Llandudno

[cymro glan]

Back in the early 1970s when I briefly lived in the town, I seem to remember a movie premiere being held (possibly in the Astoria?) in Llandudno. The reason for this was that the film had been shot on location in and around the town. Anyone help with identification?

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by cymro glan Back in the early 1970s when I briefly lived in the town, I seem to remember a movie premiere being held (possibly in the Astoria?) in Llandudno. The reason for this was that the film had been shot on location in and around the town. Anyone help with identification?

The IMDb lists 4 feature films (and 2 TV shows) that were filmed there:
Wandering Through Wales (1948)
The Card (1952)
Yanks (1979)
Separate Lies (2005)

But none of those sounds likely for early 1970s.

Although they don't claim to have an exhaustive list, that's all they've been told about so far. And of course all of those titles could have been have been partially filmed in other places as well

Do you remember anything about the film?

Steve

[Ealingfilmfan]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook The IMDb lists 4 feature films (and 2 TV shows) that were filmed there: Wandering Through Wales (1948) The Card (1952) Yanks (1979) Separate Lies (2005) But none of those sounds likely for early 1970s. Although they don't claim to have an exhaustive list, that's all they've been told about so far. And of course all of those titles could have been have been partially filmed in other places as well Do you remember anything about the film? Steve

"Yanks" was also shot on location in Dobcross (Saddleworth) and Stalybridge, Cheshire. My friends house in "The square" in Dobcross featured in the film, as did the small shop around the corner.....

[cymro glan]

Memories can be unreliable, but I'd swear it was about 1974. I didn't know about imdb, so thanks for your help and for info about that site. I had tried various search engines before posting here, but no luck. Maybe I've made it up?

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by cymro glan Memories can be unreliable, but I'd swear it was about 1974. I didn't know about imdb, so thanks for your help and for info about that site. I had tried various search engines before posting here, but no luck. Maybe I've made it up?

Oh you should learn about the IMDb, so should everyone interested in film, or TV

It was started by some students at Cardiff University (Cymru am byth). As the internet and the World Wide Web developed, so did the IMDb. I found them in about 1994 after they'd been going for some time. I immediately liked that it was a true database and so automatically did full cross referencing (unlike something like the Wikipedia where you have to build every link).

In a true database like the IMDb you can look up a title (film or TV show) and see all the people involved in it, or you can look up a person and see all the titles they've been involved in. You can also see the titles that two (or more) people have been involved in, either that they both/all worked on or that any one of them worked on. You can also look up two titles and see the people that worked on both of them. And lots of similar cross referencing searches.

As well as basic cast and crew information it also stores things like reviews, locations, trivia, goofs, release dates, technical information, and much much more.

I also liked their ethos. They started with a certain amount of information but knew that it wasn't complete. So they threw it open to the world and invited everyone to add (or correct) whatever information that they knew about. But unlike the Wikipedia and similar "web 2.0" systems, the information sent in to the IMDb is moderated and approved before it's added. So in the main database, people can't just add any old rubbish.

This means that it's a lot more reliable than most other sources and has been adopted as an industry standard - although they are the first to point out that it's not perfect and should only be taken as one of many reference sources.

Steve

[julian_craster]

Perhaps it was a tv series/film?

HINDLE WAKES (1952) was filmed in Llandudno (the Welsh equivalent of Brighton apparently- just the place for a 'naughty weekend'.....)

[Nick Dando]

And wasn't the silent 1927 Hindle Wakes also filmed there?

Nick

[stevie boy]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Oh you should learn about the IMDb, so should everyone interested in film, or TV It was started by some students at Cardiff University (Cymru am byth). As the internet and the World Wide Web developed, so did the IMDb. I found them in about 1994 after they'd been going for some time. I immediately liked that it was a true database and so automatically did full cross referencing (unlike something like the Wikipedia where you have to build every link). In a true database like the IMDb you can look up a title (film or TV show) and see all the people involved in it, or you can look up a person and see all the titles they've been involved in. You can also see the titles that two (or more) people have been involved in, either that they both/all worked on or that any one of them worked on. You can also look up two titles and see the people that worked on both of them. And lots of similar cross referencing searches. As well as basic cast and crew information it also stores things like reviews, locations, trivia, goofs, release dates, technical information, and much much more. I also liked their ethos. They started with a certain amount of information but knew that it wasn't complete. So they threw it open to the world and invited everyone to add (or correct) whatever information that they knew about. But unlike the Wikipedia and similar "web 2.0" systems, the information sent in to the IMDb is moderated and approved before it's added. So in the main database, people can't just add any old rubbish. This means that it's a lot more reliable than most other sources and has been adopted as an industry standard - although they are the first to point out that it's not perfect and should only be taken as one of many reference sources. Steve

It is indeed a great source of info and I cannot imagine life without it now.

[CaptainWaggett]

It's hard to imagine the days when one had to have two volumes of Halliwell at the ready when watching a film on tv. Though it was good training for the memory.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by CaptainWaggett It's hard to imagine the days when one had to have two volumes of Halliwell at the ready when watching a film on tv. Though it was good training for the memory.

And to be able to remember where Halliwell (or whichever reference book you used) was reliable, and where it wasn't

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

I'm of the generation that owes much of my film knowledge to Halliwell so I can never think badly of him. He did excellent work programming for C4 in the early days and the films he gives 4 stars to (or was it 5?) are always worth a look. I just wish he'd owned up that he didn't actually watch every film in the Guide.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by CaptainWaggett I'm of the generation that owes much of my film knowledge to Halliwell so I can never think badly of him. He did excellent work programming for C4 in the early days and the films he gives 4 stars to (or was it 5?) are always worth a look. I just wish he'd owned up that he didn't actually watch every film in the Guide.

Oh it was a noble effort. But some of them were quite wildly inaccurate. Wasn't his guide the one that described Powell's early films in terms that were found to be hopelessly wrong when they reappeared?

And as I've often said, the IMDb doesn't claim to be 100% accurate. The people that run it don't claim that it's 100% accurate. But at least it is possible to get things corrected on there.

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

Not sure about the Powell films (I wish I still had my old copies of the books) but he was a huge champion of Powell's work when it wasn't very fashionable. And presumably problems got ironed out in later editions.

Do you remember the tedium of being interested in an actor/director and having to sit with book books cross checking entries for days on end... Stupid books.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by CaptainWaggett Not sure about the Powell films (I wish I still had my old copies of the books) but he was a huge champion of Powell's work when it wasn't very fashionable. And presumably problems got ironed out in later editions. Do you remember the tedium of being interested in an actor/director and having to sit with book books cross checking entries for days on end... Stupid books.

Yes, and the hours spent in the reference library searching through copies of Who's Who and Who Was Who and many other such volumes trying to find as much as I could about these people called Powell & Pressburger.

But I also remember that it was my local library who by doing an inter-library loan, managed to find me a copy of the little red AMOLAD book when I'd given them minimal information - and some of that was wrong. But they still found me a copy, from some University library up north I seem to remember. Ah, the joy I felt when I first had that lovely volume in my hand. It's no wonder I love British public libraries so much - despite all the problems they have

Steve

[PaulPlowman]

I remember the IMDb when it was the Cardiff Movie Database! The problem for me is that they don't seem to have much error checking. Don't get me wrong, the IMDb is fncking brilliant, but if I had to fault it, this would be my main fault. My main interest is movie locations, and there have been loads of instances where the IMDb is just plain wrong. This was partly the reason why I set up my own locations site.

Also, there are loads of pages like this...
Octopussy (1983) - Filming locations
...Where the same locations are listed many times.

...otherwise, brilliant site, and British too! Wehay!