By Gareth Potts
Note:
if you’ve read previous blogs in this series, please just skip to ‘The Films’
section.
About the City Films
blogs
A couple of years back my wife and I had
just bought our first home and I quickly turned to the top priority - a
man-cave (or the end room as my wife still mistakenly calls it). What to put on
the walls of said cave was a central question. As a film-loving Brit. now based
in the U.S., I decided some British film posters and/or stills might be part of
the answer.
I quickly realized that several of my
favourite British films have strong associations with cities and metro areas: Get
Carter (Tyneside), 24-Hour Party People (Greater Manchester), and The
Full Monty (Sheffield). Get Carter was especially important to me, as I had
lived in Newcastle for four and a half years. But what about other places I had
lived in such as Liverpool and London – what were their city films?
As someone interested in most things ‘cities
related’, I decided to widen the search to all of the U.K.'s cities and major
towns. I devised a rough method for finding and short-listing films and a
scoring system for assessing which of the short-listed ones were the best
city-films. This method – and it is just a bit of fun rather than anything
highly scientific – is outlined here.
The key thing to note is that, for
short-listing, films must have received a total IMDb score of at least 6.5 from
at least 100 votes. I do mention the films that did not meet this criterion -
these are the ones indicated by LL (for 'Long List'). I also limited it to the
last 60 years - which, since I began this in 2018, meant 1958 and after. And of
course, I also tried to watch as many of them as I could.
I have already blogged for online
magazine City Metric here on the city films
for London and here on the South, Midlands,
and Eastern regions. However, I am now moving the blogs for the remaining UK
regions onto this site. In time, I will also be
reworking those early blogs into the new format I'm using here.
Anyway, enough chit-chat ... let's look
at some city films from West Yorkshire.
The Films
Based on the novel of the same name by John Braine, Room
at the Top (1959), is about an ambitious accountant, Joe Lampton, and
his complex love life. It was set in Warnley – Warley in the novel - and is based
upon Bradford where Braine grew up and later worked. Bradford and Halifax (7
miles away) provided the main external shooting locations. Bradford locations
include the Boy and Barrel pub on Westgate; the old City Stadium dog track and surrounding
area; Cartwright Hall (now Bradford's civic art gallery) in Lister Park (the
dance scene); the swish Bingley mansion of Lampton’s boss (now the Mercure
Bradford Bankfield hotel); and the old stone bridge at Dockfield (Shipley). There’s
even a scene where Lampton looks down from the Town Hall and, in the shot, we
see the old W&R Baines store on Kirkgate. Halifax locations included: All
Souls' Church, Haley Hill; Halifax railway station; Shibden Park lake
boathouse; Greystones, a large mansion in Halifax’s Savile Park (exterior shots
of the Brown mansion) and the Town Hall where the lead character works (some
say it was Bradford Town Hall). Other nice local touches are a copy of Bradford
newspaper, the Telegraph and Argus, in one of the actor’s pockets. Lampton
is from the fictional town of Dufton – Keighley, 11 miles northwest of central
Bradford, serves as Dufton in the film. Joe briefly goes back for a job
interview and to see his aunt and uncle – the latter played by the
well-respected Bradford actor Wilfrid Lawson. The Keighley job interview
scenes were shot at Dalton Mills and, his aunt and uncle’s
house even has a stove by Keighley company JW
Laycock - founded in 1810 and still going today. The setting is the
late 1940s which makes it outside my post-1958 time-frame but the scenes don’t
appear to have been altered in any way to indicate that it is that period (and
it’s too important to leave out here). The (terrific) film won two of its six
Oscar nominations - best actress and best adapted screenplay.
Billy Liar (1963),
about a fantasist clerk, is a Leeds-Bradford effort. Written by the
Leeds-raised pair of Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse, it was shot mainly in nearby
Bradford (including the amazing Undercliffe Cemetery). It’s still funny almost
sixty years on and has a clever ending.
This Sporting Life (1963),
about a rugby league star, is a Wakefield-Leeds effort. Written by Wakefield man
David Storey, it is based on his experiences as a professional player for Leeds. Outdoor
locations are mainly in Wakefield – including Wakefield Trinity’s stadium,
Belle Vue. Halifax's former stadium Thrum Hall was also used and the houses
filmed for the outdoor scenes were in Servia Terrace in Leeds. The Trinity
captain and coach both appeared in and were involved with, the film. A nightclub
scene singer was selected by gauging crowd reaction to local singers auditioning
on a match day. Storey (1933-2017) seemed an interesting and witty man and even has a civic
plaque dedicated to him on his boyhood home in Wakefield. It is years since
I’ve seen it, but I remember it as a harrowing piece – far from a stereotypical
sports film.
 |
| Writer David Storey (left), star Richard Harris (centre) & Director Lindsay Anderson |
Life at the Top (1965)
was the sequel to Room and the Top and was again based on the (sequel) Braine
novel of the same name. It was again set in the fictional northern mill town of
Warnley. Bradford-area locations include the Wool Exchange (now Bradford's
Waterstones); what is now Oakwood Hall Hotel near Bingley; what is now the
Hollins Hall Marriott Hotel & Country Club (the Browns’ mansion); and Ilkley
station. There are also some London-shot scenes however as the lead character
moves to London (a scenario that spawned the 1970s Man at the Top TV
series which, in turn, saw a spin-off film - Man at the Top (1973)).
Laurence Harvey was again the star of the film.
Kisses at Fifty (1973)
was a 70-minute BBC Play for Today filmed mainly in Dewsbury – still
recognizable locations include Ravensthorpe Railway Station and The Brighton,
a now-closed pub (The Woodman in the film). LL
Leeds - United! (1974)
was a two-hour tv movie (another Play for Today) – at the time it was
the most expensive British television film ever made. It tells the true story
of a 1970 strike in which 25-30,000 ‘rag trade’ workers, mostly women, defied
their union and came out for a gender-equal shilling-per-hour increase. Other
parts of Yorkshire and the North East were involved but Leeds, “capital of the
British clothing industry”, was the epicentre. The writer Colin Welland, whose
mother-in-law was involved in the Leeds strike, first heard about it in his now-demolished
Leeds local, The Cavalier - “suddenly the women all 'round me were
talking angrily about their rough deal, and singing anti-boss songs they had
made up”. He then spent six months talking to the workers, the factory bosses, and
the union men. BBC concerns about defamation of the employers in the real
strike saw some names and details of the screenplay changed. About half of the
lead roles were filled by West Yorkshire talent – notably Bert Gaunt of the
Gaunt Brothers music hall act (who plays shop steward Harry Gridley);
Bradford’s Lori Wells (who plays striker Sadie); and Peter Wallis (who plays strike
committee chairman Fred Packer and who, for many years, was part of a
Leeds-based comedy act with his three sisters and brother). Local folks also
featured in smaller parts: Leeds lass Liz Dawn, better known as Coronation
Street’s Vera Duckworth, makes an early-career appearance as a striker (she has
one line as the women prepare for the march to the moor) and the part of the BBC
Radio Leeds reporter was played by Bernard Atha who was also Leeds born and
bred and went on to become a major figure in the city’s cultural life and its Lord
Mayor in the early 2000s. Thousands of people who were involved in the strike
participated in the play’s ambitious reconstructions of large-scale events
during the strike, such as marches across Leeds and mass meetings. The film
shows a good deal of the city – including York Road, Woodhouse Moor, Leeds Town
Hall, and, briefly, Queen’s Arcade. There were also local references: to Billy
Bremner, the then Leeds United captain, and to someone being “thick
as a Chapeltown butty”. Other local touches
included a Leeds City Transport bus stop and a Leeds Trades Council sign at a
strikers’ meeting. The film shows a few black female faces – none in speaking roles
- but no Asian ones. The film was reported to have “infuriated the worthy
clothes manufacturers of Leeds” but, in a BBC discussion of the film, striker
Gertie Roche claimed it was “absolutely terrific, and depicted what really
happened”. LL
Bradford-shot Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987),
about two sixteen-year-old schoolgirls who have an affair with a married man, was
adapted by the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar – from two of her stage
plays. A good deal of it was filmed largely on the Buttershaw Estate, where Dunbar
grew up, lived, and, in the case of the Beacon pub, drank and socialized. Dunbar,
physically weakened by alcoholism, died in 1990 of a brain haemorrhage aged
just 29. Buttershaw High School is attended by Rita and Sue. We also see Bob’s
house in suburban Shipley, several streets, a car dealership in Staveley, Baildon
Moor, and a school day trip to the Bronte parsonage at Howarth. Dunbar was on
set most days and even came up with Bob’s rude response to Mavis on the spot
during filming. The film is funny as hell but understandably created controversy
locally for its somewhat feral portrayal of the estate – that the central plot
was about a relationship that bordered on statutory rape seems to have been of
less concern!
My Son the Fanatic (1997),
the Hanif Kureishi-penned film about a Pakistani taxi driver who has an affair
with a white prostitute, and whose son becomes an Islamic fundamentalist, was
inspired by a 1990s campaign to get prostitutes off the streets of Bradford’s
Muslim-majority Manningham area. However, protests by locals saw the production
relocate to nearby Halifax. I have yet to see it and can’t find it online.
Fanny and Elvis (1999),
about a writer who wants to get pregnant before it’s too late, but whose husband
has left her was mainly filmed in and around the market town of Hebden Bridge.
Locations include St George’s Square, Birchcliffe Road, and Mount Skip. The
writer-director was Leeds’ Kay Mellor.
Tina Goes Shopping (1999),
about a single mum on a council estate in Beeston, Leeds who steals to order,
is a tv film based on real stories where real residents play versions of
themselves or others in their community – notably Kelli Hollis, who plays Tina,
and her real-life father Gwynn, who plays Don. I thought it was hilarious and a
great city film. Writer-Director Penny Woolcock did lots of local research for
the film and made two further films with Tina’s character and
location - Tina Takes a Break (2001) and Mischief Night (2006).
 |
| Kelli Hollis as Tina in Tina Goes Shopping (1999) |
Tina Takes a Break (2001),
just 65 minutes long, is mainly about the lives of children on marginalised
estates. In one scene, the boy playing Tina’s eldest son Tyler – he was her
nephew in real life – is given an unscripted spelling test and gets them all
right. In the film, Tyler wins an assisted place at a private school but does
not take it. In real life, the boy’s mother also turned down a scholarship for
her son - arguing that he would be bullied by kids on the estate and, because
of his background, at the school. The estate is again the setting, but the kids
are taken on a day trip to Blackpool, so we also see that. It’s very funny, and
we see characters from the first film - Tina, Don, and the Monday Man. Local
Asian storekeepers feature as themselves and there is even an appearance of an
ice cream van from the Leeds firm Johnny’s Ices. The ending is more
Bugsy Malone than rival drug gangs falling out. LL
My Summer of Love (2004)
was shot on location in and around the small town of Todmorden.
Locations include The Royd (the mansion), the Waggon and Horses (The Swan pub), a Hill
off Shore New Road and the Ritz Ballroom (now renamed Venue 73) in
Brighouse a few miles away.
Yasmin (2004) was a
tv drama film set amongst a British Pakistani community before and after the
events of the 11 September 2001 attacks. Specifically, it is about a young
Muslim woman, divided between Western society and her traditional culture at
home. It was written by Keighley-born Simon Beaufoy and was mostly filmed in the
Lawkholme Lane area of Keighley – with some scenes shot in Bradford. Beaufoy
held workshops with people from Asian communities in Keighley, Bradford, and
Oldham and used their real-life stories to develop his script, and the film
features actors, both professional and non-professional, and crew from the
Keighley area. The film was the first feature funded by Screen
Yorkshire; the regional film agency set up to develop the industry
in the county. The setting is Oldley – a combination of Oldham and Keighley. Perhaps
the most interesting scene is when a gang of young white boys throws milk at a
Muslim woman wearing a burka in a Keighley shopping precinct and yell at her to
go home. Yasmin comforts the distressed woman, but an elderly white woman
passing by, appalled at the boys' behaviour, and not realizing it is for a
film, rushes up to the two women to apologise. The producer recounted that an
older man, also unaware that they were filming, chastised the kids for what
they were doing. The film, which has spawned lots of academic articles, had a
charity screening at Bradford’s National Museum of Photography, Film, and
Television (now the National Science and Media Museum).
Dream's Ashes (2005)
is about a drug dealer on the streets of Leeds whose world gets turned upside
down when he loses his new-born child and, soon after, sees the child’s mother
leave him – he doesn’t, to put it mildly, get much help from his own mother! The
film was written and directed by Leeds-based Rafe Clayton and premiered on the
opening night of the 2005 Leeds International Film Festival. Clayton told me,
via email, that the film was inspired by his life growing up in Leeds in the
1990s where drug use was common. Three of the four main stars are from (Sam
Jelf) or based in (Pam Hilton and Wayne ‘Danny’ Thornton) Leeds – the male lead
was from nearby Wakefield. The characters playing Ed and Mal were from Leeds
and the characters playing Brian and Darren were from Wakefield. There’s also a
good couple of turns by Huddersfield-based actors Ken George as a church
outreach worker and the late Mick Murphy as a preacher for the same
church – both interesting men who have been active in various aspects of West
Yorkshire life. Local institutions gave support to the film – Screen Yorkshire
helped with funding; the Northern Film School supplied film
equipment and processing was done by Film
Lab North (all three are based in Leeds). The film was all shot in
Leeds - with the main character’s home being in the heart of student-land (just
a stone’s throw from the indie Hyde Park Picture House). Other residential
locations include streets off Old Otley Road in North West Leeds and a street
out in Austhorpe on the city’s eastern edge. Shooting locations more generally
included: Stylus nightclub, the now-demolished Hoagy's Pool hall in the city
centre, the beautiful interior of St. John's the Evangelist church in Briggate,
an industrial site (Jeff Skinner Skip Hire in Holbeck), and Leeds General
Infirmary. Outside the city, there are also scenes at the (now-demolished)
amusement near Shipley Glen Tramway, a historic funicular
tramway near the village of Saltaire, Bradford, and at the (now-closed)
Wharfedale pub near Otley. At just over an hour, the film did not get a general
cinematic release and, with lots of f-bombs, did not make it to tv. LL
 |
| Shooting Dream's Ashes in Leeds. Photo by Paul Ellenor |
The Jealous God (2005), set in a West Riding town in
the mid-1960s, is about a shy schoolteacher who battles against his strict
Catholic upbringing when he falls for a Protestant librarian. It is based on John
Braine’s novel of the same name – a work that drew on his upbringing in a lower-middle-class
Catholic family. Braine is not the only local connection. It’s a Bradford-West
Yorkshire effort. The Director, screenplay writer, and co-producer, Steven
Woodcock was born and raised in and around Huddersfield. Locations included St Bede's
School in Bradford where Braine had
been a pupil. Production was in Bradford as well as several other West
Yorkshire venues including Keighley and
Worth Valley Railway, Leeds central library for
the library interior shots, Heptonstall (a village near Hebden Bridge) for the
wedding exteriors and funeral exterior scene, priest interior scene and cafe
interior, Holywell Green (between Halifax and Huddersfield) for backstreet
exteriors, the Big 6 pub at Halifax for all pub
interiors, Marsden Moor for the lyrical scene at the end, and Marsden for the
bus drive past. One scene, shot at Elland's Rex cinema where the film also premiered,
even sees two characters watching Room at the Top. I have yet to see it.
LL
Mischief Night (2006),
the final part in Penny Woolcock’s Tina trilogy is about racial segregation.
Tina sends her kids to a predominantly white school even though, growing up,
she had attended a mixed-race school on the other side of the park that has now
become the Asian area and mixed freely with her Asian neighbours when she was
young. The two groups are brought together by the fact that Tina’s daughter’s
biological father is a local Asian man – she really did mix with the Asian
community! The film finale comes on Mischief Night – a traditional West Yorkshire celebration of
youth pranks (albeit in November rather than, as in the film, Summer). To bring
realism to proceedings, Woolcock and assistant Lucy Pardee spent months hanging
out with the Pakistani community in Leeds and Bradford. The film starts with a long-distance
shot of the city and the sound of the adhan – the Islamic call to prayer. The
'Asian' area of Leeds was primarily filmed around Beeston (e.g., Barton Stores,
the Co-Op, Redhall Crescent, Cross Flats Park) while the 'White' area was
mainly filmed around Hunslet and Tingley. Scenes were also filmed in Woodhouse
(the now-closed Nafee’s restaurant), Middleton (Westwood
Mini-Market, Helston Walk, and a somewhat space-ship like chip shop) and Belle
Isle. The indoor market and café where Tina and her former Asian lover meet up
are, I think, Kirkgate Market in the city centre. One
scene where tram pylons were required had to be filmed in Sheffield. Just one
of the three stars – Kelli - is from Leeds. The film is the only one of the
trilogy to be made for cinematic release and is certainly more professional in
design – including less ad-libbing and a great soundtrack. Screen Yorkshire
again supplied some of the funding through its ERDF pot. The film's
distributors held a screening in Leeds, which saw a mixed (white and Asian,
young, and old) audience and “the feedback (was) essentially positive.” One alleged
however that “the film gives the false impression that estates have crack dealers
on every corner. It's also insulting to rely on outdated stereotypes - a family
of 12 Pakistanis living in one house”. LL
Bradford Riots (2006),
is a tv film that follows a fictional (non-extremist, non-fundamentalist) Asian
family caught up in the Bradford riots/uprisings of 7th July 2001, arguably the
most serious such disturbances in mainland Britain for 20 years. With
the exception of West Yorkshire actor Zaid Munir, there seems to have been
little involvement of Bradford people, However, Director Neil Biswas, being
from an Asian background and having an all-Muslim research team – a couple of
them from Bradford at that – was able to get access to local people who had
been involved in and/or affected by the riots. Biswas also watched videos of
attacks on the police, attended sentencings, and read in detail about what had
happened.
White Girl (2008),
a film about a semi-literate white mother who, with her two children, flees an
abusive drug-dealing husband. They move, early in the film, from a high-rise
Leeds council estate that has predominantly White British inhabitants to a
terraced area of Bradford whose residents are large of South Asian heritage. Leeds
lass Holly Kenny, who also had a lead role in Mischief Night, (brilliantly) plays
11-year-old Leah who is drawn to Islam. In time, she befriends her Muslim
neighbour Yasmin and starts wearing a hijab. Much of the filming was centred
around the communities of Leeds Road, Bradford. Lillycroft Primary School serves
as the entirely Muslim and South Asian Abbycroft School and we also see Abubker
Mosque (the main interior space and the women’s’ pre-prayer washroom), several
street market scenes, and a scene at the In Plaice fish and chip restaurant
in Bradford city centre. LL
The Damned United (2009),
recounts Brian Clough’s short and troubled time as manager of Leeds United Football
Club. The film is adapted from a novel of the same title by David Peace who
grew up several miles outside Leeds – but supports another West Yorkshire club,
Huddersfield Town. Various Leeds locations were featured including the car park
outside Elland Road which was made to look like the Leeds training ground
(until the move to the training facilities at Thorp Arch in the early 1990s,
the training ground was indeed located right next to the stadium). The re-creations
of the television interviews (based on those conducted on the regional news
show Calendar) were filmed at the same location as the originals: namely
the Yorkshire Television Studios in Kirkstall Road, Leeds.
A Passionate Woman (2010)
first appeared as a BBC One two-part drama about a 1950s mother who falls in
love with her married Polish neighbour, This period is right on the fringes for
inclusion here but the story then moves forward to the 1980s where the woman’s
son is getting married and her affair becomes public knowledge. Penned (and
co-Directed) by life-long Leeds resident Kay Mellor it is inspired by her own late
mother’s affair with a Polish neighbour in the 1950s when Mellor's mother and
father lived in a poorer area of Leeds. The work was originally a play that had
first been performed at what was then the West Yorkshire Playhouse (now Leeds
Playhouse) in 1992. Screen Yorkshire invested £250,000 in the film and supplied
crew for the filming locations. External scenes were filmed at Roundhay Park,
Hyde Terrace, Hyde Park Cinema, Blenheim Square, and the City Centre Market in
Leeds with additional filming undertaken in Bradford (City Hall and St. Luke’s
Hospital), and Kings Hall, Ilkley. Other parts were recorded at Studio 81 in
Leeds. The cast is mainly non-local although the son who gets married in the
1980s is played by Bradford born-and-raised (and partly Leeds-educated)
Andrew-Lee Potts. Bradford actors John Duttine, Anthony Lewis, and Rachel
Leskovac also appear.
The Arbor (2010),
a biopic of the late Andrea Dunbar, was directed by Clio Barnard, who grew up in
Skipton a few miles north of Bradford and went on to study in Leeds. ‘The Arbor’
is Brafferton Arbor - the street on Bradford's Buttershaw estate where Dunbar
grew up. Barnard interviewed Dunbar's family, friends, and children and then
got actors to lip-synch to the recordings. Dunbar is played by a local woman – Natalie
Gavin. There are also excerpts of Dunbar’s plays performed in the
estate, surrounded by onlooking residents – many of whom attended a preview at
Bradford's National Media Museum (now the National Science and Media Museum).
Tyrannosaur (2011),
a harrowing tale of alcoholism and domestic abuse, was almost all shot in
residential areas of Leeds and nearby Wakefield. Many of the extras were
residents, including Leeds busker Chris Wheat who performs a self-written song.
Workers from the St Vincent’s charity shop used in the film were also given
small parts. The film was part-funded by Screen Yorkshire shortly before it
became a private company in 2011. Olivia Coleman puts in a powerful performance
as a battered wife. Tyrannosaur was also a debut for young Bradford actor Samuel
Bottomley who played Samuel – a six-year-old who, in the film, lives
near the male lead character and has a tough home life.
Wasteland (2012),
about a heist at a working men's club (Harehills Labour Club in real life), was
mainly shot in and around Leeds (Horsforth, East End Park, Harehills and
Armley) and the production office was based at the city’s Prime Studios. One of
the film’s four main male stars, Matthew Lewis, was raised, and still lives,
in the city. Local indie band The Pigeon Detectives performed as the
backdrop to a scene (Harvey and Nicola’s reunion drink) but the Director cut it
from the final edit. I liked the film.
When the Lights Went Out (2012),
is based on the ‘true’ story of a poltergeist in a Pontefract
council house (30 East Drive on the Chequerfield Estate) in the early 1970s.
The police, a local MP, and the vicar all saw the events that hit the
household. Members of the family as well as visitors also reported seeing a
figure that looked like a monk. Paranormal investigator Tom Cuniff spent many
years researching the strange case and discovered that between 1090 and 1539
there had been a priory located near the house and that the town’s gallows had
been situated directly across the street from where the house now sits. Cuniff also
found that there had been a Cluniac monk who had been hung during the reign
of Henry VIII after having been convicted of raping and murdering a young girl.
The murdered girl had been roughly the same age as the family’s daughter (who
had borne the brunt of the ghostly tormenting). Cuniff theorized that the
entity was none other than, you guessed it, the Black Monk himself. The story was
made into a film by a nephew of the family that lived in the house -
Pontefract-raised Pat Holden whose mother Rene claimed to have seen the
supposed paranormal activities. As part of his research, the Writer-Director traced
the surviving members of the family and conducted a series of interviews upon
which he based his screenplay. He also visited the house with the family’s
daughter who was twelve at the time. The house used in the movie is not the
actual house but does look similar. The internal shooting was done in a
Huddersfield film studio with “a local crew”. The actual house has now been
bought by the film's co-producer Bil Bungay. The film doesn’t follow events to
the letter - Holden embellished the story to make it fit a horror
movie format. There is local talent involved albeit from Leeds – Steven
Waddington (dad Len), Tasha
Connor (daughter Sally), and Martina McClements (the priest’s
housekeeper). Hannah Clifford from Wakefield plays Sally’s sole friend Lucy.
The official premier was in Rotterdam but two guys won a Love Film
competition to see the first-ever showing – alone
in the house itself! LL
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| Tasha Connor in a poster for Pontefract-set When The Lights Went Out (2012) |
Room at the Top (2012)
was a 2-hour, 2-part BBC4 adaptation of the John Braine novel and, despite no
other great local connections, was, like its 1959 version, shot in Bradford and
other locations around West Yorkshire.
The Selfish Giant (2013)
is a grim but very watchable tale of two young boys who turn to the scrap metal
trade to support their struggling families. Writer-Director Clio Barnard based
the film on two children she met while filming The Arbor. The two lead
actors, both from Bradford housing estates, were recruited through auditions at
their schools. The film is all shot in and around Odsal and the Buttershaw
estate.
 |
Halifax-set The Last Witch (2013), a supernatural
tv film, was penned by screenwriter Sally Wainwright who grew up in Sowerby
Bridge – 2.5 miles from Halifax town centre. Wainwright has now become well
known for using the Calderdale area (Halifax and surrounds) for
her tv series Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, and Unforgiven.
Locations used for the film include Shibden Hall; Hailey Hill; the Woolshops
Shopping Centre, and the Fleece Inn at Elland. There also seems to have been
some Manchester shooting locations. It was originally a SkyLiving pilot
and is hard to find.
Boy Called Bremner (2014)
is a comedy-drama about a lad on a council estate who aspires to box
professionally to provide a stable upbringing for his baby daughter and to
impress his father. The driving force behind the project is its writer-director
Jason Lumsden a former amateur teenage boxer from a working-class area of Leeds
who had begun writing the film during his days as a probation officer and only
picked it up again when, several years later, he had set up and was running a
social enterprise (Action for Children Who Need Help in Education - ACHE).
Lumsden got a few friends together and enlisted the support of Graham Walker – of the well-known Leeds
comedy group The Grumbleweeds – who was a great help, a big motivating
force, and had a wealth of knowledge on film and TV. They started filming in a piecemeal
fashion with an amateur cast and soon 85 people from across Leeds were involved
in the entirely self-funded project. Sadly, Walker passed in 2013 followed soon
after by another key team member, Richie O Coy who appears as a fake vicar. Lumsden’s
real-life son, Sonny, plays the lead character, Bremner. There are also cameo
appearances from Leeds Josh Warrington (at the time of filming the Commonwealth
featherweight champion and, at the time of writing this, the IBF featherweight champion)
and Leeds United legend Peter Lorimer. Lorimer’s appearance is as a star guest at
The Commercial Inn pub which, at the time of
filming, he used to own. Love for Leeds United is a central theme of the film –
there are clips of the team’s 1970s including even a disputed referee’s decision and there’s a
nice tribute to the two fans who were stabbed to death in
Istanbul in 2000 just before Leeds’ game with Galatasaray. The character Bremner’s
on-screen brother is named Charlton after the late Jack, his sister Elsie is
named after former manager Don Revie’s wife, and even the horse is known as
Radebe after ex-Leeds United captain Lucas
Radebe. That leads into the use of a track by local band Kaiser
Chiefs whose name was taken from South African football club Kaizer Chiefs, Lucas
Radebe’s first club. Continuing the Leeds-related music theme, the 70s Leeds
fan song Marching on Together and the Ballad
of Billy Bremner are also used. On the music front generally, there’s
even a couple of appearances from Leeds-based saw player Charles
Hindmarsh. Various Leeds locations are shown off (Dewsbury Road
Social Club, the city centre riverside near the Royal
Armouries, Elland Road stadium, Lincoln Green Shopping Centre in
Burmantofts and the amazing Burmantofts boxing gym) and there’s also a trip to
Ilkley Moor on Bradford’s rural fringe that also shows off that famous location
nicely. The film was released at Leeds’ VUE cinema, where a couple of the 7
showings were sell-outs, and is also available online.
Catch Me Daddy (2014)
is about a young woman of Pakistani heritage who has run away from her family
with her white Scottish boyfriend and her father’s criminal efforts to bring
her home and punish her. Much of the film was shot in Todmorden and almost all was
in West Yorkshire. LL
The Incident (2015),
about a successful young couple and a troubled teenage girl, was shot in
Huddersfield and Dewsbury – the city centres of which are just 7 miles apart. Shooting
locations around the former included the well-known futuristic house Farnley Hey, a takeaway in Slaithwaite and
North Light Film Studios in Armitage Bridge. In Dewsbury the Market Square,
train station car park, and St Thomas More Catholic Church (Chickenley), all
feature. The teenage girl is played (brilliantly) by Leeds’ Tasha Connor. It is
a good, suspenseful film. LL
Funny Cow (2017),
about a comedienne on the Northern working men's club circuit in the 1970s, was
almost entirely filmed at some great locations in the Bradford-Leeds area. It’s
a very good film but I include it here merely as a bit of a lost opportunity
for a good Sheffield ‘city film’ – ‘good’ and not ‘great’ because the Director
and many of the lead actors, including star Maxine Peake, were from elsewhere
in the UK. It was written by, and co-stars, Sheffield lad Tony Pitts, and had original
songs and score composed by Sheffield’s Richard Hawley (who also makes a cameo
in the ‘search for a star’ contest). There are even appearances by South
Yorkshire comedians the late Bobbi Knutt (from Sheffield) and Duggie Brown (Rotherham).
It is even said to be loosely based on the life of Sheffield entertainer Marti
Caine. To complete the Sheffield angle, the main comedy club is called Crookes Social
Club – Crookes was the area of Sheffield where Pitts grew up - and the gala
screening was at the Showroom Cinema. LL
Freesia (2017),
about Islamophobia in Bradford, was written, directed, and produced by Conor
Ibrahiem who describes himself as from Bradford – “born and naan’d” (took me a
while to get naan’d!). The film was all shot in the Bradford, Leeds, and Keighley
areas. Ibraheim founded and runs Arakan Creative which he describes as the
first theatre company of its kind in Bradford and the North of England
specialising in stories within the Islamic world. The film’s male lead, Aqib
Khan, is also from the city. I have yet to see it. LL
Ghost Stories (2017),
about a professor studying apparitions, has good local ties to Leeds. It was the work of two writer-directors –
Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman (based on their West End show of the same title).
Dyson, who has an uncredited appearance as the DJ at Phillip's Bar Mitzvah, was
born in Leeds, educated at Leeds Grammar School, studied Philosophy at The
University of Leeds, and later completed an MA in screenwriting at the Leeds-based
Northern Film School. It was almost all filmed in or near Leeds, with locations
including City Varieties Music Hall, Harehills Labour Club, Roundhay Park, Chapel
Allerton, Holbeck, and Harewood Estate. Shooting locations near Bradford
included Ilkley Moor and Salts Mill part of the model industrial settlement Saltaire.
That said, it was hard to discern recognizable locations. The cast is not local
although Bradford’s Samuel Bottomley plays the professor as a child. LL
Gloves Off (2017),
is about a former boxer who must train a charge for a bare-knuckle fight in a
bid to raise money to save his debt-ridden gym. The film, which has an
impressive if not remotely local cast, was largely shot in Leeds with
city-fringe village Thorner doubling up as Appleby-in-Westmorland (Cumbria) during
its famous annual horse fair. It is hard to see Leeds anywhere in the film –
perhaps because much of it was in the city’s Prime Studios. Milners solicitors’
15th-floor headquarters at Whitehall Waterfront is used as the offices of the company
looking to redevelop the gym but the impressive view of the city they offer is only
hinted at. Even the boxing club, Taffy’s Gym, is a tribute to a
Hertfordshire boxing gym to which star and co-writer Brad Moore once belonged. LL
Destination: Dewsbury (2018), is about 1980s schoolfriends' on a road trip to see their (dying) mate now based ‘up north’, in you guessed it, Dewsbury. Despite the ‘up north’ road trip angle, the film is almost entirely shot in West Yorkshire – Batley, Bradford, Leeds, and, of course, Dewsbury. Locations were suggested by a locally-based friend of the Director. Even though it is almost an hour before we see the ‘Welcome to Dewsbury’ sign, the bus station they set off from was in Dewsbury. Filming locations in Batley included Bagshaw Museum, The Corner Cafe, Batley Irish Democratic League Club (speed dating scene), and Batley Cemetery. The only vaguely autobiographical connection is that the director, Jack Spring, regularly went there to see ‘his’ rugby league team, London Broncos, play against Dewsbury Rams, Batley Bulldogs, and other nearby teams. The Director said how they “shot in pubs and cafes while locals were actually in there. We had locals cheering once we were happy with the take”. The film was produced by Bradford-based Circus Pictures and sees a minor role for Leeds actress Martina McClements. The Director and lead actors stayed locally during filming and met with the Batley and Spen MP Tracy Brabin – a distinguished former actress and writer. Locals kids worked as film extras and runners and were able to learn about film-making. Some of these have, according to the Director, gone on to make short films and decided to be actors and actresses. The film had a gala screening at the Showcase Cinema in Birstall (on the Leeds city-fringe), followed by a London premiere in Leicester Square. The Director, Jack Spring, formed an inflatable hot tub hire company to fund the project – more impressive still is that he was 19 when shooting wrapped (he is ‘one to watch’ you would think!). I was not sure about it when I first started watching it, but it is worth sticking with. LL
 |
Walk Like a Panther (2018),
about former wrestlers coming together to save a cherished pub from closure has
strong ties to the Huddersfield area. The film was written, directed, and
co-produced by Dan Cadan who comes from Meltham on the edge of Huddersfield. He
also managed to sign up his wife, Huddersfield-area-raised Game of Thrones
star Lena Headey, for a cameo. Locations include Huddersfield Town Hall
(doubling as The Grand Theatre and setting for the fight scenes), Huddersfield
Open Market, West Nab (near Meltham), Magic Rock brewery (which created a
limited-edition Panther Pale Ale for the occasion), and the streets and Mechanics
Hall of Marsden, a large village a few miles
outside of the city. The pub interiors were filmed at The Grade II listed
Cardigan Arms on Kirkstall Road in Leeds. The Dixons ice cream van driven by
the two Dixon Brothers was supplied by Huddersfield firm Dixons
Milk Ices although I’m not sure whether the characters were named
after the company or whether that was just fortuitous. LL
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| Dan Cadan and wife Lena Headey at the premier of Walk Like a Panther (2018) |
Wretched Things (2018),
an LGBTQ+ feature film broken down into three chapters, is written and directed
by born-and-raised Leeds filmmaker Gage Oxley. The chapters are of 9, 18, and
52 minutes in length, respectively – i.e. not individually long enough for
inclusion here. The film was all shot in Leeds with locations including the
Town Hall, the Calls area, the Freedom Quarter, and the Backroom nightclub.
Oxley has been integral to the running of the Leeds Young Film Festival for
some time and now has his own non-profit production company, Oxygen
Films that works with young people in Leeds, mainly aged 16 to 25,
to make films that seek to present underrepresented stories and tackle
adversity – Wretched Things being one such example. The company’s
productions often focus on LGBTQ+ stories. Oxley is quick to credit the support
available in the city – such as Studio12, part of Leeds Libraries, which
offers access to editing equipment, green-screen, and sound booths. He claims
to partly fund his films by lots of commercial freelance shoots. LL
Ali & Ava (forthcoming),
is about an inter-racial, inter-age, inter-class relationship. Shot over six
weeks in various locations around Bradford it was written and directed by Clio
Barnard and is said to be based on people she met whilst making her previous
films in the city. The film shows both the Asian community (Ali’s life) and a
predominantly white estate (Ava’s life). Screen Yorkshire provided some of the
funding through its Yorkshire Content Fund – with BBC Films and the BFI providing
the rest. The two stars are not from the area but Leeds’s Tasha Connor and
Bradford’s Macy Shackleton both feature.
Kids@RockBottom (forthcoming)
is a Leeds-set film about three kids trying to support their parents amid
poverty – the particular focus is the use of food banks. The film is set
entirely in Leeds with many familiar locations across the city providing the
backdrop. It is another effort from Leeds’ Jason Lumsden – the key driver
behind Boy Called Bremner. It is born of his frustration, notably whilst
working with his social enterprise ACHE, with the way local government tackles
child poverty. The amateur cast is made up of youngsters from Hunslet Club, Red
Ladder Theatre Company, Burmantofts Boxing Club, and Farsley Film Academy. Some
well-known locals also feature - the film's headteacher, David Hartill, is an
official tour guide at Leeds United whilst former Grumbleweeds star
Robin Colvill appears as the school gardener and handyman. The film is 2 hours
long and Lumsden plans to release it as four half-hour episodes. Despite being
slowed by the COVID situation, Lumsden is hopeful of a pre-Christmas release on
Amazon.
Babyface (forthcoming)
is about an Estonian who comes to the UK to pursue his wrestling dream. It is
written, directed, and produced by and stars Leeds-based Taavi Peelo. Filming
had started but is currently suspended due to COVID. The stars include
Wakefield-based wrestler and head of UKW Wrestling, Jon Sedgewick, and Leeds
actress Lucy Marshall. One of the main locations being used is the UKW
Wrestling Training Centre/Arena in Batley.
So … my top West Yorkshire city films, and their scores, are:
Bradford The Arbor 2010 10
Bradford The Selfish Giant 2013 10
Wakefield This Sporting Life 1963 10
Leeds Tina
Goes Shopping 1999 9
There are so many honourable mentions from the Long List
that I have dispensed with it for this (already long) blog.
The author, a Brit. based in Washington DC, is on Twitter at @newbarnraising.
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