Forgotten Bristol film classic returns to the big screen

It’s being billed, perhaps rather imaginatively, as “an early example of British ‘New Wave’ cinema”, but the late Clive Donner’s 1962 drama Some People deserves to be seen by everyone who lives in Bristol – whether you’ve resided round these parts all your life or just moved here. Few films before or since have made such great use of the city’s locations. Presenting a fascinating snapshot of early ’60s Bristol, Some People finally gets a well-deserved celebration at the Watershed on March 24, with a screening, panel discussion and guest appearance.

Originally promoted as “a zippy, uninhibited portrayal of today’s teenagers,” Some People was Bristol’s very own sixties juvenile delinquent flick, which also served as a propaganda piece for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. A trio of tearaways (including the very young David Hemmings) race along the Portway on their motorbikes, whereupon they get nicked, putting a stop to their ton-up fun. After getting caught breaking into All Saints Church on Pembroke Road to play rock’n’roll on the organ, they’re taken under the wing of nice cardigan-wearing Kenneth More, who lives in a grand house in Clifton and encourages them to form a band. We see them romping about on Christmas Steps, working at the docks, milling around the grotty old bus station, hanging out in Old Market and, um, clothes shopping in Marks and Spencers in Broadmead.

Remember the grotty old bus station?

They also groove in the Glen dancehall (later Tiffany’s and now the Spire private hospital on the Downs), chill in the groovy basement El Toro coffee bar (this was on Queens Road, opposite Dingles – now Wilkinson’s) and whizz around in a roller skating rink (actually South Bristol Baths, which was boarded over). Ken does something terribly important and hush-hush at Filton Airfield, while girl singer Terry (Angela Douglas, who wound up in plenty of Carry On movies) works at the Bristol Cigarette Factory. Watch out for Harry H. Corbett doing the worst-ever Bristolian accent.

The film was a surprise hit, as was Ron Grainer’s soundtrack, which helped to launch the career of Bristol band The Eagles (not those Eagles), who performed several “rock and beat numbers”, including the title track, Johnny’s Tune and Bristol Express. Weston-super-Mare’s very own Valerie Mountain also dubbed Angela Douglas’s singing voice.

Groovy young Anneke Wills shrinks her jeans in the bath somewhere in Clifton

The Watershed’s screening is followed by a Q&A with Anneke Wills, who plays Ken’s daughter Anne in the film and went on to find fame as Polly in both the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton eras of Doctor Who. Her official biography in the film’s original press notes tells us that she “is a brilliant artist, lives in Bayswater, London, and among her many hobbies are horse riding, jazz and the ‘twist’. She hates artificial people and her independent outlook leads many people to label her as a ‘beatnik’.”

The original sheet music

After that, there’s a panel discussion about “music, fashion and locations featured in the film, and 1960s British cinema and culture”. But although the day is billed as a celebration of “the ‘swinging’ city on screen”, it’s worth pointing out that Bristol was very much not swinging in 1962. The Beatles didn’t pitch up here until the following March and yoof culture as depicted in Some People is mired in a grey ’50s hangover, as though waiting for something exciting to happen.

Go here to book tickets for When the New Wave Came to Bristol: Remembering Some People.

Read more: The Definitive List of Movies Made in Bristol