones
Chick
Charles Huntsberry
Dez
Dez Dickerson
Brenda
Brenda Bennett
Susan 
Susan Moonsie
Kim
Kim Upsher
The Revolution
Wendy Melvoin
Lisa Coleman
Bobby ‘Z’ Rivkin
Matt Fink
Brown Mark
The Time
Garry ‘Jellybean ‘ Johnson
Mark Cardenas
Gerald (Gerry) E. Hubbard Jr
Paul Peterson
Jesse Johnson

Director
Albert Magnoli

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