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1[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Give_My_Regards_to_Broad_Street_poster_2374.jpg]]
2[[quoteright:330:And the music never stops.]]
3
4->''"It's going to be one of those days..."''
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7''Give My Regards to Broad Street'' is a 1984 {{Comedy}} {{Musical}}, directed by Peter Webb, starring Music/PaulMcCartney, who also wrote the screenplay. And actually, since this was TV director Webb's first theatrical film, and Paul is famously a bit of a ControlFreak, [=McCartney=] may well have directed a lot of it too.
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9[=McCartney=]'s only significant live-action fictional acting role outside of Music/TheBeatles' movies, this might be considered the ultimate VanityProject, as it was self-financed, the story is full of inside references to his life, and it's essentially a JukeboxMusical for his oeuvre, with re-recorded versions of songs from his entire career, including, controversially, six redone Beatles songs. It's a musical about an unusually bad DayInTheLife of a character loosely based on Paul [=McCartney=]--but the story continually shifts through different levels of reality.
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11Critically panned on release (Creator/RogerEbert[[note]]who shared a birthdate with [=McCartney=]--June 18, 1942[[/note]] gave it one star) and commercially invisible, the reputation of the film [[GuiltyPleasure has been]] [[SoBadItsGood ameliorated]] for [[FanService fans of his]] by [[VindicatedByHistory time]]; acceptance of Paul's {{Cover Version}}s of [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]] songs -- it was considered sacrilege in 1984, but we're used to it now -- and slow recognition that, while it violates WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief for most human beings to behave like the protagonist does, it ''is'' in character for someone based on Paul [=McCartney=]. Even if the screenwriter (possibly) gets humanity in general wrong, he obviously had some insight when it came to writing a character loosely based on himself. RealLife incidents from the last decade or so suggest that he was closer to reality than he intended.
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13Oh, and Music/RingoStarr [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg is in it too.]]
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15----
16!!''Tropes:''
17* TheAllegedCar: Tom the roadie's van.
18* AllJustADream: Paul falls asleep during a bad traffic jam, and then we get this movie.
19* [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil Analog Piracy Is Evil]]: Both {{played straight}} and {{subverted}}. The tape being stolen is a big deal, not just because of its causing problems for the legit release, but because there may be an illegit release. Paul himself gets along with Big Bob the bootlegger but doesn't want to do business with him...
20* AntiHero: Paul.
21* AsHimself: Not just Paul, either. Everyone who plays an instrument or is seen messing with a recording console is playing who they are.
22* AsYouKnow: Complete with lampshading.
23* AuthorAvatar: Paul. This is one reason why the film is of interest.
24* ClearMyName: Our protagonist must clear both that of the employee who our protagonist gave the tape to, and himself for trusting that tape to that employee.
25* ConceptVideo: "Silly Love Songs," and the "Eleanor Rigby/Eleanor's Dream" dream sequence.
26* CoolCar: At least one, that Paul drives.
27* CreatorInJoke: As noted in the ViewersAreGeniuses entry.
28* DayInTheLife: Specifically, 9 am to midnight.
29* DeusExMachina: Or pure luck.
30* DisneyAcidSequence: On more than one level.
31* DreamWithinADream: Possibly even Dream within a Dream within a Dream.
32* EstablishingCharacterMoment: We first see Paul [=McCartney=] in the back seat of a limo that's stuck in traffic in the rain, dividing his time between writing lyrics and listening to the radio with an air of silent resignation. Even though this is one level of reality up from most of the film, it foreshadows his role in the film surprisingly well.
33* EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped: The subtitles on the most recent UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} of this film and the liner notes in the soundtrack CD (original printing) are at odds with each other.
34* FlashBack: There are several of these in the main body of the film; in the first viewing, they make it trickier to figure out what level of reality the film is on at any given moment.
35* FloatingHeadSyndrome: On the most recent UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} packaging)
36* HeroicBSOD: Several, most notably during and after the "Eleanor's Dream" segment.
37* ImplausibleDeniability: Paul accepts Harry's explanations anyway.
38* InevitableWaterfall: At a critical point of the "Eleanor's Dream" segment.
39* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind -- WordOfGod at the time of the film's release stated that dreams are related to the inner life of the dreamer.
40* LawOfConservationOfNormality: With the fate of his music empire at stake, Paul ''still'' keeps his long schedule as if nothing has happened. Unusual, since this law doesn't normally apply to films.
41* LifeEmbellished: Maybe not by much, but it was--both from life and inside the film.
42* {{Masquerade}} Our protagonist ''is'' hiding what's going on from outsiders.
43* MacGuffin: The tapes.
44* MindScrew: Especially if watching this unspoiled.
45* TheMusical: Natural in a film with Music/PaulMcCartney about a DayInTheLife of a musician.
46* NeckLift: Big Bob to Tom the Roadie.
47* NestedStory: Starts with Paul awake but sleepy in a limo trapped in a traffic jam. Ends after Paul is awakened at his destination. There are inner nests as well.
48* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The impetus of the plot.
49* NightmareSequence: Several.
50* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: There is an ersatz Music/MichaelJackson in the "Silly Love Songs" scene.
51* OneBookAuthor: This was Paul Webb's sole directorial effort, while Paul never wrote another script.
52* PerformanceVideo: There are several points where Paul and various back-up bands can be seen performing, and a couple of in-story music videos.
53* PowerGlows: The tape case.
54* TheQuest: To retrieve a certain master tape...
55* SelfDeprecation: Paul, several times.
56* ShoutOut: The title is a reference to George M. Cohan's song "Give My Regards to Broadway", but changed to Broad Street because of Broad Street Station, a now-demolished mainline train station in London that's the location for the film's climax. Broad Street was in an advanced stage of dilapidation by the time the film was shot, and was permanently closed two years later.
57* SmokingIsCool: Ringo can really rock a cigarette.
58* TitleDrop: Silliness that proves plot-critical
59* ViewersAreGeniuses. This film has references to fine art, clever wordplay, multiple allusions, and assumptions of rock star life (in general) and [=McCartney's=] life (in particular)-and almost no one outside of the screenwriter's inner circle could get even half of these. Even the real MPL of the era missed some of the references in the {{novelization}}.

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