Desperately Seeking Susan

White text over a photograph of Madonna

The 1985 Orion film, Desperately Seeking Susan, is a screwball comedy which features Rosanna Arquette and Madonna as two very different women -- a "bohemian drifter" and a "bored housewife" -- whose lives become entangled as a result of a series of personal ads posted in a New York newspaper. Madonna received much attention for her role as the character "Susan" and her soon-to-be legendary fashion sense and confident persona, which many young women of the 1980s attempted to emulate. Though Rosanna Arquette had the lead role as the character, "Roberta", and more screen time in the film, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a "Supporting Role", further underlining the fact that all eyes were on Madonna as a rapidly-rising star. Though not officially on the film's commercially released soundtrack, the demo for Madonna's now iconic song, "Into the Groove", can be heard in a scene where Susan meets with Roberta's husband at the club, Danceteria -- which, incidentally, is the club where Madonna got her real-life start as a dancer and singer in New York's "new wave" music scene.