40 years ago, Madonna made her film debut in Desperately Seeking Susan, a stylish caper movie starring Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn and a bevy of future A-listers.
The story revealed the secret lives of women in Manhattan — an escaped suburban housewife and freewheeling moll on the run, both in search of independence and love. It also captured the zeitgeist of New York at the height of the 1980s, where grit, luxury, art and mayhem collided on every street corner.
Empire – “A whimsical but optimistic tale of mistaken identity, it starred the Material Girl as the cheekily irresistible Susan, and turned Rosanna Arquette (repressed housewife Roberta) into a star.” (full review here)
The New York Times – “Based on a good screenplay by writer Leora Barish, Desperately Seeking Susan is a terrifically genial New York City farce in which the lives of two very different young women become tangled in an Orlon web of lies, half-truths, and crosspurposes.” (full review here)
