The Blakeley family story, across four generations, spans the history of cinema. James Blakeley became a pioneering film distributor in 1908, the same year as the first Cinematograph Act (which gave local councils the power to license cinemas because of fire risk, though it soon turned into full-blown censorship). His son John E (always pronounced "Johnnie", though better known as 'Pop' in later years) joined his father in the business and quickly saw what audiences liked, particularly the northern mill-town audiences who loved the slapstick of Chaplin and the like.
By the Thirties he had his own production company and was putting top music-hall names into his films. George Formby made his film debut in Blakeley's "Boots! Boots" and went on to become Britain's top box-office draw (the film was made in two weeks and cost just a few thousand pounds). Other northern greats like Norman Evans, Sandy Powell and Frank Randle followed. Often there was no script, Blakeley just having an overall idea and telling the stars to "be funny". The formula worked, specially with working-class audiences in North-West England, industrial Wales, and even the south of England - they could draw bigger audiences than Hollywood's blockbusters. London-based critics hated them of course, but what did they know of northern culture, or working-class culture? Then as now.
The first productions were conceived in Manchester and filmed in rented studios in London, but Blakeley always dreamed of opening a national quality studio in the north. He took pride in putting his home town on the map, while simultaneously cocking a snook at stuck-up London studio bosses, who poured scorn on both his plans and his northern stars ('uncouth', 'gormless' and 'common'). In 1947, he sunk GBP70,000 into his dream - multi-millions in today's prices - and a year later the production line started.
"Cup-tie Honeymoon" was the first Manchester film, starring Sandy Powell in a tale of football and romance. Made for GBP45,000 it turned in a healthy profit as did all Mancunian's productions, helped by Randle's earthy and lecherous humour. Hammer Horror also used Mancunian Studios. But just six years on, at 65 years old and facing the onslaught of television, 'Pop' Blakeley decided to close the studios and retire. Mancunian Films lived on for many years, with his son Tom at the helm, producing a stream of crime stories for the lucrative 'B'movie market.
In 1980 fire at the Kay Laboratories destroyed the entire Mancunian Film Studios archive. But by chance some years later 'Pop' Blakeley's grandson Mike, by then a Granada cameraman, unearthed copies of most of them while clearing out a vault in a building prior to renovation. Mike now runs his own film company and is using the internet to scour the world for copies of the remaining missing films.
Today film production is thriving in the Manchester area, and Granada is a major player in independent television but how many of today's film-makers realise the debt they owe to Pop Blakeley and Mancunian Films?
The programme is built around Dr Lee's tour of "Hollywood in Manchester", of film studios, locations, star dwellings and burial places. Some of these will be contemporary but the core of the programme will be the Mancunian Film story. So we'll stop at some of the most significant points to interview other experts and veterans of Mancunian Films or their descendants. As well as the obvious places like Dickinson Road, where Mancunian Studios once stood, there is The Welcome Pub with its cinematic memorabilia. Once the BBC staff bar (!) the pub is opposite the site of "Leslie's Little Theatre" which was closely linked to Mancunian Films and gave Pat Phoenix and many other north west stars their first break. We'll also pop in on Betty Driver who as a child star had a small part in George Formby's "Boots! Boots!" - but Mrs Formby had it removed because it overshadowed the adult stars.
Other stops along the way may include The Refuge Building, site of the explosive climax of 'Hell Is A City', several venues featured in '24 Hour Party People' and the Xaverian College, which was used extensively by Mancunian Films as an outdoor location.
