GB
2002
1hr 57mins
Dir: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Steve Coogan and Shirley Henderson
In 1976, Tony Wilson sets up Factory Records and brings Manchester’s music to the world
This biographic comedy drama is quite surreal at times and is a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, urban legends and the imaginings of the scriptwriter. Amongst all this there is one surprising shot of a train. Part of the film features a montage of events used to portray Manchester’s industrial rise and the coming of the railways is depicted with a very brief glimpse of Lion, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway 0-4-2. The shot is part of the original black and white footage taken from the Liverpool & Manchester Railway Centenary celebrations of 1930, held in Wavertree Park, Liverpool, and filmed by W J Bassett-Lowke, the famous toy manufacturer. Lion had played a much more telling role in three other feature films; The Lady with a Lamp (1951), The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) and Victoria the Great (1937) all (qv). Although some publicity material spelled the name of the film as Twenty Four Hour Party People it was officially 24 Hour Party People.
