Story of aTyneside classic film
GET Carter star Michael Caine and its director Mike Hodges are revisiting the making of one of the most iconic gangster films of all time for a documentary currently being made in Newcastle.
The movers and shakers involved in the 1971 movie will be back in the spotlight in the new film – Dirty, Sexy and Totally Iconic – which is promising to tell the “definitive” story behind the original classic.
And its makers will be revealing more about the project when they attend a special screening of Get Carter at Tyneside Cinema.
On May 7, there is to be a one-off preview of a 4K restoration of Get Carter, the thriller – which Quentin Tarantino apparently described as “the greatest British gangster film ever” – that sees Caine play the steely-eyed Jack Carter who travels to Newcastle from London to take revenge for his brother’s murder.
The British Film Institute’s restoration of the film, now more than 50 years old, was made possible thanks to a partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment UK Ltd.
The preview evening at Tyneside Cinema – which still has tickets available – will include a question and answer session with Douglas Weir, who led the BFI’s restoration, and Tony Klinger, son of Get Carter producer Michael Klinger, who – a film producer himself – is also involved with Dirty, Sexy and Totally Iconic.
Film fans will be able to hear – for the first time – about the new documentary and its directors Wayne Roberts and Rob Fairhurst will be there too.
Tony, who has worked on the likes of The Kids Are Alright and Shout at The Devil, said: “It’s more than 50 years since Get Carter was premiered onto the big screen at a Newcastle cinema and our new film will go back to the start of the story and talk to those involved in the making of the film as well as to the super fans that know every statistic and every line of dialogue in the film.
“It will be a tribute to the movie but also to the sterling work my father did on this classic and iconic piece of cinematic history.”
Michael Caine, now 89, and Mike Hodges – who was a firsttime director when he made Get Carter – feature in the documentary, as does Tony, who tells of how he tracked down the only surviving 35mm print left of the film. It also includes Ray Laidlaw, who is involved with the local Tyne Idols tours of music, TV and film locations, which include Get Carter sites. And there are interviews too with fans as well as with the new generation of filmmakers who have been influenced by the film, which still has a contemporary feel about it even a half-century on.
The Dirty, Sexy and Totally Iconic team have been filming recently in the region, visiting the Get Carter locations and interviewing people associated with it.
Lindisfarne musician and producer Laidlaw has been speaking about the value of having an iconic film shot on Tyneside and how it influenced the arts scene.
He said: “It’s been a pleasure showing Tony and the team around some of the places where the film was shot. The High Level Bridge takes a starring role and is one of the few places still recognisable from the 1970s.
“The other is in a street in Gateshead where the Las Vegas Guest House was situated.”
He added: “Many other places are now long gone such as the famous car park and the rows of Tyneside flats leading down to the Tyne but if you know where to look, the clues are still there.” Also involved in the filming was Karen Goldfinch, who chairs the North Tyneside Business Forum.
She said: “It’s great that this movie has stood the test of time and it’s had a huge impact on inspiring arts, culture and creative businesses.
“It brought Newcastle to the rest of the world’s attention and to this day influences film and media students living up here now.
“We are particularly proud that North Tyneside featured in the movie with the iconic scene at Wallsend where the car is driven off the ferry landing site.
“Tourism is important for North Tyneside and visitors now will see a very different image of the borough than they saw more than five decades ago,” she said.
It is hoped that Dirty, Sexy and Totally Iconic will be aired in the autumn. For tickets for the Get Carter night, which will start on May 7 at 7.30pm and is also expected to be filmed as part of the upcoming documentary, see the Tyneside Cinema website.