LEADER OF THE BAND

US, 1987, 90 minutes, Colour.
Steve Landesburg, Gaillard Sartain, Mercedes Ruehl.
Directed by Nessa Hyams.

Leader of the Band takes a well-tried plot: the man out of work, his job with the school band, their incompetence, failure, training, success and his self-esteem. It is the Rocky theme all over again. The film is quite amusing, American style humour. Steve Landesberg is the musician who becomes the leader of the band and takes the Georgia school band to success. Mercedes Ruehl (Married to the Mob, Slays of New York) is good as a sympathetic teacher. Nothing new, local colour, just watching the band go from terrible to success.

1.Popular piece of American comedy? The Rocky theme in school and the school band?

2.Georgia settings, city, nightclubs, the school? The sequences of band and marching routines? Musical score?

3.The title, the hero and his achievement?

4.The musician, his playing, his failure, being sacked? Variety of jobs? The interview for the school band? His pretending to be better than he was? His being hired? Friendship with the teacher and her throwing herself at him? The fat tycoon and their friendship? The principal? The band and its being dreadful, auditions, the black leader and the collaboration? Performance and failure? Confrontation, his being sacked? Building the band again? Their achievement?

5.The fat man, hire and fire, his nephew in the band? His friendship - and the comic touches?

6.The teacher her friendship, her throwing herself at him? Comic style?

7.The members of the band, rag-tag, no sense of music? Their leader? Practice, failure? The danger of being excluded? Sprucing up, practice and success?

8.Popular entertainment? Popular themes?