In search of the UK’s great “city films”: Merseyside - part 2 (80s and 90s)

Thanks for making it to part 2. Here are some more Merseyside 'city films' ...

The Black Stuff (1980), about a Merseyside tarmac crew on a job on Teesside, was a TV film written by Alan Bleasdale. Four of the stars (Peter Kerrigan, Tom Georgeson, Michael Angelis, and Gary Bleasdale (the writer’s cousin)) were from Liverpool. Not a ‘city film’ but worthy of mention - in part because the film’s popularity led to the follow-up Merseyside-set Boys from the Blackstuff tv series.

 

The Muscle Market (1981), a tv film about the owner of a failing building firm who resorts to low-level thuggery to stay in business, was written by Alan Bleasdale. Filmed around Liverpool and Birkenhead, it was directed by Alan Dossor who had been artistic director of the Everyman Theatre from 1970 to 1975. The film was originally meant to be an episode of Boys from the Blackstuff, but a BBC veto saw Bleasdale make it a stand-alone drama. The lead was played by Pete Postlethwaite (from Warrington – a town on the Mersey if not part of Merseyside) with Alison Steadman as his secretary. Other Liverpool talent included Roger Phillips (adopted Scouser and local radio royalty), Ronald Forfar (later to be Freddie Boswell in Carla Lane's tv comedy Bread), Paul Harman (who had founded Merseyside Young People's Theatre just a couple of years earlier), Ken Sharrock, and Bill Moores. There was also something of an in-joke for local viewers – namely that the men playing the contractor’s thugs were well-known local comedians – these included Brian Jacques who was also a BBC Radio Merseyside presenter at the time and in 1981-2 served as the resident playwright of the Everyman Theatre.

 

Muscle Market Director Alan Dossor - not from Merseyside but a key figure in the fortunes of the Everyman Theatre in the first half of the 1970s.

A Turn for the Worse (1981) is a tv film about the boss of a Liverpool-based entertainment agency who “discovers” a talented young unemployed comedian at one of his regular auditions in The Bootle Railway Club. The cast is not hugely local – the actor playing the comedian, Max Hafler is “Lancashire-born”, but that’s all the information (freely) available on him online. There are appearances by locals Vince Earl and Ray Kingsley. I’ve also not been able to dig up any information on the writer - John Bill. Help!

 

The Terence Davies Trilogy (1983) is how three shorter films by Liverpudlian Terence Davies, often shown together, became known. The films are Children (1976 - 46 minutes); Madonna and Child (1980 - 30 minutes); and Death and Transfiguration (1983 - 26 minutes). Davies wrote and directed all three and they form a semi-autobiographical account, from childhood to old age, of a man (Robert Tucker) wrestling with his sexuality. Like Davies’ own life the early setting is a Catholic working-class home in Liverpool. The cast is not local, but Paul Barber has a good role in the second film.

 

Terence Davies left Liverpool in the early 1970s but has thoroughly mined his post-war childhood in the city and made it the subject of several films.

Letter to Brezhnev (1985), about a Merseyside woman who falls for a Russian sailor, is directed by Liverpool-born Chris Bernard, a key figure in the city’s theatre scene and a scriptwriter for tv soap Brookside. The screenplay was by Liverpudlian Frank Clark and his sister Margi played one of the two female leads – the other female lead, Alexandra Pigg, was from Knotty Ash. Kirkby (in Knowsley) was the setting as well as the filming location for several scenes and the premiere was in Knowsley Council's offices. Wirral musician Alan Gill composed the score – partly performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The film’s key figures even had a public reunion in 2017 at the FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) cinema complex. It is a great city film ... and the Elaine and Peter characters got married in real life in 2017!

 

The soundtrack for City Films will ideally use the music of local bands/artists/composers.
The Letter to Breshnev soundtrack, composed by The Wirral's Alan Gill, is a good example.

Franke Clarke with sister Margi and mother at the Liverpool premier of Letter to Breshnev.

No Surrender (1985), about a club that has been double-booked at Christmas (for Catholic Nationalists and Protestant Unionists), was written by Alan Bleasdale, and among the handful of stars are Liverpool actor Michael Angelis and Pete Price a (still) well-known local radio personality. Other local actors to appear include Vince Earl, Ken Jones, Ian Hart, and two of the McGann clan (Mark and Joe). Locations to feature include Wallasey (Magazine Promenade), Wavertree, Old Swan, Cantrill Farm Estate (now Stockbridge Village), and Garston.

 

Mr. Love (1985), about a mild-mannered gardener’s active but covert love life, is a great advert for Southport. Locations include the Cambridge and Wayfarers Arcades, the Royal Clifton Hotel, the Pier, Hesketh Park, the Promenade by the Marine Lake, Marine Parade, the now-demolished ABC cinema on Lord Street, and The Princess Diana Gardens.

 

Mr. Love - a great advert for Southport ... and gardening

The Fruit Machine (1988) is about two gay teenagers in Liverpool who go on the run from an underworld assassin and the police. The film starts in the city - shooting locations include the Britannia Adelphi Hotel - then moves to London and Brighton. The split locations make it hard to call a city film, but it was written by Frank Clark and has two Liverpudlians, Emil Charles, and Tony Forsyth, as the friends. Liverpool actor Louis Emerick also has a role.

 

The 1980s saw a greater on-screen reflection of Merseyside's racially diverse population.

Business as Usual (1988), stars Birkenhead-born, West Kirby-educated Glenda Jackson as the manager of a Liverpool boutique who accuses the regional manager of sexually harassing a worker (played by Dingle-raised Cathy Tyson whose acting career began at the Everyman Theater). Jackson’s character is sacked but then mounts a public campaign to get her job back. The film was based on the sex discrimination case of Militant supporter Audrey White, who fought successfully, via a 1983 Transport and General Workers Union picketing campaign, to get her job back at the Lady at Lord John boutique in Church Street. Craig Charles (Tyson’s character’s love interest and, at the time, real-life husband) and two of the McGann brothers – Stephen and Mark – also have roles.

 

True stories can be the basis for good city films - as was the case with Business as Usual.

Appointment in Liverpool (1988) is an Italian film about a girl who tracks down the Liverpool fan who she thinks killed her father in the Heysel Stadium disaster. Despite being a Liverpool-relevant story and some scenes being filmed on Merseyside, it is (very) hard to call a city film.

 

Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), written and directed by Terence Davies, is about the life of a white working-class family in Liverpool, in the 1940s and into the early 1950s. This is before the period this blog is looking at, but it features in several best British film lists so I’ve squeezed it in. In addition to Warringtonian Pete Postlethwaite as the father, the rest of the lead cast is largely from Merseyside and includes Angela Walsh, Debi Jones, Dean Williams, Michael Starke, Chris Darwin, and Vincent Maguire. Andrew Schofield and Jean Boht (Ma Boswell from Bread) also make appearances. Most of the filming was done in an area of north London with homes that were architecturally like Davies’ Kensington home that had been demolished in the early 1960s. However, there was filming in Jubilee Drive (Kensington), Formby Sands, and the now-demolished Futurist cinema near Lime Street.

 

Angela Walsh and Debi Jones in Still Voices, Distant Lives

It is worth mentioning a couple of important institutions that helped to get the city on screen and which will be referenced ahead. 1989 saw the creation of the Liverpool Film Office to promote the city to film and television producers - the first such office in the UK. This was followed in 1992 with the creation of the Moving Image Development Agency (MIDA). Roger Shannon, MIDA’s founder, and Head summarized the position as “the Film Office puts Liverpool in front of the camera – MIDA puts Liverpool behind the camera”.

 

Liverpool Film Office: supporting film on Merseyside and, now, the Liverpool City Region. Many of the films supported have been 'city films'.

Dancin’ thru the Dark (1990), about a woman’s pre-nuptial doubts, is Willy Russell’s adaptation of his play Stags and Hens – Russell also has a cameo and wrote three of the songs. The male lead, Con O'Neill, was raised near a Merseyside New Town (Skelmersdale), trained at the Elliott-Clarke college in Liverpool, and started his acting career at the Everyman Youth Theatre. The female lead, Claire Hackett, is from The Wirral. Colin Welland, Liverpool-born and raised in Newton-le-Willows (now part of St. Helens), has a role as the manager of Bransky's nightclub (the old Locarno Ballroom on West Derby Road). U.S.-based, Liverpool-raised musician Peter Beckett, plays a band member. Several other key cast members are also from the area – including Mark Womack, Andrew Naylor, and Simon O'Brien. Stephen Graham appears briefly in his feature debut - he's the kid who scores the goals in the kickabout with the bridegroom. There's a fair few shots of the city in the first half of this very good 'city film'.

 

Claire Hackett and Con O'Neill in Dancin' thru the Dark.

Needle (1990), written by Jimmy McGovern, is a BBC tv film about a young man's descent into heroin use in a near-future Liverpool where drug use is rampant. The leads - Sean McKee as the young guy with Emma Bird as his wife - are from Liverpool. The other main roles also went to local talent including Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Barber, Andrew Schofield, Gary Mavers (brother of La's frontman Lee), Vincent Maguire, Andrew Naylor, Anna Keaveney, and former World champion boxer John Conteh. Well over a dozen others had strong local ties including Geoffrey Hughes, Jake Abraham, Chris Darwin, Stephen Walters, David Rooney, Arthur Kelly, Al T. Kossy, Angela Walsh, Carl Chase, John Shackley, Paul Codman, Carl Wharton, Maureen O'Brien (a founding member of The Everyman Theatre), Philip Foster, Mark Moraghan, and Paul Broughton.

 

Sean McKee (1961 - 2015) had the lead role in Needle. 

Jimmy McGovern - writer of Needle and several other Merseyside-set tv films

The Long Day Closes (1992), about a quiet, lonely boy growing up in Liverpool in the 1950s, is another semi-autobiographical piece written and directed by Terence Davies. Several locals feature amongst the cast including Christina 'Tina' Malone, Jimmy Wilde, and Joy Blakeman.

 

Priest (1994), about a gay clergyman, was written by Liverpool writer, Jimmy McGovern who also served as producer for the film. The film had a substantial role for Cathy Tyson whilst other Merseyside actors to feature in non-lead roles included Christine Tremarco, Bill Dean, Gilly Coman, Jimmy Coleman, Jimmy Gallagher, Tony Booth (and young grandson Euan Blair). Several Liverpool locations feature along with Crosby Beach (Sefton).

 

Dark Summer (1994) is an inter-racial, cross-class, love story set (and largely shot) in Liverpool. The film, which had funding from the city's Economics Initiative Unit, was written and directed by the (then) Liverpool-based Charles Teton and shot with a local cast and crew. The young couple is played by Steve Ako and Joeline Garner Joel whilst Sylvia Amoo (wife of local singing legend Eddie) plays his mother and Chris Darwin her father. Ako, who plays a boxer in the film, comes from a distinguished line of Merseyside boxers in real life. The boxing scenes were co-written by Bernie Deasy an amateur coach and former pro. The film seems a bit of a family affair - Wayne Ako and Marlene Amoo appear as the boxer’s siblings and Sylvia Amoo’s maiden name was Joel (so maybe a relation of the lead actress).

 

Steve Ako and Joeline Garner Joel in Dark Summer

Blood on the Dole (1994), a tv film about four teenagers struggling with life after leaving school, started life as a play by Birkenhead-born playwright Jim Morris that was first performed at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1981. Morris also then wrote the screenplay for the film which was produced by Alan Bleasdale and directed by Liverpudlian Pip Broughton (long involved with the city’s theatre scene). The actors playing the teenagers – Stephen Walters, Suzanne Maddock, Phil Dowd – were from Merseyside (I was unable to find anything about the fourth, Rachel Caldwell). Locations to feature include the Walker Art Gallery and the Hoylake and West Kirby War Memorial.

 

Stephen Walters - star of tv film Needle - began his tv career whilst at the former St. Wilfrid's Catholic High School in Litherland (Sefton).

Soul Survivors (1995) is a tale of a British DJ with a late-night American soul music program (in Liverpool) who gets a fictional American band to get back together and tour the U.K. MIDA helped to lure the production to the city where filming took place over 3 months. The main Liverpool actor to have a lead role was Margi Clarke.

 

Rich Deceiver (1995) is a tv film about a married woman in a lower-income area of Liverpool who wins £1.5 million on the football pools and uses it to quietly create a job for her husband. The film was based on a 1992 novel by Wirral-raised Gillian White and included several Liverpudlians amongst the leading actors, including John McArdle, David Yip, Elizabeth Heery (now Elizabeth Morton and writing Liverpool-set novels), and Cheryl Murray. Other local talents to feature include Georgina Smith, Jimmy Gallagher, Mandy Walsh, Bernadette (Bernie) Foley, Al T. Kossy, Sherril Parsons, and Bernard Merrick.

 

Merseyside-raised writer Gillian White whose novel was the basis for tv film Rich Deceiver.

Hillsborough (1996), about the tragic events of a 1989 FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield in which 96 Liverpool supporters died and hundreds were injured, is a tv film by Jimmy McGovern. Directed by Liverpool-born, and (reportedly) mad-keen Liverpool FC fan, Charles McDougall, many of the stars are from Merseyside - amongst them  Ricky Tomlinson, Mark Womack, Scot Williams, Stephen Walters, and Kevin Jones (now Knapman - don't ask me why). There is (unsurprisingly) little of Liverpool to see, which makes it hard to call it a city film, but it is too important to the city's recent history to leave out here.

 

Brazen Hussies (1996) is a tv movie about a pub landlady who meets an old school friend (Crissy Rock) who is now a stripper and gets the idea to improve her pub business by hiring male strippers. Of the handful of star roles, only Rock is from Merseyside, but comedian Jimmy Tarbuck also appears in his first proper acting role. The film was shot on Merseyside although I have yet to uncover any of the handful of locations.

 

The mid-late 1990s saw Crissy Rock appearing in several Liverpool-set films.

The Fix (1997) is a tv movie about the true story of Tony Kay, one of three Sheffield Wednesday players, who had bet on their side to lose a match in December 1962. Kay, a Sheffield lad, signed for Everton soon after and was playing for them when the scandal hit. Kay is played by Jason Isaacs who spent his first eleven years in the Liverpool suburb of Childwall. The other key characters with strong Merseyside ties are Ricky Tomlinson (a Liverpool fan playing an Everton supporter!) and Colin Welland (as Everton manager Harry Catterick). It’s worth a mention but hard to call a city film.

 

Jason Isaacs with the real Tony Kay.

Under the Skin (1997), about two sisters coping with the death of their mother (played by locally raised actress Rita Tushingham), was filmed in Liverpool. One of the sister’s boyfriends is played by Matthew Delamere – part of a well-known Wirral acting family. The Wirral-based Castle Singers also feature. Recognisable shots of the city are mostly towards the end as is the comedy club cameo from Crissy Rock. The Moving Image Development Agency gave finance, and the Liverpool Film Office gave support.

 

Dockers (1999) is a tv film about the Liverpool Dockers’ Strike of 1995-8. Two of the four leads, Crissy Rock and Ricky Tomlinson, are from Merseyside as are a lot of the other cast members. The film emerged from a Workers’ Educational Association program for sacked dockers and their partners and was largely written by them under the guidance of Jimmy McGovern and Scotsman Irvine Welsh. The dockers ploughed the money they made from the film into the purchase and restoration of the former Casablanca club into The Casa bar and social enterprise.

 

Former real-life trade unionist Ricky Tomlinson -
one of the stars of the Jimmy McGovern-penned Dockers.

Swing (1999) is about a Liverpudlian who sets up a band on his release from prison and seeks to win back his old girlfriend. Many of the cast have strong connections to Liverpool: Paul Usher (Barry from Brooksie) plays the former prisoner’s brother, whilst Rita Tushingham and Tom Bell play his parents, Tom Georgeson is his uncle and head of an Orange Order Lodge (of which Liverpool has many) to which the character played by Alexei Sayle also belongs. Other talents with strong city connections include Danny McCall, Scot Williams, and Del Henney. The film opens with aerial shots of the Pier Head and Mersey whilst other locations include Church Street and St. George’s Hall.

 

Heart (1999), a dark tale about a heart transplant recipient and the donor’s mother, reunited the writer-director partnership behind Hillsborough (Jimmy McGovern and Charles McDougall). The tv film, which had support from MIDA’s Film Production Fund, was shot around Merseyside and Manchester.

To go to part 3 (2000 to the present) please click here.

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