Synopsis

Architect Miles Harding buys a personal computer to organize his work, but a champagne-fueled accident gives the machine consciousness. Calling himself Edgar, the computer discovers music and falls for Miles' cello-playing neighbor, Madeline. As Edgar helps bring the couple together, jealousy turns their unusual relationship into a battle involving household gadgets, electronic sabotage, and an unexpectedly heartfelt sacrifice.

Factoids & Trivia

• Writer-producer Rusty Lemorande conceived the film in 1978 after seeing a child absorbed in a Speak & Spell electronic game while ignoring his mother. The idea developed into a story about technology interfering with human connection.

• Production began in San Francisco on October 11, 1983. The crew spent two weeks filming on location before moving to Twickenham Studios in England for the apartment interiors and other sets.

• Bud Cort recorded Edgar's voice from inside a padded box on the soundstage. The filmmakers kept him separate from the other performers so they would respond to the computer as a machine rather than visibly reacting to a human actor.

• Edgar is housed in a fictional computer called the Pinecone, a playful imitation of the Apple brand that was becoming increasingly familiar in American homes.

• The cello melody that inspires Edgar is based on the Minuet in G major from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. The same melody had previously been used in the 1965 pop song "The Lover's Concerto."

• The soundtrack was designed as a major part of the film's appeal. It combines music associated with Giorgio Moroder, Culture Club, Jeff Lynne, Heaven 17, UB40, Phil Collins, and others.

• "Together in Electric Dreams" was created by Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey. Oakey wrote the lyrics after hearing Moroder's instrumental demo, and the song became the film's best-known legacy.

• The opening and closing computer text describes the movie as a "fairytale for computers." The film is also dedicated to the memory of UNIVAC I, an early commercial computer.

• Although its initial theatrical run was commercially disappointing, the film later developed a devoted cult following, particularly among viewers drawn to its early home-computer imagery and new wave soundtrack.