Yesterday's Hero is a 1979 British drama film directed by Neil Leifer and starring Ian McShane, Suzanne Somers, Adam Faith, Paul Nicholas and Cary Elwes (in his film debut).[1][2] It also features Glynis Barber and Emma Samms in their early performances.[3] The screenplay was written by novelist Jackie Collins, but was an original work and not based on one of her books.[4] Although it has echoes of the life of the former player George Best, the film is not biographical.[5]

Yesterday's Hero
Directed byNeil Leifer
Written byJackie Collins
Produced byElliott Kastner
Oscar Lerman
Ken Regan
StarringIan McShane
Suzanne Somers
Adam Faith
Paul Nicholas
Edited byAntony Gibbs
Music byStanley Myers
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • November 1979 (1979-11)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

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In England in the 1970s, former star football player Rod Turner is now an alcoholic and playing in non-League football. Football League Third Division club "The Saints", owned by pop star Clint Simon, are having a successful run in the FA Cup and win their quarter-finals match. However, their star striker is injured, and, unable to find a suitable replacement player from another club, Simon has the idea of hiring Turner, his childhood idol, over the protests of team manager Jake Marsh. Simon approaches Turner and takes him on a trip to Paris, where Turner meets his old flame Cloudy, a singer who is making a record with Simon. Turner accepts the offer to play for his team and, after training with them, plays in the semi-final match, but at half-time he is caught drinking in the dressing room by Marsh and is banned from playing in the final. Turner becomes torn between his current girlfriend Susan and Cloudy, after Cloudy takes him in after another drinking episode. Turner is on the bench in the final, but is brought on as a substitute and scores the winning goal.

Cast

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Yesterday's Hero (1979)". BFI. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Cary Elwes | Movies and Filmography". AllMovie.
  3. ^ "Yesterday's Hero". Aveleyman.com.
  4. ^ Glynn, Stephen (3 May 2018). The British Football Film. Springer. ISBN 9783319777276 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "Yesterday's Hero – review | cast and crew, movie star rating and where to watch film on TV and online". Radio Times.
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