By Gareth Potts
A bit of an introduction
If you have not read about the origins
and methodology of the City Films blogs, you might want a quick glance at the first
one here.
The geographical focus here is Yorkshire’s
county town of York (which did not form part of any of that county’s three
historic ridings), North Yorkshire, and Humberside. This latter, which existed as a formal region from 1974 to 1996, includes the
area immediately north of the Humber (notably Hull) that traditionally belonged
to Yorkshire and the area to the south of said river that was traditionally
part of Lincolnshire.
I should
point out that Harrogate, and the urban areas of south Humberside –
notably Cleethorpes, Scunthorpe, and Grimsby – all have no city films. The
Sacha Baron Cohen film ‘Grimsby’ has no connection to said city other than the
name (let us speak of it no more).
The area south of the Tees around
Middlesbrough was historically part of North Yorkshire but is today part of the
North East of England region and so is dealt with in the blog for that region.
Finally, I should just add that I broke
my own 60-minute minimum rule here a few times as there were (so I initially thought) not a huge number of
films from this area and because some that were less than an hour were otherwise
terrific city films.
The Films
The Fishing Party
(1972) is set in the North Yorkshire coastal town of
Whitby (part of Scarborough Borough). Originally a radio play, it became a tv film from the BBC’s Play
for Today stable. The 57-minute film sees three Leeds-area miners go to Whitby
where they stay in a guest house and go sea fishing. Despite no real local
connections, there are several nice shots of Whitby’s harbour area (through
which the River Esk runs out to sea) and views up to the cliff-top terrace of
homes that overlooks the town. The Duke of York pub can even be seen in the
corner of one early scene. LL
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| A scene from The Fishing Party |
Land of Green Ginger (1973),
about a young Hull woman deciding whether to return from London
for good and settle down with her trawlerman boyfriend, is set and shot in and
around (Kingston upon) Hull. Numerous locations are shown including the King Billy statue, Holy Trinity Church (now Hull Minster) and the Market Place that
used to be located there, the Bransholme council estate, Hessle Road, the
centre of West Hull’s fishing community, the Grade II-listed Alexandra Hotel
(in Hessle Road), Paragon rail station, Pickering Park, shots of Hull from a
trawler on the Humber; Hull Maritime Museum, historic shopping street
Whitefriargate, Hessle Foreshore (from which we see where the Humber Bridge will
be built); and Humber Dock Basin. The film also shows lots of non-actors going
about their daily lives. The Land of Green Ginger of the film’s title is a
narrow street – which we don’t get to see - at the bottom of Whitefriargate in
the city’s old town. We also see several buses in the city corporation’s distinctive
livery. The lead actors were not Hull folk but Clive Hunter, the taxi driver, (organist
and ‘gaff-man’ at the Three Tuns pub) and Ivy Cawood, who plays John’s mum (organist
at the now-closed Belmont Club) were amongst the well-known faces from Hull
clubland (club performers have union recognition). The screenplay was written (and
shooting locations stipulated) by Alan Plater who grew up in Hull, attended Kingston
High School, returned to the city to live after going away to university. Some people
wrote to Hull Daily Mail complaining that the play concentrated on the fishing
industry and themes of decline. The city is nonetheless proud of Plater - he
received honorary degrees from the University of Hull (which holds his archive)
and is commemorated with a green plaque on The Avenues. The storyline’s
attention to the risk involved in the fishing industry was relevant as just five
years earlier Hull had lost three trawlers in ten days. The soundtrack comes
from Hull folk group The Watersons who also appear in a pub scene (filmed at The
Haworth Arms). Plater even adapted some of the song lyrics to mention local
places. There’s a BBC Radio Humberside shipping news clip included too - a quick Google reveals that the station pre-dates the official Humberside region by three years. The
film had a special showing, organized by Hull writer Jim Hawkins, at the city’s
Spring Street Theatre (where Plater had co-founded the Humberside Theatre in
1970) that was followed by a Q&A (covered on BBC Radio Humberside). It is just
a terrific if short (49-minute) ‘city film’. The academic Dave Rolinson has written
a wonderful analysis of the film which you can access here. LL
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| A scene from The Land of Green Ginger |
See You at Wembley,
Frankie Walsh (1987) is a 27-minute Hull-set film that focused on some
Hull City fans balancing a wedding date (in which one of them is getting
married) with their team’s appearance in a (fictional) FA Cup semi-final. It
was an early outing for Writer-Director Mark Herman a former Hull Art College
student who is originally from Bridlington (25 miles or so to the north of
Hull). Herman, an avid Tigers fan, is noted for getting Hull City references
into his films and even directed a documentary on Hull City's 1984 pre-season
tour of Florida. The Frankie Walsh film’s opening footage was shot at the
now-demolished Boothferry Park, home to Hull City from 1946 until 2002 when
they moved to the KC Stadium. Other locations include: Albion Street
(bridegroom’s flat); Drypool Bridge over the River Hull (bridegroom’s mates
headed to the semi-final); Whitefriargate (best man running to the wedding);
the Humber Bridge; and Beverley Marketplace with the old Playhouse Cinema in
the background. The Whitefriargate and
Beverley scenes even show off Hull’s famous cream-coloured pay-phone boxes. The
vicar at the wedding is Hull born-and-raised Roy North – also the
sidekick of Britain’s best-known comedy fox Basil Brush. The wedding was filmed
at the Grade I-listed Saint Martin’s Church in Burton Agnes, a village near
Bridlington. The Dixieland jazz track is perfect for the funny material and the
ending is clever. LL
A
Chorus of Disapproval (1989) is a Scarborough-shot film about
a widower's romantic liaisons at an amateur operatic group. In addition to
sweeping shots of the town and sea, shooting locations include the Castle
Community Centre, the New Steps off Foreshore Road (the seafront strip), Oliver’s
Mount War Memorial and its amazing views of the town and sea below, the Royal
Opera House, Scarborough train station, and The Bell Hotel at Bland's Cliff. We
also see glimpses of the town’s cheap and cheerful side– the Ghost Train,
funfair, pound stores, and the (then closed and now built-upon) South Bay Pool. The film, which
has a great cast, is based on a play of the same name by the town’s favourite
son, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, and written for the 1984 summer season at his Stephen
Joseph Theatre. Ayckbourn also co-wrote the screenplay which was then heavily edited
by Winner. Ayckbourn later alleged that Winner “missed the point of the play,
which is that it parallels The Beggar's Opera. He lowered the film for an
audience who probably wouldn't watch it anyway. It just ended up missing
everybody." As someone blissfully unaware of this comparison, I thought it was a good film and
was amused to see high-quality actors and actresses playing hams. There's also a nice story of local lad Andy Hylton who, in a desire to experience the film industry, applied to do runner work but then landed a bit-part because he had a dog (he is the dog walker who gives directions to Jeremy Irons' character) and then served as a camera stand-in for Anthony Hopkins who he got to meet (Hylton now works in the film industry). LL
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| Promo poster for A Chorus of Disapproval |
Small
Zones (1990) is a BBC feature film set against the backdrop
of unemployment in mid-80s Hull. The story centres upon an abused wife who is
moved by the poetry of Irina Ratushinskaya, a Russian woman serving hard labour
for her dissident writing. The poet, who passed in 2017, was a real person and
the play was intended to highlight her plight. Filming took place on location
in late 1988 on Humberside and Spurn Head (mouth of the Humber Estuary). The film was written by Hull-based
writer Jim Hawkins drawing from a BBC2 play by writer Simon Thirsk. It doesn’t
seem to be available to watch. LL
Little
Voice (1998), based on a play about a shy woman with a great
voice, is another film set and shot in and around Scarborough. The film’s
Director and screenplay writer, Mark Herman, is originally from Bridlington, fifteen
miles or so to the south. There’s a great 10-minute tv clip here that outlines
the locals involved in set design, as musicians, or who had extra roles and the
even greater number who auditioned. One local auditionee, Melodie Scales, even
had a line as George's ‘bit on the side’. There are some great sweeping shots
of the town and specific locations included the Sun Court at Grade II-listed The
Spa, The Coffee Beans café (now The Hideout Cafe Kitchen & Bar), the
Pavilion Garage and the (closed) Leeds Hotel pub (The Seabirds in the film).
Now-demolished locations include Barwick Terrace (Hoff's Record Shop in the
film) and The Rendezvous Club at Wallis's Holiday Centre in Cayton Bay (the
nightclub). It is a good film with some great performances - including Brenda Blethyn's that garnered her a second Academy Award (Oscar) nomination. As if that weren't enough, Michael Caine’s sweary singing scene is hilarious.
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| Promo poster for Little Voice |
Up n' Under (1998)
was based on a mid-1980s play about a rugby league pub team from Hull. The tale
was based on a real pub in Kirk Ella to the west of Hull. The play was written
by John Godber who, in 1984, left his job lecturing at the University of Hull
to become artistic director of the Hull Truck Theatre Company (in 1983 this had
set up at the Spring Street venue mentioned earlier). Hull is certainly a rugby
league city – with two professional teams (Hull F.C. who play on the west side
of the River Hull, and Hull KR (Kingston Rovers) on the east side of said
river). The film however was shot in Cardiff - a chance for a good Hull city
film gone begging. LL
Captain
Jack (1999) stars Bob Hoskins as a rebellious captain of a
small Whitby boat who, despite officials declaring his boat unready for a
planned voyage to the Arctic (Jan Meyen Island) in commemoration of his
seafaring hero (Whitby whaling Captain, William Scoresby – also possibly the
inventor of the crow's nest), sets off and makes the trip. The film is based on
a true-life incident in 1991 involving a Whitby man, Jack Lammiman whose motley
crew included a vicar, a lady pensioner, and a 62-year-old Royal Navy veteran. He
eluded the harbour master by leaving amongst the Whitby trawlers as they put out
to sea. Lammiman then evaded an international search by
the naval authorities using techniques that included painting his boat a
different colour and arrived back at his home port of Whitby to a hero's
welcome, a fine, and (after non-payment of his fine) four days in jail. The film
was good for the town's business with seventeen different hotels and pubs taken over
by the crew. The Whitby Pavilion Theatre had become a helicopter base, the
Quaker House (which features in several scenes) was a production office and the
council car park had been taken over by several production vehicles. When the
return-to-harbour scene was filmed the cast was joined not only by the
recruited extras but by hundreds of others who spontaneously came out of their
houses to take part and/or watch. We see a good deal of Whitby – the harbour,
the Bay, St. Mary's Church, Abbey Steps Tea Rooms, the amazing Whitby Abbey, and
the Captain Cook statue and nearby green. There’s even a shot of a van from North
Yorkshire coast furniture firm Beevers. The cast is not local although Hull-raised
actress Maureen Lipman has a good role as Jack’s prospective love interest. There
is a great account of the trip and film by the journalist Nick Davies here. LL
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| Jack Lammiman (centre) chatting on-set in Whitby with Bob Hoskins (right) |
The
mid-2000s saw a couple of BBC films about Hull that were written and directed by
John Godber. Thunder Road (2001) was an experimental TV series set
in a troubled social club in Hull (then the Pearson and now the New Cleveland
Social Club). Viewers could interact with the storyline. Despite being a
series, the work was also, upon completion, boiled down to a 90-minute summary
version. Godber outlines the project here. LL
Odd Squad (2005)
is a 30-minute children’s film set and filmed in and around Hull. It was
directed by John Godber, still Director of Hull Truck Theatre at the time, and
written by him and his wife Jane Thornton. The double BAFTA-winning BBC drama,
about three sixteen-year-old schoolkids, is set in a fictional school although
filming took place at (the real but now closed) Sydney Smith School in Anlaby
as well as other locations around Hull. Eight local youngsters made their
television acting debut in the production – including one as Ellie (one of the
three lead roles). Many more local kids appeared as extras - including students
from Sydney Smith. LL
Screwed
(2011) is based on Ronnie Thompson’s best-selling book of the
same title that details his seven years as a warder at different UK prisons. The
former Dean Road Prison in Scarborough was used as the prison in the film and,
as such, played host to the production team for a month. Scarborough Council
officers, notably Rowenna Marsden who has been thanked in at least two film
credits, assisted with other locations for the film (such as Queen Street, Boleyn’s
Nightclub, and the Oasis Café with its lovely beach and sea views), locals
volunteered as helpers and as extras (mostly as prison inmates). The Council is
also credited with supplying catering to the film! The acting is good although
the actors aren’t local, and the accents are almost all Cockney-esque. LL
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| Preparing to film in Prospect Terrace, York |
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| A scene from Scott and Sid - with York Minster in the background |
Scarborough (2018) is about two different couples - each comprising of a teacher and a student - spending a weekend at a Scarborough hotel. The original play's script set the characters in a bed and breakfast (in Scarborough) whereas, in the film, it is a hotel. The hotel used in the production is the (Grade II* listed) Grand Hotel, though for the film it is renamed The Metropole. Shooting took place in Scarborough in 2017 and the film had its UK premiere in the town’s Stephen Joseph Theatre in September 2019. There are some great artsy aerial shots of the beach at the start and we also see various seaside leisure facilities – the Olympia Bowl (tenpin bowling), amusement arcades, St. Nicholas Café, Foreshore Drive, the Cliff Bridge footbridge, the funicular railway, Sun Court at The Spa, Luna Park funfair, Aston Pharmacy, the impressive Harbour Bar seaside café, and, as in A Chorus of Disapproval, an ending at the train station. You also get a good look at the Grand Hotel – both inside and out. LL
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| A scene shot in the Harbour Bar Cafe |
The Runaways (2019) is a tale about three children who embark on a journey to find their mother following the death of their father who ran a beach donkey business in Whitby. The storyline sees the children leave Whitby a little over a third of the way into the film but that is enough time to have seen numerous locations in the town including great shots of the Abbey, harbour, and beach as well as, more briefly, the entrance to the delightfully-named Arguments Yard, the famed Trenchers fish and chip restaurant, and The Black Horse pub in the Old Town. The pub sing-along was filmed in The Elsinore and included many of the musicians who play there at that establishment’s weekly folk night. Locations just outside Whitby include Runswick Bay, and two of the stations on the North York Moors Railway (Grosmont and Goathland). More generally, almost all locations fell within Scarborough District (in which Whitby lies), neighbouring Ryedale District, and Hambleton (where the Ritz Cinema in Thirsk even gets a quick look-in). The production team also generated a short booklet on the film which included a terrific map outlining most of the shooting locations. There’s not a huge local connection in terms of people involved although the father is played by York-born-and-raised Mark Addy and Steve Huison (who, like Addy, starred in The Full Monty) lives in nearby Robin Hood’s Bay. The writer-director, Sheffield-based Richard Heap, has a connection with the North Yorkshire coast having spent a lot of time there with his family over the years. LL
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| A very useful map from The Runaways production booklet |
B Negative (2019) is
a comedy feature about a man who helps a vampire club in return for
immortality. It is very much a Hull affair – writer-director Phillip Codd and
his indie film outfit which made the film, Mollusc Films, are based in the
city. The company forms part of the Humber Film collective, located in Hull’s Old Town, which
was established to develop local talent in the art and business of filmmaking
in the Humber region. Codd’s fellow Humber Film members formed the core of the
production team. Many of the lead actors - Louise Willoughby, Peter McMillan,
Benjamin Harris (see ID2), and Ailsa Oliver - are Hull-based. The film is shot
locally with local places to feature including the Masonic Hall in Dagger Lane,
the Union Mash Up bar-venue in Prince’s Avenue, St Mary’s Church in Lowgate,
and Mrs. Wilson’s pub located inside the Welly Club. To
complete the local dimension, catering was supplied by a local vegetarian
restaurant, Hitchcock’s. LL
Nocturnal (2019) is
about a man who becomes obsessed with a schoolgirl and starts spending more and
more time with her. Bridlington locations included the Harbour Café and Shaw’s
Amusement arcade whilst Costello Stadium, the Hull-Rotterdam Ferry terminal,
and Atik nightclub, complete with local extras, were amongst the recognizable
Hull locations used. Hull filmmaker and BAFTA award winner Chris Hees of
Hull-based Bridgeway Films was co-producer on the film – he has also been
involved with the films One Summer and Reasons to be Cheerful (see ahead).
Nocturnal could however possibly be seen by some as a bit of a lost opportunity
for a Brighton city film as the original screenplay was set in said town and
was penned by Brighton-based Olivia Waring. LL
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One Summer When You Went
Away (forthcoming) is a coming-of-age feature about a young-ish lad who
has grown up on an estate in east Hull and meets a talented young woman who’s
newly arrived in the city. It is very much a Hull-area film – Directed by Chris
Hopkin who co-wrote it with Julian Woodford, both Hull-based. The film was
partly inspired by Woodford’s experiences living in a high rise on Bilton
Grange estate (East Hull) and meeting talented youngsters that he felt had been
failed by the education system. Dead Bod Films aims to tell local stories using
local talent and was founded in 2015 by Hopkin, Woodford, and Emily Brown, the
producer of One Summer. Brown was on a paid internship as part of a development
programme, facilitated by the afore-mentioned Chris Hees,
and funded by the British Film Institute and Creative Skillset. The lead actors
(Laurence Ellerker, Stan Haywood, Kenneth Mguni, Laura Peterson, and Angela
Stone) and the 25-strong crew are all either from or have made their homes in
the Hull and East Yorkshire region. Amongst the fifteen shooting locations were
the former Hull to Hornsea cycle path, once a railway line to the Yorkshire
coast, Pearson Park, the independent Beasley's clothing store on Hepworth
Arcade, and the Old Black Boy pub in Hull's Old Town. The micro-budget film
benefited from the generosity of numerous local companies, including East
Yorkshire Motor Services who, with the help of transport consultant Adam
Fowler, lent them a double-decker! A soundscape was created for the film by
Hull composer, filmmaker, and sound designer Phil Codd; there is a unique full
original score by Hull composer Joe Roper, and a soundtrack created with the
help of Ryan Johnson of Hull's not-for-profit Warren Records using songs by
Hull bands including Crooked Weather, The Dyr Sister, The Fronteers, and Joe
Russell-Brown. Throughout filming and post-production, Dead Bod Films has
depended on support from the aforementioned Humber Film.
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| Kenneth Mguni, Laurence Ellerker, and Laura Peterson take a break in filming |
Last Laugh (forthcoming) is a John Godber-penned feature-length film about a Hull University theatre lecturer (which Godber was) with dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian. It was mainly shot in Hull but with Whitby and the Yorkshire Moors also featuring and was made using a mainly local cast and crew. The film is a development of Godber's 1997 play Weekend Breaks, written when he was still based in the city. Hull's Welly Club music venue was used for the comedy night scenes. Godber (and his wife also have prominent roles in the film. There is a trailer for the film, shot in 2017, and you can visit the production company (Visualize Films) website to see when it might appear.
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| Promo poster for Last Laugh - featuring the Humber Bridge |
Saint
Maud (forthcoming) is about Maud, a newly devout hospice
nurse who becomes obsessed with saving her dying patient’s soul. The debut film
from writer-director Rose Glass was partly filmed on the cliffs and coast in
and around Scarborough where 80 townsfolk served as extras for scenes filmed at
the seaside town's South Bay. A property in London was used to film scenes
inside the patient’s house but the seafront arcades and alleys in Scarborough
were used for exterior shots. Surrounding cliffs, South Bay Beach, and the
amusements also feature.
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| Promo poster for Saint Maud |
Reasons to be Cheerful (forthcoming?) is a tale of a late 30s man who keeps a
promise to his late wife and pursues his dream of being a stand-up comedian. The
production company, Bridgeway Films, claims that “the strong family bond and local pride shown on
screen is a truer representation of daily life for Hullians than anything seen
before”. The film is in development with the BFI – you can keep tabs on it here.
Muddy Cows (forthcoming?) is another John Godber penned screenplay based on his play set around amateur female rugby union. Filmed in Scarborough and the East Coast of Yorkshire, the film is reported to be “seeking finance and in pre-production”. As with Last Laugh, it is from the still fairly new Visualize Films stable.
Scott and Sid York
Little Voice Scarborough
Captain Jack Whitby (very honourable mention)
Nocturnal Bridlington-Hull (very honourable mention)
Land of Green Ginger Hull (very honourable mention)
The author, a Brit. based in Washington DC, is on Twitter at @newbarnraising.
You missed one...................Rick Mayall....Dancing Queen 1993
ReplyDeletegreat call - whoever you are. Thanks!
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