In search of the UK’s great “city films”: Merseyside - part 3 (2000 - )

 

Thanks for making it to part 3 ... Mum. More films ...

 

In His Life: The John Lennon Story (2000), covers the time between John Lennon buying his first guitar and the Beatles making their US tv debut. Filmed entirely in Liverpool, locations used include the house where John grew up (251 Menlove Avenue in Woolton - aka Mendips), the gates to Strawberry Field (a Salvation Army property, also in Woolton), St Peter’s Church, Woolton (where John and Paul first met), The Cavern, Penny Lane, and Quarry Bank School for Boys. The gravestone of Eleanor Rigby is also shown despite, contrary to myth, not being the source of the famous song. Local talent to appear as well-known characters include: Gillian Kearney (as John’s first wife, Cynthia), Mark Rice-Oxley (George Harrison), Kristian Ealey (Ringo), Scot Williams (Pete Best). Other local actors in good roles include Brian Yarwood, Paul Broughton, and Michael Ryan.

 

Going Off Big Time (2000), a dark comedy about a man out of prison for a one-time offence who now becomes a full-time criminal is set and shot in Liverpool. Jim Doyle directed whilst Neil Fitzmaurice wrote and has the lead role. Both men are from Liverpool – as is Dominic Carter, one of the other three actors in lead roles. Other well-known Liverpudlian talents to appear include Del Henney and comedian Stan Boardman.

 

Neil Fitzmaurice and Dominic Carter in a scene from Going Off Big Time

Shooters (2001) is a tv film set and shot in Liverpool. The Director used locals as actors depicting the lives of local 'gangsters'. The actors are described on the official film posters as “real-life gangsters” and elsewhere as doormen. The film was unscripted apart from a brief outline; each scene being improvised and ad-libbed. The Liverpool-born-and-raised musician John Murphy, now based in L.A., co-wrote the score.

 

John Murphy - score composer of Shooters and (see ahead) Millions - comes from Bootle but moved to L.A. when his film composition work started to take off.

The 51st State (2001), about an American chemist (played by Samuel L. Jackson) who comes to the UK to make and sell an illegal drug, was written by former University of Liverpool American Studies student Stel Pavlou and has plenty of local talent - notably Ricky Tomlinson, Stephen Walters, Michael Starke, and Paul Barber. The late Keith Chegwin also makes an appearance. Almost all the film was shot in Liverpool – with locations used including the Mersey, docks, Pier Head, India Building, Water Street, St George's Hall, Liver Building, and Liverpool FC’s ground, Anfield. Several interior scenes were filmed in Boundary Street and at a large disused warehouse space in Blackstock Street.

 

My Kingdom (2001), a modern story inspired by King Lear, is set in contemporary Liverpool and filmed locally. Actors Tom Bell, and Paul McGann feature among the lead credits whilst other local talent includes James McMartin, David Yip, Sharon Byatt, Carl Learmond (now a BBC Radio Merseyside presenter), and Sylvie Gatrill. The film was said to have been based on co-writer Nick Davies’ research into the London and Liverpool "criminal underworlds".

 

Strange Relations (2001) is the tale of a New York City psychiatrist who, having been diagnosed with leukemia and then learning that he was adopted from a young Catholic girl in Liverpool, heads to said city in search of a bone marrow donor. There are plenty of shots of the city and local talent includes Ricky Tomlinson, Georgina Smith, Amy Robbins, Rowan Humphries, Tony Maudsley, Suzanne Hitchmough, Kenny Thompson, Terry Gilbert, Stephanie Roscoe, and Marie Higham.

 

Revengers Tragedy (2002), about revenge for a wedding day murder, is an adaptation of a 1606 play. It was directed by Wirral-raised Alex Cox and adapted for the screen by Liverpudlian Frank Cottrell-Boyce who relocates the setting to a post-apocalyptic near-future Liverpool. It was shot and edited on Merseyside with an almost entirely local crew and many local actors (notably Andrew Schofield, Margi Clark, and the late Tony Booth). It premiered at FACT.

 

After a Wirral upbringing and education at Wirral Grammar School, filmmaker Alex Cox had left Merseyside for college and work. However, he was living in Liverpool between 1997 and 2006 during which time he directed Revengers Tragedy. He now lives in the U.S.

The Virgin of Liverpool (2003), a comedy about what becomes of a Virgin Mary statue when it is thrown out of a local church during renovations, was written by Gil Brailey (also an actress - see blog 1) and was set and filmed in Liverpool. Ricky Tomlinson took one of the lead roles although numerous other local actors appeared too – among them Paul Barber, Pauline Fleming, Jake Abraham, Michael Angelis, and Tom Georgeson.

 

Pleasureland (2003) is a tv film about a 14-year-old girl who feels pressured by her peers to lose her virginity. The film’s writer, Helen Blakeman, and director, Brian Percival, were both born and educated in Liverpool and the film was made on location there. The lead is played by Katie Lyon, then a final-year performing-arts student from Bootle, and her two friends were played by two Liverpool girls with no prior acting experience or formal training. Other Merseyside actors to feature include Claire Hackett and Philip Olivier.

 

Katie Lyon and Philip Olivier in Pleasureland.

Big Dippers (2005), Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead was a key location for this tv comedy film which followed two small-time Merseyside criminals who have come by a suitcase carrying £2m.

 

Millions (2004), about two pre-teen Widnes brothers who find a suitcase full of cash, was written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Amongst the Widnes filming locations was Ditton Primary School where a pupil had a speaking line in the nativity play and the school’s headmaster also briefly appeared (the teacher at the school gates). Other Merseyside locations include Crosby beach, Everton Brow, Water Street, and Lime Street station. The Director, Danny Boyle, suggested that the religious themes of the film draw on the Catholic backgrounds of himself and Cottrell-Boyce. The soundtrack is by John Murphy. The cast is not very local although one of the brothers is from Warrington, Liverpudlian Jane Hogarth has a good role and Frank Cottrell-Boyce even appears as a nativity teacher.

 

Millions is set and was shot in Widnes, in the Borough of Halton.
Halton is outside Merseyside, but in the Liverpool City Region. 

Frank Cottrell-Boyce - writer of screenplays for four films mentioned in this blog Revengers Tragedy, Millions, Grow Your Own, and Sometimes Always, Never.

Fated (2006), about a man who makes a statue of his dead girlfriend which then comes alive on New Year’s Eve, was mostly shot in and around the derelict St Luke's church in central Liverpool. The film was written and directed by local woman Nicola Scott (the first time a Liverpool-based woman had directed a film in the city I think) whilst several actors in leading roles Michael Angelis, Craig Charles, and Kate Robbins were local. The film was the debut of local production company Ace Film and premiered at FACT. Local musical contributions on the soundtrack included Joey Shields and The Wheels and the Wirral Samba Band.

 

The Outsiders (2006), a tv movie about a former spy who is re-recruited by his shadowy former employers to steal a painting with a hidden formula on it, was filmed in the (un-city-like) Heswall and Thurstaston, both on The Wirral. So it was Merseyside but hard to call a city film.

 

Dead Man's Cards (2006), about an ex-boxer turned doorman, was co-written by Liverpudlian ex-doorman James McMartin who also takes a lead role. Other lead cast members include Paul Barber, Tom Bell, Gary Mavers, and Lisa Parry. The film was made with a local crew and shot in Liverpool (Sefton Park and Anderson's Bar in the city centre are amongst the locations) and Oxton on the Wirral. The interior pub scenes were shot at Liverpool Film Studios in Kirkdale.

 

Co-writer of Dead Man's Cards, James McMartin.

In 2006 Lisa Parry appeared in both Dead Man's Cards and Under The Mud.

Under the Mud (2006), a comedy about a family celebrating their eight-year-old daughter’s first Communion is the epitome of a city film. Roy Boulter (former drummer of The Farm), Julie Currie, and Sol Papadopoulos, partners at Hope Street-based Hurricane Films, raised £47,000 and enlisted 15 young regulars from Interchill, a community-run internet cafe in Garston, to write a screenplay from scratch. The film, which is full of Liverpool youth dialect, is set and shot in Garston although John Lennon Airport was also used as a location. Papadopoulos was the Director. The cast is local - with established actors Andrew Schofield, Kate Fitzgerald, James McMartin, and Lisa Parry all featuring alongside those playing the children: Dave Hart, Lauren Steele, Jasmine Mubery, and Adam Bailey. In an interview with online Merseyside magazine Nerve, Bailey, a Garston kid, cautioned that the film "was a bit like what people from outside think of the area. All dysfunctional families and all that ... . ... most of the people 'round here are nothing like that".  Local comedian Lenny Wood also has a good role. The film includes a specially commissioned track from Pete Wylie, a major figure in the city's music scene since the late 1970s. The premier was at Liverpool's 2,000-capacity Philharmonic Hall - with all seats filled.

 

Under The Mud is a great example of a city film.

Grow Your Own (2007) is written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and The Farm's Carl Hunter. The idea came from Hunter's documentary (co-produced with his partner, Clare Heney) about a Liverpool City Council project which provides allotment sites for traumatised refugees in Bootle (where Hunter grew up). Volunteers from Bootle nonprofit ‘Art in Action’ worked with Heney in producing supplementary material for the DVD of the film. The film was part-funded by North West Vision and all filming took place in Merseyside (mostly a site in Dingle but also a scene at Seaforth Container Terminal), with the shoot reportedly providing paid work for quite a few residents. A terrific, if not hugely local, cast and an enjoyable film.

 

The Crew (2008), about a crime boss in the lead up to a major heist, is based on a 2001 novel by Birkenhead-based Kevin Sampson. The film is set in the Liverpool underworld, shot in the city, and stars Scot Williams. Other Liverpool actors in key roles include Stephen Graham and Philip Olivier.

 

Scot Williams - star of The Crew and an actor with substantial roles in several other Liverpool films over the years (Hillsborough, In His Life: The John Lennon Story (he played Pete Best - a role he had played in the Hamburg-set Beatles film Backbeat); Swing)

Act of Grace (2008), about a crime family operating in Manchester and Liverpool, is the work of three writers – two of whom, Alan Field and Marc Pye, are from Liverpool. Locations used included Chinatown, West Derby, and Knowsley. The production company was based in Croxteth and funding was raised from family, friends, and local businesses in the city. Local acting talent included David Yip, Crissy Rock, and Andrew Schofield. Whilst Noreen Kershaw, the Director, had strong Liverpool ties (she played the first Shirley Valentine at the Everyman, acted in Brookside, and directed BBC3’s The Liverpool Nativity) she was raised in Bury and lives in Manchester. It is probably best described as a North West film.

 

David Yip had leading roles in My Kingdom and Act of Grace. He was born in Liverpool to a white English mother and a Chinese father, a sailor from Canton (about whose life he wrote a play which opened at Liverpool's Unity Theatre in 2010). 

Awaydays (2009), about football casuals (‘supporters’ who follow a team looking for violence with rival teams’ fans), was written by Wirral-based Kevin Sampson and is based on his earlier book of the same title. The setting is the Wirral in 1979 and the supporters in question follow Tranmere Rovers. Sampson and David Hughes (briefly a keyboardist with OMD, who he had known since the two met, as Wirral teenagers, at the famous Eric’s Club on Mathew Street in Liverpool) formed a production company, Red Union Films, to make the film. The shooting took place around the Wirral with locations including the former Cammel Laird’s shipyard, Heebie Jeebies bar on Seel Street, as well as the Mersey estuary as a backdrop. The cast was Stephen Graham aside, a very Mancunian one. Trivia spotters have noted that the end of the film shows an electric Merseyrail trail painted silver and yellow (whereas, and I'm taking their word for this, the trains in the late 1970s were painted blue and yellow).

 

Three books by Wirral-based writer Kevin Sampson (above) have been made into feature films - The Crew, Awaydays, and Powder

Don't Worry About Me (2009), about a Londoner shown around Liverpool by a kind-hearted local woman, was directed by Liverpudlian David Morrissey who had worked with the writers of an existing play to develop the screenplay. The film shows off the area: the Pierhead, Catholic Cathedral, the ‘regenerated’ city centre, the ‘Turning the Place Over’ public art installation, the Mersey Ferry, Wallasey Village, New Brighton beach, and Antony Gormley’s cast-iron sculptures on Crosby beach. Local actors Kate Henry and Jason Mulhearn have major roles with David Morrissey in a voice cameo as the greyhound race commentator. The film was made by Tubedale Films, the Waterloo-based production company founded by David and his brother Paul, who lives nearby. Many of the cast and crew were local. The soundtrack was written and performed by Pete Wylie. David Morrissey even did a couple of local screenings-plus-Q&As to raise funds for good local causes including the Crosby Plaza community cinema and the Clapperboard Youth Project that helps young filmmakers.

 

Don't Worry About Me (2009) showed off many Merseyside locations
- including Antony Gormley's Another Place (iron men) installation on Crosby Beach.

Flyer for one of the charity screenings of Don't Worry About Me.

Kicks (2009), about two teenage Liverpool girls who bond over a mutual crush on a Liverpool footballer, was another of the City of Culture films. The film, which premiered in the city, was written by Liverpool mother Leigh Campbell from an original non-Liverpool-based story by London-based French writer Laurence Coriat. It was filmed mainly in the city's old docks and riverside warehouses. Of the three leads, only Anfield born-and-raised Kerrie Hayes was from the area.

 

Richard Wilson's amazing 'Turning the Place Over' installation cut and rotates a section of a building in Liverpool's city centre. It features in Don't Worry About Me and (above) Kicks.

Nowhere Boy (2009), a biopic of John Lennon between 1955 and 1960, is based on a biography written by Lennon's half-sister Julia Baird. Whilst a lot of the film was shot in London, the film nonetheless features several Liverpool and Sefton locations – including Sacred Heart Catholic College in Crosby, St George’s Hall, the exterior of 251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton Picture House, the Mersey, South Brick Street, Stanley Dock, and Liverpool Cathedral. It’s not overly local in terms of talent, especially in the lead roles, but David Morrissey plays Lennon’s de facto stepfather Bobby, Colin Tierney played dad Alf Lennon, Angela Walsh is the schoolmistress, Josh Bolt his best friend Pete, and Christian Bird is schoolmate and future comedic star Jimmy Tarbuck.

 

Woolton Picture House - one of the locations for Nowhere Boy.

Salvage (2009), a suburban horror film, was one of three films produced in Liverpool to celebrate its status as E.U. City of Culture in 2008. The films were commissioned through Northwest Vision and Media’s Digital Departures scheme, which is also backed by Liverpool Culture Company, BBC, and the UK Film Council. Salvage was filmed on the (West Derby) set of former soap opera Brookside.

 

The Be All and End All (2009) is a tragicomedy about a friendship between two boys – one of who is dying and whose last big wish is to lose his virginity. The film was due to be set in Newcastle, but Liverpool producer John Maxwell persuaded the director to come to Merseyside. The two stars had different routes into acting - Eugene Byrne (Ziggy) from West Derby had had no formal training as an actor whereas Josh Bolt from Hunts Cross (Robbie) came via YULA (Young Undiscovered Liverpool Actors), an Aigburth-based drama school and casting agency. Other local talent included Connor McIntyre and Liza Tarbuck (Liverpool-born at least). The film was shot at locations including Freeport timber dock, Broadgreen Hospital, the Regent Maritime Hotel on Dock Road, Water Street, Hope Street, and Crosby beach. David Morrisey’s company Tubedale was involved in the production and there was a premiere at FACT and a charity premiere at the Odeon in Liverpool One with money raised going towards the Clapperboard Youth Project.

 

Eugene Byrne (left) and Josh Bolt. The sign to the Langton Cruise Terminal is now somewhat dated as Langton Dock stopped berthing cruise liners in 2013 when the Liverpool cruise liner terminal opened.

Route Irish (2010) stars Mark Womack whose character Fergus has seen his lifelong friend Frankie (played by John Bishop) killed whilst working for a private security firm in Iraq. The film was set and filmed in Liverpool with a week in Jordan, substituting for Iraq. Liverpool locations include the Merseyside Dance Initiative on Hope Street, the Malmaison Hotel by the Mersey, and St Brides Church on Percy Street. There are some interesting local characters in smaller roles - Craig is played by (blind) Iraq war veteran Craig Lundberg whilst Andy is played by writer and man-of-many-careers Tony Schumacher whose time as a police officer is being made into a tv series, The Responder, starring Martin Freeman as Schumacher (who wrote the script).

 

Mark Womack in Route Irish - above. The actor has also been in several other Liverpool city films: Dancin thru the Dark,  Kelly and Victor, and One Night in Istanbul.

Reds & Blues: The Ballad of Dixie & Kenny (2010) is about the rivalry between Everton fans Dixie (Paul Duckworth) and his sister, Gwladys (Lindzi Germain) and Liverpool fans Kenny (Andrew Schofield) and Anne (Lynn Francis). All four leads are from Liverpool and there are numerous cameos from former players from both teams including Howard Kendall, Ian St John, Phil Thompson, Alan Kennedy, John Aldridge, Jimmy Case, Tommy Smith, Mark Ward, Stuart Barlow, Graham Stuart, and Derek Mountfield. The film was written by local playwright, poet, and lifelong Red Dave Kirby and directed by Liverpool-based Ian Lysaght.

 

Inevitably there will be Mersyside films that focus upon the major football clubs and their supporters. Reds and Blues is unusual in focusing upon both major clubs at the same time.

Will (2011) is the tale of an orphaned boy who crosses Europe to see his team, Liverpool FC, play in the 2005 Champions League Final in Istanbul. Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, and Kenny Dalglish, all play themselves in cameos. The main cast is not a Liverpool one although Neil Fitzmaurice makes an appearance and one of the stars, Damian Lewis, is often mentioned as a celebrity Liverpool FC supporter. It’s not easy to call a city film but it does touch on an important part of Liverpool’s recent history.

 

Charlie Noades R.I.P. (2011), a comedy about a struggling family scrapyard business in Liverpool, was written by Neil Fitzmaurice and directed by Jim Doyle – both men from Liverpool. For good measure, Fitzmaurice also acted in the film and, with his brother, co-produced it. Many of the lead roles are filled by Liverpudlians – notably Fitzmaurice, John McArdle, Lynn Francis, and Dominic Carter. Other local talent includes Suzanne Collins, David Rooney, Paul McGrattan, Pauline Daniels,  (the late Liverpool comedian) Micky Finn, Sharon Byatt, and Echo and The Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch in a cameo. Locations around Liverpool and The Wirral were used for shooting – including the real-life Lyons’ scrapyard in Fairfield and the amazing Picton Reading Room in Liverpool Central Library.

 

Powder (2011), a black comedy about a fictional new British band finding its way in the UK music scene, is another production written by Kevin Sampson and produced by him and David Hughes. Sampson claims that the film draws on the things he saw backstage when managing Liverpool band, The Farm – bands they met, and the music scene in general. The film was shot in Merseyside – at Alma de Cuba bar-restaurant (located in the former St Peter’s Catholic Church), the former Korova (bar-restaurant and music venue), and Knowsley Hall – and at music festivals in Ibiza and the UK. Singer (and celeb LFC fan) James Walsh of Warrington band Starsailor wrote five songs for the band to play and worked closely with the actor playing the lead singer. Liverpool musicians Joe Edwards and Greg Mighall, play the band’s guitarist and bass player, respectively. The film’s premiere was at FACT.

 

Kelly and Victor (2012), about a couple who first meet at a nightclub, was shot almost entirely in Liverpool, with locations including Sefton Park, Exchange Flags (a listed building in the central business district), Birkenhead Docks, Everton, and the Molyneux pub in Kensington. It is based on a novel by Liverpool-born (and for much of his childhood Liverpool-raised) author Niall Griffiths. The two leads are not from the city, but three other main actors - Mark Womack, Stephen Walters, and Michael Ryan - are.

 

First Time Loser (2012), by Liverpool-based Writer-Director Joe Scott, tells the story of a Northern Irish teenager who runs away (from a shotgun marriage) to Liverpool where he finds himself caught up in the early 60s Merseybeat scene. The leads were not local although Michael Angelis, Andy Brophy, and Kier Howard are amongst the Liverpool actors to feature. The film was shot at locations in Liverpool and The Wirral. St Anthony's Church on Scotland Road was the setting for the wedding scene.

 

Blood (2012), about two police officer brothers investigating a crime they committed, was shot around the Wirral town of West Kirby where the director, Nick Murphy, grew up. Much of the action took place on nearby Hilbre island at the mouth of the River Dee. Other Wirral locations included Birkenhead Town Hall as the police station interior, Wallasey Town Hall for the exterior, Wallasey’s St Hilary’s Church, and Leasowe lighthouse and seafront. In Liverpool, the Frank Matcham-designed Olympia venue and the city centre Vines pub were also used. The film had its premiere at the Light Cinema in New Brighton. All of that said, the (Merseyside) setting goes unmentioned, the characters generally have London/Thames Estuary accents and, of the four main stars, only Stephen Graham is from Merseyside.

 

Tamla Rose (2013), about three teen girls in a modern-day 'Motown' band, was written and directed by Joe Scott. Local woman Adi Alfa – a former member of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir – plays Tamla Rose. Other local actors include Jake Abraham, Lindzi Germain, Philip Olivier, and Errol Smith. The film was shot on Merseyside with locations including Parr Street Studios, Mathew Street, New Brighton’s Floral Pavilion, and Liverpool city centre bars.

 

Jake Abraham and Adi Alfa

One Night in Istanbul (2014) is a comedy about two Liverpool cabbies who get a local gangster to take them and their sons to watch Liverpool FC play in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul. The screenplay was written by Liverpudlian Nicky Allt – based on his successful stage play of the same name. Allt was well-placed to write the piece having been in the Ataturk Stadium for the final. The first twenty minutes or so of the film have some good aerial shots of non-landmark Liverpool and we later see real footage of fans in the stadium. That said, most of the filming was however done in Istanbul – five weeks as opposed to the ten days in Liverpool.   There are some well-known local actors in substantial roles – notably Paul Barber, but also Mark Womack and martial arts legend Terry O'Neill – whilst former Liverpool player Robbie Fowler also has a cameo. The premiere was held at the Odeon Cinema in Liverpool One and was attended by Liverpool players including locally-raised Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, who both played in the final.

 

Soft Lad (2015), set in Liverpool, is about a dancer having a secret affair with his sister’s husband and was written and directed by Liverpudlian Leon Lopez (Jerome Johnson in tv soap Brookside). Lopez also appears in the film alongside former Brookside co-star Suzanne Collins (whose real-life daughter appears as her on-screen daughter). Local actress Bernie Foley, who played Collins’ on-screen mother in Brookside, also has a good role in the film.

 

Leon Lopez has now directed two Liverpool-set features - Soft Lad and Out of Time.

The Violators (2015), about two girls from different backgrounds who become friends, was filmed in and around Birkenhead. The film was written and directed by Wirral resident Helen Walsh who, although raised mainly in Warrington, attended and graduated from the University of Liverpool and has stayed locally since. The premiere was at the Light Cinema in New Brighton, followed by a Q&A with Walsh and the two leads – Liverpool ladies Lauren McQueen and Brogan Ellis. Other Liverpool actors to feature include Sean McKee (his last film), Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) acting graduate Derek Barr, and Liverpool John Moores University drama graduate (and now LIPA lecturer) Jake Norton. Walsh also used local talent in her production team and extras came from the Birkenhead area.

 

Wirral-based writer and director - Helen Walsh

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017) is based on a memoir by Peter Turner a Liverpool-born actor, writer, and director. It tells of his late 1970s/early 1980s relationship with aging Academy Award-winning American actress Gloria Grahame. It’s a nice film with some good shots of Liverpool even if some are meant to be London and New York! Locations include Ye Cracke pub, Huskisson Street (Georgian Quarter), Playhouse Theatre (where Peter Turner has a cameo), Milner Road, Mersey Ferry, The Philharmonic Dining Rooms, Williamson Square, and Rundle Road (Aigburth).

 

Peter Turner (right) and Jamie Bell who plays him in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.

Care (2018) is a tv movie about a single mother raising two daughters who must also then care for her elderly mother after she has a stroke and develops dementia. The screenplay is inspired by the true story of the film’s co-writer, Liverpool-based Gillian Juckes (the other co-author being Jimmy McGovern). The mother is played by Alison Stedman. Filming took place at various locations across Merseyside including Aintree Hospital, Walton Vale, and the Stork Hotel pub in Birkenhead. Kirkdale-based LA Productions made the film and Merseyside area-based Impact Casting supplied over 50 of the extras.

Merseyside has several film production companies with the above amongst the most active.

I Have a Bad Feeling About This (2018), about two Star Wars fans in the Liverpool suburbs, is directed and co-written by Crosby man and Edge Hill University film graduate Alan Donohoe. The co-writer is his Liverpool-based friend Jamie Williamson. Donohoe is also one of the two co-stars. The backing music was locally recorded judging by the credits at the end. Several well-known local actors appear - Paul Duckworth, Neil Fitzmaurice, Lynn Francis, and the voice of Andrew Schofield playing a character clearly based on legendary Merseyside radio presenter Billy Butler. Various locations were used for filming – among them the Plaza Community Cinema in Waterloo and Bar Bodega in the city centre.

 

Sometimes Always Never (2018), about a father reconnecting with a missing son, had the makings of a great Liverpool city film in that it was written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, directed by Carl Hunter, and produced by Roy Boulter and Sol Papadopolous from Hurricane Films. However, the acting leads (Alexei Sayle aside) were not from the city and, despite a week’s shooting on Merseyside (Maghull, Blundellsands, Crosby, and Ainsdale), most shooting (six weeks) was, for reasons of funding availability, at a studio near Goole (East Yorkshire).

 

A screening and Q&A (at The Light Cinema in New Brighton) for Sometimes Always Never with, left to right, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Carl Hunter, and Roy Boulter. The latter two are also longstanding bandmates in The Farm.

Yesterday (2019), is the most recent Beatles-related film. The plot sees a struggling Suffolk musician wake from a freak accident to find he is the only one who remembers the Beatles songs. The film sees the lead character travel to Moscow (Camp and Furnace restaurant-venue doubled here), Los Angeles, and then to Liverpool hoping to trigger memories of lyrics of famous Beatles songs through the association of the places. The lead visits Beatles landmarks including; Strawberry Field, Penny Lane, Eleanor Rigby’s Grave, as well as various other city locations; Lime Street Station, Birkenhead Tunnel, the Port of Liverpool Building, O2 Academy, and Liverpool John Lennon Airport (which has a change of name). The Beatles’ back catalogue is used at key points in the film.

 

Anthony (2020) is a tv film about the life Anthony Walker could have lived if he had not been murdered in a 2005 racially motivated attack. The screenplay was written by Jimmy McGovern at the request of Anthony’s mother Gee, who the writer had known for some time. Anthony, from Huyton, was a black 18-year-old with aspirations of becoming a lawyer and the drama was inspired by McGovern’s conversations with Anthony's mother. The film, shot in and around Liverpool, was directed by Liverpudlian Terry McDonough and produced by LA Productions. The cast was not especially local although Phina Oruche and Bobby Schofield are from the city.

 

Not all city films are about the proudest moments of a city's history. Writer JimmyMcGovern has tackled such moments in Hillsborough and now Anthony.

Out of Time (2020), about the struggle of a Liverpool family (and the child) with their child's gender identity, was Directed by Leon Lopez and written by Kerry Williams who also has a lead role as the child’s mum. Netherley-raised Williams was the driving force behind the film – her Widnes-based company, Elegance Productions, co-produced the film with Michelle Billington, director of Liverpool-based Foot in the Door Films. The child’s father is an MMA fighter and the actor playing him, Liverpudlian Jamie Cousins, was extensively trained for the part by a former professional fighter from the city, David Faulkner (who plays Eddie and who also choreographed the fight scene). The child is played by Liverpool actor Frankie Friend and several established local actors also feature (Lindzi Germain, Bernie Foley, Louis Emerick, and Suzanne Collins). Newer names from the city - Ryan Marks, Marcus Collins, and Grace Hillier - also have decent roles. The film was completed with the help of over 40 intern students, some of them transgender, from Liverpool John Moores and Edge Hill Universities. Filming took place on Merseyside and near Runcorn.

 

The recent film Out of Time focuses on a family with a transgender child. Facing the camera are Kerry Williams and Jamie Cousins, who play the parents.

The above Out of Time actresses have all appeared in at least two other Liverpool-set films.

J1S (forthcoming), is a Liverpool set and shot sci-fi film about a corporate-built military humanoid called Jones (J1S = J-ONE-S) that goes AWOL. The film is written and directed by Liverpudlian Jay Cunningham and has been sent for showing at several festivals. Apart from Helen Pawson and Angela Heenan, the main actors are Merseyside-based and/or have strong ties to the area.

 

Help (forthcoming) is a tv film about the relationship between a young care home worker and a patient during the onset of the COVID crisis. Set in a fictional Liverpool care home, the film stars Liverpudlians Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham as careworker and patient, respectively. Financial support came from Liverpool Film Office.

 

Kate and Jake (forthcoming), about a young couple’s relationship, is the debut feature of Liverpool writer-director Jack McLoughlin and draws on his own life experiences. The roles of Kate and Jake are played by Merseyside actors Sarah-Louise Chadwick and Michael Latham with Crissy Rock, and Paul Barber also reported to be taking prominent roles. At the time of writing, early June 2021, the film has started shooting.

 

Artifacts of Fear (forthcoming) is a horror movie directed and mostly written by Liverpool-based Rusty Apper. Filming was said to be nearly complete in March 2021 with locations in Liverpool and countryside outside Widnes. The cast is by no means all tied to Liverpool but does include Carl Wharton and Isabella Moore Richardson.

 

The author, a Brit. based in Washington DC, is on Twitter at @newbarnraising.