And the Beat Goes On : The Sonny and Cher Story (1999)

Made for ABC, airing February 22nd in the US.

Filmed entirely in California.

Based on truths. ( from Sonny Bono's autobiography)

The story: In 1961, in Encino, California, Sonny Bono was working as a delivery man.

But what he was really interested in was music, and Phil Spector was his idol.

Sonny had a friend, Buddy, who worked for a record label, and Sonny spent as much time there as possible, always peddling songs he wrote.

After some time, Buddy invited Sonny on a double date with him. That's when Sonny met Cher. But she was not Sonny's date.

Soon Sonny was seeking out Cher, and when he found that she needed a place to stay, he invited her to stay with him.

Little did he know at that time, Cher was just 16 years old.

Living together, while Sonny worked to pay the bills and Cher cleaned the house, Sonny returned home one day to find Cher singing and her voice amazing.

Cher told Sonny she wanted to be famous. Sonny told Cher she deserved to be famous.

At the studio with Sonny one day, Phil Spector needed a backup singer.

Sonny convinced him to use Cher, but she had stage fright, so Sonny stayed with her, and the result was perfection.

When Sonny asked if Phil would take Cher on as a talent, he refused. So Sonny took matters into his own hands, and soon the couple was performing in nightclubs together as a duo.

That is how they got their break, and the result was their first hit record together.

But after a year, they were dropped and forced to reinvent themselves.

Sonny wrote songs and movies, producing everything himself just to keep some money rolling in.

But it took just a few more years to really make their dreams a reality, putting the two on the map forever.

Stars Jay Underwood , Tom Frykman , Jim Pirri , Christine Glenn , Walter Franks , Bruce Nozick , Marie Wilson , Renee Faia , Laura Johnson , Christian Leffler , Matthew Glenn , Thomas Tofel 

Directed by David Burton Morris

Not Rated

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/HISTORY/MUSIC/TV

"One short guy and one smart mouth."