Television news reporter Maggie Foley investigates the mysterious disappearance of cult rock star Eddie Wilson.

Rounding out the Cruisers are saxophonist Wendell Newton, background singer and Eddie's girlfriend Joann Carlino, and drummer Kenny Hopkins.

Inspired by the bleak, fatalistic poetry of Arthur Rimbaud, Eddie wants something far more ambitious than their previous pop songs and he pushes his bandmates beyond their limits, musically and personally.

All of the original Cruisers are set to participate in the documentary except Eddie and Wendell Newton, who had died of an overdose (reported as a heart attack) in August 1963 at age 37.

The others are now living ordinary lives: Sal Amato fronts a Cruisers tribute band; Ridgeway is a high school English teacher in Vineland; Doc works as a radio DJ in Asbury Park; Joann is a stage choreographer in Wildwood; and Hopkins works in a casino in Atlantic City.

After storming from the studio, Eddie brought her to the Palace of Depression, a makeshift castle made of garbage that he visited often as a child.

She reveals that she took the master tapes for the album from Satin Records, hiding them in the Palace of Depression, where she felt that they belonged.

A mystery man driving a blue 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible identical to Eddie's arrives at the house and calls to Joann.

Doc drives off into the night vowing that the Cruisers will conquer the world this time, and Joann invites Frank into her house.

In addition, the music producer/supervisor for the film, Kenny Vance, appears on screen as Lew Eisen, the 1964 record company executive who refuses to accept the band's second album.

In order to get a credible looking and sounding band for the film, Davidson hired Kenny Vance, one of the original members of Jay and the Americans.

[5] He showed Davidson his scrapbook, the places the band performed, the car they drove, and how they transported their instruments.

"[7] Davidson recalls, "One by one, kids began standing up in their seats, screaming and raising their hands in rhythmic applause.

[8] Ellen Barkin, who has the small role of the television reporter, Maggie Foley, later said that she "hated" making the film: That was what we liked to call a "pay the rent" job.

"[9]According to Davidson, when he completed the film, three different studios wanted to distribute it, and he went with Embassy Pictures because they offered him the most money.

Initially, Davidson said that the Cruisers sounded like Dion and the Belmonts, but when they meet Frank, they have elements of Jim Morrison and The Doors.

[5] Davidson was getting close to rehearsals when Vance called him and said that he had found the band—John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band from Providence, Rhode Island.

[16] Eddie and the Cruisers was originally intended to open during the summer, but a scheduling error resulted in a September release, when its target audience—teenagers—were back in school.

[17] Embassy Pictures threw a promotional party for the film at a dance club in West Hollywood in September, 1983, where Cafferty and his band played.

He wrote, despite a good cast, "terrific" music and an intriguing concept, "the ending is so frustrating, so dumb, so unsatisfactory, that it gives a bad reputation to the whole movie.

"[20] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, "Some of the details ring uncannily true, like the slick oldies nightclub act that one of the Cruisers is still doing nearly 20 years after Eddie's supposed death.

[13] Embassy Pictures re-released the film for one week based on successful summer cable screenings and a popular radio single, but it once again failed to perform at the box office.

"[13] Davidson was offered the job of directing a sequel to the film, but he was not keen on the idea and wanted no participation.

In 1984, Eddie and the Cruisers was released on VHS videocassette, CED and Laser videodisc by Embassy Home Entertainment.