Boy & Bicycle - Ridley Scott's first film 1965

This is a clip of Ridley Scott's first film, made initially on a budget of £65 using a Bolex 16mm cine-camera, and completed in 1965 with the help of a grant provided by the BFI's Experimental Film Fund.
UK 1965 Dir Ridley Scott
Produced by Ridley Scott
Production company: the BFI Experimental Film Fund
Starring Tony Scott
c. 27 mins. Black and white

The film follows a boy as he plays truant from school and visits various locations around the seaside town on his bicycle. We hear his thoughts in a stream of consciousness voice-over partly inspired by James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses.

"Courtesy of the British Film Institute (BFI) under the terms of the Creative Archive Licence at http://www.bfi.org.uk/creative".

keywords: south shields hartlepool tyne wear west college of art teesside teeside county durham

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• truancy
• bicycle
• cycling
• school
• freedom
• beach
• seaside
• pier
• seagulls
• gladiator
• thelma
• louse
• alien
• dr
• who
• daleks
• david
• tennant
• russell
• crowe
• american
• gangster
• blackhawk
• down
• matchstick
• men
• hannibal
• blade
• runner
• androids
• dream
• of
• electric
• sheep
• do
• avalon
• roxy
• music

[youngillustrator]

brilliant, but... is this the whole film!? it feels like it's lacking in core... i dunno, story? meaning? purpose?

[TimeTravellersGirl]

Have a read of the description if you want to know more. If only we could all do so well on our first wee attempt :)

[Qcumber]

What it shot in South-Shields, Co. Durham?

[TimeTravellersGirl]

Not sure. Scott was born there though.

[snowflakeshona]

@TimeTravellersGirl It was shot in Hartlepool I believe. I recognise some of the streets in the clip too!

[TimeTravellersGirl]

@snowflakeshona Thanks. I think I heard mention of it on the radio the other day. Didn't catch if there was going to be a programme airing about it, but it sounded a possibility. Couldn't quite hear what they were saying.

[pcvideogamer]

good ole ridders

[95Godfather]

@youngillustrator

it was his first film, give him a break

[incongra]

WTF....? No helmet, no cycling gloves, no "Lance" sunglasses, no hi-viz clothing....... how does he do all this -and survive ?

[Mokkari77]

Tony Scott still sounds the same today.

[whimirsper]

See my comment re West Hartlepool. Ridley Scott was well aware of scenic West Hartlepool as he was once a student at West Hartlepool College of Art!

[pixies48]

Filmed in Hartlepool well before smokeless zones came in in the early 70s - look at all that beautiful smog. The whole film, which is well worth watching, is an extra on region 1 and 2 DVDs of Ridley Scott's The Duellists.

Nostalgic in the extreme for a lifelong Hartlepudlian

[whimirsper]

The majority of the scenes are of, and around the town of West Hartlepool and includes Church Street, West Harbour and piers, South Durham Steel and Iron Company ... it`s nice to think that, in some small way, there`s a link between West Hartlepool and Hollywood.

[zZGhostieZz]

@Qcumber I think it was Hartlepool But I'm not certain