Getting Carter: Ted Lewis and the Birth of Brit Noir

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Tyneside, thanks to the arty-type filming comes out of the film well. The warts are made use of, but then all industrial cities have warts." Soul Jazz collect TV Sound and Image on new compilation: Jonny Trunk assists". Fact.com. The Vinyl Factory. 18 June 2012. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012 . Retrieved 15 July 2012. In 1969, producer Michael Klinger devised plans for a gangster film to capitalise on public interest in the British criminal underworld after the Kray Twins' convictions. Klinger was invited to view a first print of Peter Walker's Man of Violence (1969) and was unimpressed, telling the director "I'm going to make a gangster film, but it's going to cost a lot more than this and it's going to be better". [27] Director Mike Hodges was grabbed by the tough urban environment. “The visual drama took my breath away,” he said. “Seeing the great bridges crossing the Tyne, the waterfront, the terraced houses stepped up each side of the deep valley… We’d got there in time. But only just."

Triplow, describes how Lewis’ life was a cycle of obscurity with a brief touch of glamour until his early death at the age of 42. Even though he did write nine books his life seemed to fall apart, along with his marriage. When the glamour came to end he headed home to Humberside where he headed for his early death.Meanwhile, the film's producer Michael Klinger pointed out: "It's not just the marvellous locations. It's the faces as well. There are no tired old agency extras in this film. All the crowd are characters."

a b Mayer, Geoff; McDonnell, Brian (2007). Encyclopedia of Film Noir. England: Greenwood Press. p.195. ISBN 978-0-313-33306-4 . Retrieved 20 February 2012. Bryan Mosley as Cliff Brumby. MGM executives initially wanted Telly Savalas for the part of the "big man", but were impressed by Coronation Street actor Mosley's performance in fight scenes in Far from The Madding Crowd. [16] A devout Roman Catholic, Mosley was concerned about taking part in such a violent film with depictions of criminal behaviour, and consulted his priest over the moral implications. [17] NT: He was certainly a pioneer and his work broke new ground and I think he’s certainly overlooked, a real forgotten talent. His ability to create that fusion between American traditions and British social realist narratives was unique, and his use of real people and real places is second to none. Terence Rigby as Gerald Fletcher, one of the London crime boss brothers. Rigby was another actor Hodges cast from his familiarity in television police drama. [24]He’d played crooks before, most notably Charlie Croker in The Italian Job and his bumbling cat burglar in Gambit, but they had been mostly lovable, and effectively harmless, cheeky chappies. In his previously released film, The Last Valley, he’d played a morally complex villain/anti-hero prone to violence but there was something restrained and unknowable about his character which left you unsure exactly to what extent he was truly the bad guy. Murphy, Robert; Chibnall, Steve (1999). British Crime Cinema (2nded.). England: Routledge. p.132. ISBN 0-415-16870-8 . Retrieved 6 March 2012. Overall Thoughts: This is truly excellent, an undeniable classic and one of Caine’s finest performances. It’s a uniquely British gangster movie, that was rightly voted the greatest British film of all time in 2004 by Total Film Magazine, and its influence is still felt to this day in the work of filmmakers such as Guy Ritchie, Matthew Vaughn and even Quentin Tarantino. A must watch for fans of Caine and for fans of cinema. The Ship Hotel - Tyne Main (1967, 33 mins): Philip Trevelyan’s evocative documentary film about a pub on the banks of the River Tyne

The Chronicle reported: "The film has been showing in America for some weeks and is doing good business. BFI’s notes on their restoration state it is primarily sourced from the 35mm original negative, but portions had been replaced with sections of the duplicating negative, more than likely due to damage. For these portions BFI were able to source the yellow, cyan and magenta protection Promaster elements, made from the original negative. BFI also notes that the film’s “final look”—which I assume includes colour grading—was based on previous restorations/releases from 1971, 1999 and 2014.a b c Williams, Tony (2006). "Great Directors: Mike Hodges". Senses of Cinema (40). Archived from the original on 11 March 2012 . Retrieved 11 March 2012. What drove Lewis's demons is still a mystery, and Triplow largely avoids the temptation to play armchair psychologist. Lewis did share with many men of his generation a hard-drinking lifestyle that eventually gave way to alcoholism, and there are hints of childhood abuse at the hands of a malevolent headmaster and a conflicted sexuality. But none of this accounts for the gaping moral abyss that Ted Lewis stared into time and time again in his novels. He was, in the end, a genius eaten alive by some unnamed dark force. Gidney, Chris (2000). Street Life: The Bryan Mosley Story. HarperCollins. p.129. ISBN 978-0-00-274082-1. After reading the script the priest returned with his conclusion; "I was pretty astounded when he said it was a pretty good morality play! The tone of the piece, although violent, did not condone such actions, indeed even condemned them. I was relieved and at peace with the decision to go ahead" Michael Luvaglio / Dennis Stafford 12 years in prison, released on licence in 1979" (PDF). Innocent.org. Innocent. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015 . Retrieved 26 February 2012.

It must be said that if Ted Lewis were American he would be one of the most revered writers of all time. But because he is British he is forgotten, not even registering on most people’s conscience. It is easy to argue that the British readership is rather conservative in their crime reading tastes, but he is also ignored by the literary set amongst others. The third time Caine has played a villain of sorts (even though he’s the protagonist in this), the others being Hurry Sundown and The Last Valley. a b c d Jakubowski, Maxim (November 2010). "A Conversation with Writer/Director Mike Hodges". Mulholland Books. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012 . Retrieved 9 March 2012.What comes through is a brilliantly researched, nuanced and well written biography of a man, whose star may not have burnt brightly for too long, and is now long forgotten. Ted Lewis was a deeply complex person, who loved to see his books in print and on the shelves, but because of the lazy British reader and their love of formulaic thrillers, his work has slid into obscurity. Glynn Edwards as Albert Swift. Like Sewell, Edwards was an apprentice of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop who had come to acting in his thirties. He had previously appeared alongside Caine in Zulu and The Ipcress File. After the film Edwards found work as a character actor and appeared regularly in the TV show Minder. [19] Spicer, Andrew. "The Creative Producer – The Michael Klinger Papers". Andrew Spicer, University of the West of England: The Creative Producer – The Michael Klinger Papers; • Paper Given at the University of Stirling Conference, Archives and Auteurs – Filmmakers and their Archives, 2–4 September 2009. uwe. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012 . Retrieved 20 February 2012. This film features interesting cinematography, with strange forward jump cuts (ripped off from The Limey), odd angles and the use of colour filters. In short, the producers trying to make more out of the material than is in the script. The choice of a wet Seattle is also curious and different. Presumably the nearest to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (the setting of the original) that the producers could think of. Pomerance, Murray (2009). Rolando, Caputo (ed.). "Notes on Some Limits of Technicolor: The Antonioni Case". Senses of Cinema. Australia: Senses of Cinema Inc (53). Archived from the original on 25 March 2012 . Retrieved 16 March 2012.