Get Carter film locations : part 1 analysis

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My analysis of the 1971 British cult crime thriller Get Carter. This is the beginning of a series of films showing the locations where the film was made.

Get Carter is a 1971 British crime film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a gangster who sets out to avenge the death of his brother in a series of unrelenting and brutal killings played out against the grim background of derelict urban housing in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The film was based on Ted Lewis' 1969 novel Jack's Return Home, itself inspired by the real life one-armed bandit murder in the north east of England.
The film was Hodges' first as a director; he also wrote the script. The production went from novel to finished film in eight months, with location shooting in Newcastle and Gateshead lasting 40 days. It was produced by Michael Klinger and released by MGM. Get Carter was also Alun Armstrong's screen debut.
In 1999, Get Carter was ranked 16th on the BFI Top 100 British films of the 20th century; five years later, a survey of British film critics in Total Film magazine chose it as the greatest British film of all time. Get Carter was remade in 2000 under the same title, with Sylvester Stallone starring as Jack Carter, while Caine appears in a supporting role. This remake was not well received by critics.
Initial critical reception was poor, especially in the United Kingdom: "soulless and nastily erotic...virtuoso viciousness", "sado-masochistic fantasy", and "one would rather wash one's mouth out with soap than recommend it". The American film critic Pauline Kael, however, was a fan of the film, admiring its "calculated soullessness". A minor hit at the time, the film has become progressively rehabilitated via subsequent showings on television; with its harsh realism, quotable dialogue and incidental detail, it is now considered among the best British gangster films ever made. In 2004, the magazine Total Film claimed it to be the greatest British movie in any genre.
There are two slightly different versions of this film. In the opening scene of the original version Gerald Fletcher warns Carter that the Newcastle gangs "won't take kindly to someone from The Smoke poking his bugle in". This was later redubbed for American release in a less pronounced Cockney accent (not by Terence Rigby) with "won't take kindly to someone from London poking his nose in", as tape previews in the US had revealed that many Americans did not understand what "The Smoke" and "bugle" meant in this context. "Smoke" is slang for London, in reference to its reputation as a foggy city, while "bugle" is slang for nose. The line "I smell trouble, boy" is also edited out.

Places from the film not shown here but still standing in October 2010:
Dryderdale Hall, near Wolsinghamd - current up for sale at GBP1.6m
Newcastle's West Road Crematorium
Oxford Galleries in Newcastle - I should have filmed this as it is very easy to get to!
Post Office in Hebburn

I state that Cliff Brumby's house in northern Durham is still standing. However it was knocked down to redevelop the site.

Cast:
Michael Caine as Jack Carter
John Osborne as Cyril Kinnear
Ian Hendry as Eric Paice
Bryan Mosley as Cliff Brumby
George Sewell as Con McCarty
Tony Beckley as Peter the Dutchman
Glynn Edwards as Albert Swift
Terence Rigby as Gerald Fletcher
Godfrey Quigley as a work colleague of Frank Carter's
Alun Armstrong as Keith
Bernard Hepton as Thorpe
Petra Markham as Doreen
Geraldine Moffat as Glenda
Dorothy White as Margaret
Rosemarie Dunham as Edna Garfoot
Britt Ekland as Anna
John Bindon as Sid Fletcher
Kevin Brennan as Harry
Ben Aris as Architect
John Hussey as Architect

My channel is one of the most prolific from Poland. With almost one film per day, one may be forgiven for thinking I do nothing else but I do have a day job as well. I have produced around 1,600 original films, most in English but also in Polish, French, Italian, Spanish and the occasional hint of German and Hebrew. My big interest in life is travel and history but I have also placed films on other subjects

Please feel free to ask questions in the public area or to comment on things you disagree with. Sometimes there are mistakes because I speak without preparation. If I see the mistakes myself, I make this clear in the text. Please also leave a star rating!

There are a number of films here on the packaging industry. This is because I am the publisher of Central and Eastern European Packaging -- http://www.ceepackaging.com - the international platform for the packaging industry in this region focusing on the latest innovations, trends, design, branding, legislation and environmental issues with in-depth profiles of major industry achievers.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Get Carter
• Newcastle
• Hebburn
• Gateshead
• Benham
• North Shields
• British gangster
• Long Good Friday
• The Hitman
• Michael Caine
• Sylvester Stallone
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• Gangster 1971
• Mobster UK
• Newcastle mafia
• Mafia UK
• Mafia Britain
• Jack's return home

[1middlesbrough]

actually get carter was shot in 1970, released in1971

[alanheath]

@1middlesbrough Yes, I agree - but I think it is usual to give the release date rather than the shot date!

[octopus680]

thanks for doing this, brilliant!

[broadband01]

2 best british gangster films get carter and long good friday

[dutchgoing]

@alanheath Well it only cost about £5 K but took about 4 years to do. Nobody is going to drop by and offer me money to make a movie, so one has to decide how badly one wants to do it. You have to ask for cut-price deals and the pros think they have to right to cr*p on you if you insist on getting it right. I had to put up with the editor doing coke & having a coke tantrum, the time was 4 am. His boss also had a lengthy coke tantrum when I criticised the quality of the edit. You live & learn.

[alanheath]

@dutchgoing Well done for the production which must have taken a lot of courage to invest in!

[dutchgoing]

@alanheath There was no finance, I was the producer. I was able to hire good kit for next to nothing because the hire company was closed over the whole Xmas hols. The film has been shown quite a lot on local TV in the USA, there's no income from it, but you have to expect that with a first movie. Getting it edited and mixed was a bit pricey and political because you get sh*t on more easily when it's a cheapo production. Mail me and I will send you a link to a better quality version of the film.

[alanheath]

@dutchgoing I have full admiration for what you did but can't see myself lugging the tripod with me everywhere. Bear in mind that I carry the camera with me all the time, sometimes (like now) I have other things to carry. I am now on a train in Sweden and to be quite honest would not have fancied adding to the stuff I am carrying around.

I will have a look at your film. Could the TV channel not have provided transport or finance? I expect all my costs to be covered!

[dutchgoing]

@alanheath I shot a TV documentary all on my own. I lugged three big kit-bags which contained a camera, one light, mics & a tripod on public transport all the way to the north of Holland in the middle of winter. It was like going up a mountain and back but I had no money to hire an assistant. I couldn't even fall asleep or go to the loo from Amsterdam to Brussels because I couldn't leave the gear. You can see the video on my channel. A little 30 quid tripod wouldn't be hard to carry about maybe?

[alanheath]

@dutchgoing I absolutely appreciate all that. Only they have a crew following them around and resources. I am usually alone and do things off the cuff - I have a day job! But thanks for your comment which is noted!!