Now as everyone knows, south Manchester and especially Chorlton have become favourite locations for films and TV shows.
At which point everyone will line up with their own choice.
For me they include Looking For Eric, Blue Murder, the one where the crew blew out the shop window of the old barbers on Beech Road and of course Bulman.
And then there will be all the ones where you saw the film crews out and about on Beech Road, and the “Ville” and Whalley Range and Southern Cemetery but never got to know what they were shooting.
I missed the filming of Looking For Eric, but my friend Jean the Post reckoned quite a few people I knew were in the crowd scenes and got paid. Alas when Eric and his daughter were in the Rec on the bench facing Beech Road, the camera never panned sufficiently to the left get our house. Such are the near chances of almost earning 15 minutes of fame.
It was sadly repeated again last year, when a company making documentaries came into Chorlton looking for a story.
They had successfully produced a number of films about local communities and the stories that arose from them.
We were in the frame along with Toxeth and after a preliminary visit from two researchers a few months later there was a repeat visit which this time includedthe procucers.
Alas nothing came of it
So instead I will console myself with Bella’s Birthday which was made in 1949 when Mancunian Films came down from their studio on Dickenson Road.
The film was a short film made up of out-takes from School for Randle and they came down and staged a short clip of Frank Randle accompanied by Dan Young, Alec Pleon and Maudie Edwards who played Bella walking into the pub.*
And the exterior showed the Horse and Jockey when it had not expanded into the room to the left of the entrance.
Sadly the interior shots were of somewhere entirely different.
Such is show business.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; from the collections of Tony Walker, Chris Lee and the North West Film Archive
* Mancunian Films, http://www.itsahotun.com/Mancunian_Shorts.html
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| Mr Bulmar's shop, Beech Road. circa 1984 |
For me they include Looking For Eric, Blue Murder, the one where the crew blew out the shop window of the old barbers on Beech Road and of course Bulman.
And then there will be all the ones where you saw the film crews out and about on Beech Road, and the “Ville” and Whalley Range and Southern Cemetery but never got to know what they were shooting.
I missed the filming of Looking For Eric, but my friend Jean the Post reckoned quite a few people I knew were in the crowd scenes and got paid. Alas when Eric and his daughter were in the Rec on the bench facing Beech Road, the camera never panned sufficiently to the left get our house. Such are the near chances of almost earning 15 minutes of fame.
 |
| Bella's Birthday, 1949 |
They had successfully produced a number of films about local communities and the stories that arose from them.
We were in the frame along with Toxeth and after a preliminary visit from two researchers a few months later there was a repeat visit which this time includedthe procucers.
Alas nothing came of it
So instead I will console myself with Bella’s Birthday which was made in 1949 when Mancunian Films came down from their studio on Dickenson Road.
 |
| Outside the Horse & Jockey, 68 tears ago |
And the exterior showed the Horse and Jockey when it had not expanded into the room to the left of the entrance.
Sadly the interior shots were of somewhere entirely different.
Such is show business.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; from the collections of Tony Walker, Chris Lee and the North West Film Archive
* Mancunian Films, http://www.itsahotun.com/Mancunian_Shorts.html
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