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Desperately Seeking Susan ()


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A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself.

Director:
Writer:
Awards:
  • Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.
  • See more »
Reviews:

Photos and Videos

Cast verified as complete

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Roberta Glass
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Susan
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Dez
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Gary Glass
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Jim
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Leslie Glass
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Crystal (as Anna Levine)
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Wayne Nolan
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Ian
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Larry Stillman D.D.S
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Ray
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Victoria
José Angel Santana ...
Boutique Owner (as Jose Santana)
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Street Vendor
Richard Hell ...
Bruce Meeker
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Taxi Driver
Steve Bosh ...
Newscaster
Daisy Bradford ...
Daisy
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Band Singer
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Man with Newspapers
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Cigarette Girl
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Neighbor Saxophonist
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Cocktail Waitress
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Cocktail Waitress
Iris Chacón ...
TV Singer (as Iris Chacon)
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Sgt. Taskal
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Jail Matron
J.B. Waters ...
Jail Matron
Arto Lindsay ...
Newspaper Clerk
Henry Adler ...
Magic Club Drummer
Marty Gold ...
Magic Club Pianist
Alvy West ...
Magic Club Saxophonist
Michael R. Chin ...
Choy
Patrick John Hurley ...
Policeman (as John Patrick Hurley)
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Victoria's Boyfriend
Curt Dempster ...
Coffee Shop Manager
Shirley Kaplan ...
Waitress
Lázaro Pérez ...
Enrique the Guard (as Lazaro Perez)
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Space Commander
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Band Member
Gary Binkow ...
Band Member
Michael Bramon ...
Band Member
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Prostitute
Paul Austin ...
Policeman
Richard S. Lowy ...
Adrian the Hairdresser
Donna Ritchie ...
Hot Tub Girl
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Park Bum
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Guy from Brooklyn
Elie J. Boubli ...
Egyptian Ambassador
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Prisoner
Peter Castellotti ...
Coffee Shop Cop (as Pete Castellotti)
Wende Dasteel ...
Party Guest
Steve Eidel ...
Party Guest
Michael Kaufman ...
Party Guest
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Party Guest
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Party Guest
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Party Guest
Isabel García Lorca ...
Party Guest (as Isabel Garcia-Lorca)
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Bellhop (as Timothy R. Wilson)
Gilda Torterello ...
Ray's Mom (as Gilda Tortorello)
Stanley Burns ...
Ventriloquist
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Thomas Brogan ...
Award Ceremony Attendee (uncredited)
Robert Dahdah ...
Man Waiting On Line (uncredited)
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Hot Tub Girl (uncredited)
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Boy Triplet (uncredited)
Kevin Harris ...
Egyptian Diplomat (uncredited)
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Boy Triplet (uncredited)
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Egyptian Diplomat (uncredited)
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Boy Triplet (uncredited)
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Moving Man (uncredited)

Directed by

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Susan Seidelman

Written by

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Leora Barish ... (written by)

Produced by

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Michael Peyser ... executive producer
Sarah Pillsbury ... producer (produced by)
Midge Sanford ... producer (produced by)

Music by

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Thomas Newman

Cinematography by

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Edward Lachman ... director of photography

Editing by

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Andrew Mondshein

Editorial Department

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Sam Adelman ... assistant picture editor
Bobbi Banks ... editing room assistant
Sally Boldt ... editing room assistant
Don Donigi ... processing: DuArt Laboratories
Paula Hunt ... editing room assistant
Tom Mottola ... processing: DuArt Laboratories
James H. Nau ... assistant picture editor

Casting By

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Risa Bramon Garcia ... (as Risa Bramon)
Billy Hopkins

Production Design by

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Santo Loquasto

Art Direction by

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Speed Hopkins

Set Decoration by

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George DeTitta Jr. ... (as George Detitta Jr.)

Costume Design by

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Santo Loquasto ... (uncredited)

Makeup Department

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Richard Dean ... makeup artist
Werner Sherer ... hair stylist

Production Management

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Michael Peyser ... unit production manager
Tom Razzano ... assistant unit production manager (as Thomas A. Razzano)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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David Dreyfuss ... second assistant director
Rob Schwebber ... dga trainee (as Rob Schweber)
Joel Tuber ... first assistant director

Art Department

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Leslie Bloom ... property master
William Durnin Sr. ... set dresser (as Bill Durnin)
Ralph Fratianni ... construction grip (as Ralph Fratiani)
Stan Graham ... scenic artist (as Stanley Graham)
Daniel K. Grosso ... set dresser (as Danny Grasso)
Vincent Lawrence ... scenic artist
Glenn Lloyd ... art department coordinator
Richard Nelson ... set dresser (as Rick Nelson)
Arne Olsen ... head construction grip
Ron Petagna ... shop craftsman (as Ronald J. Petagna)
Yossi Segal ... sketch artist
Bill Sorice ... scenic artist
James Sorice ... master scenic artist
Thomas M. Southern ... scenic artist (as Tommy Southern)
Margot Therre ... scenic artist (as Margot E. Therre)
Dick Tice ... assistant prop man (as Dick Tice Jr.)
Chris Vogt ... set dresser
Dave Weinman ... lead set dresser (as David Weinman)
Morris Weinman ... set dresser
Don Zappia ... construction grip
Frank Didio ... head carpenter (uncredited)
Philip Gips ... graphic designer (uncredited)

Sound Department

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Randall Coleman ... assistant sound editor
Lee Dichter ... sound re-recordist: Sound One Corp.
Jay Dranch ... adr editor
Lou Graf ... sound editor
Frank Graziadei ... sound cable (as Frank J. Graziadei)
Kenton Jakub ... assistant sound editor
Bruce Kitzmeyer ... foley editor
Les Lazarowitz ... sound mixer
Laurie Mullen ... assistant sound editor
Linda Murphy ... boom operator
Peter Odabashian ... sound editor
Mark Rathaus ... sound editor
Maurice Schell ... supervising sound editor
Ahmad Shirazi ... assistant sound editor
Mitchel Stanley ... assistant sound editor
Stuart Stanley ... assistant sound editor
Brunilda Torres ... assistant sound editor
Marko A. Costanzo ... foley artist (uncredited)

Stunts

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Scott Leva ... stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department

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Vincent Delaney ... electrician
Mitch Dubin ... first assistant camera
James Fitzpatrick ... gaffer
Francis Kenny ... additional photography / camera operator
Dave Lowry ... grip
Jim Manzione ... electrician (as James Manzione)
Tom McKibbin ... electrician (as Thomas McKibbin)
John Panuccio ... grip
Robert T. Prate ... grip (as Robert Prate)
Tom Prate ... key grip (as Thomas J. Prate Jr.)
Ray Quinlan ... gaffer
Debbie Sarjeant ... second assistant camera
Andrew D. Schwartz ... still photographer (as Andrew Schwartz)

Casting Department

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Laura Bemis ... casting assistant
Todd Thaler ... additional casting (as Todd Michael Thaler)

Costume and Wardrobe Department

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William A. Campbell ... wardrobe supervisor (as Bill Campbell)
Alison Lances ... costume assistant: Mr. Loquasto
Melissa Stanton ... wardrobe supervisor (as Melissa A. Stanton)

Music Department

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Michael Boddicker ... musician: synthesizer
Stephen Bray ... music producer / musician / songwriter
Louis Cerborino ... music editor (as Lou Cerborino)
Danny Goldberg ... music supervisor
Tim Sexton ... music supervisor (as Timothy R. Sexton)
John Vigran ... music recording engineer
Randall Coleman ... assistant music editor (uncredited)
Arne Schulze ... guitar (uncredited)

Script and Continuity Department

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Ira Hurvitz ... script supervisor

Transportation Department

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Rocco Derasmo ... transportation captain
Patrick Hogan ... driver (uncredited)

Additional Crew

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Todd Auslander ... production staff
Richard Baratta ... production staff
John Thomas Clifford ... production staff
Jim Davis ... film research
Claudette Didul ... production staff
Jeff Dowd ... producer's representative
Teta Gorgoni ... production staff
Shelley Houis ... production office coordinator (as Shelley T. Houis)
Garland Hunter ... production staff
Thomas A. Imperato ... assistant auditor
Julie Lamm ... post-production accountant
Gabrielle Liuzzi ... assistant to producers
Peter Lombardi ... production auditor
Ruth Mullen ... production office assistant
Tom Paolucci ... production staff (as Thomas Paolucci)
Paul Petschek ... assistant: Mr. Peyser (as Paul M. Petschek) / film research
Reid Rosefelt ... publicist
Jay Scherick ... production staff
Michael Sporn ... title designer: Animation Inc.
Sal St. George ... magic consultant
Gilbert S. Williams ... production staff (as Gilbert Williams)
Ernie Karpeles ... animal wrangler (uncredited)

Thanks

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Beth B ... the filmmakers wish to thank
Scott B ... the filmmakers wish to thank
Iris Chacón ... the filmmakers wish to thank (as Iris Chacon)
Julia Child ... the filmmakers wish to thank
Lynn Geller ... the filmmakers wish to thank
Julie Kirkham ... the filmmakers wish to thank
Linda Lichter ... the filmmakers wish to thank
Michael Perez ... special thanks
Crew verified as complete

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

Housewife Roberta Glass of Fort Lee, New Jersey, is feeling restless in her life, where she has not taken any chances, including in her marriage to home spa retailer Gary Glass, who knows what to expect in her every move, and who is more concerned about his public image with respect to his business than her. If being honest, Gary would consider her uptight. She does have a few diversions, one of her favorite being reading the personal classifieds, most specifically those written by someone named Jim whose ads are always titled "Desperately Seeking Susan". Roberta gleans that Jim and Susan are in a relationship of sorts with the ads the only way for him to get in touch with her as she travels around the country. Obsessed with the pair, Roberta decides to go to Battery Park when the latest ad requests Susan meet Jim there. In her sighting from afar, Roberta can see that Susan is a wild, new wavish attired woman, to some extent a polar opposite to Roberta herself. Out of circumstance, Roberta is able to purchase Susan's easily identifiable leather jacket from a third party, which in the process leads to Roberta getting amnesia, further resulting in her being able to obtain all of Susan's personal possessions, making her believe that she must be who these possessions point to her being. This causes some confusion for Dez, a friend of Jim's who has never met Susan, and who Jim, a rock musician, asked to look after Susan in his needed absence out of town for a gig. Dez, a movie projectionist, can't help but fall for Roberta who he believes is Susan, while Roberta, in her newfound freedom, falls for Dez in return. What Roberta is unaware of, even before her amnesia, is that a criminal, Wayne Nolan, who has already killed once, is after Susan with regard to some priceless Egyptian earrings Susan has out of circumstance, he only knowing her from that iconic leather jacket. Susan does eventually learn this information about Wayne and thus tries to track down this mysterious woman who has stolen her possessions both to get back her stuff but also warn her about Wayne. Matters will only get more complicated as Gary gets closer to tracking down his missing wife, when Jim comes back into town looking for Susan, and if and when Roberta regains her memory. Written by Huggo

Plot Keywords
Taglines Every man is desperate to have her. One woman is desperate to be her. But someone is desperate to kill her. If they can figure out who she is. See more »
Genres
Parents Guide View content advisory »
Certification

Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Recherche Susan désespérément (France)
  • Susan... verzweifelt gesucht (Germany)
  • Buscant la Susan desesperadament (Spain, Catalan title)
  • Buscando a Susan desesperadamente (Spain)
  • Ψάχνοντας απεγνωσμένα την Σούζαν (Greece)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 104 min
Country
Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
Sound Mix
Filming Locations

Box Office

Budget $4,500,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend United States $1,526,098, 31 Mar 1985

Did You Know?

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Trivia Camel withdrew a $5,000 sponsorship because of the scene in which Dez tells Roberta that she "should stop smoking". See more »
Goofs In the opening salon scene, Roberta is reading the personal columns while waiting for the hairstylist and has a white towel around her shoulders in closeup shots that disappears when she's viewed from behind. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in The Slugger's Wife/Desperately Seeking Susan/The Last Dragon (1985). See more »
Soundtracks Into the Groove See more »
Quotes Cigarette Girl: Susan!
Susan: Hi.
Cigarette Girl: My God, we all thought you were dead!
Susan: No, just in New Jersey.
See more »

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