Spring & Port Wine 1969

[BillThorpe21]

Agreed

[BillThorpe21]

Hi Gene..
I notice that there is not a Facebook page for Spring and Port Wine..have you ever thought of doing one?
If not ..would it be ok for me to do a Facebook page for fans ?
I am a member of the "UP the Junction" group and it seems to do well..and some people mention Spring and Port wine quite a lot...
By the way..I am still up for a location visit once all the restrictions have been lifted...maybe next Summer sometime..
I love reading these pages...thank you so much for the work that you have put into it..
Greetings from Scotland
Bill Thorpe

[Gene Hunt]

Oct 12, 2020 20:40:41 GMT BillThorpe21 said:

Hi Gene..
I notice that there is not a Facebook page for Spring and Port Wine..have you ever thought of doing one?
If not ..would it be ok for me to do a Facebook page for fans ?

Bill Thorpe

Hi Bill.
I've sent you a PM 

Gene.

[Where's The Money]

Confession time.
Watched this film for the first time on Sunday. Cannot believe I have not come across it before.
Loved it. Great little story. Particularly liked the young lads in it. What wonderful lines they were given, very funny.
Good to see James Mason in a gritty English film also.
It took me the length of the film to discover it was set/filmed in Bolton. Love these types of film set in the north of our country.

[Gene Hunt]

A few more gems that I've dug out of the vaults this morning. I did so after having a long chat on the phone last night with Bernard Smidowicz.

Bernie mentioned the day he spent with Reece Pemberton, who was Production Designer for Spring & Port Wine.

This is Bernie's recollection of that day...

"I was looking through some old pics taken when trying to find a suitable location for the moors scene for when James Mason goes for a stroll. Reece Pemberton and I went up to Rivington Pike to try to find a good spot. In the end it was too much for them to get the cameras up there so on our way down we found Scout Rd a few miles away which was eventually used for that scene. For the long distance shots, a stand in was used for James Mason. The close up of James was in reality filmed on some steps that were built by the crew and placed in a park in London" ... An experience never to be forgotten...."

These are the photos in question.

Bernie and Reece driving up to Rivington Pike in Bernie's car.



Reece Pemberton, mid fall.



Bernie, with his Brownie 127.



Gene.

[Sam Tyler]

Great piece of info Gene, yet another snippet of info that adds to the background story. 

Thanks for posting it up here for all members' benefits. 

Sam,

[The Saint]

Interesting stuff Gene, thanks for sharing

The Saint 

[Stan]

Another tremendous add.

So fortunate to have the dual benefits of Gene's expertise of and Bernie's unique insight to a film that is a perfect time capsule to that era.
Dialogue, fashions, cars, locations all superbly captured by an excellent script and top notch acting.

A recommended film for any forum members that may have not seen.

[Dirty Epic]

Great stuff Gene

Gives a nice bit of background to this too. Thanks again for sharing this.

[Steve Austin]

Yes, thanks for posting this on the forum.  I find these behind the scenes details very informative and as you know, location selection is something that is especially interesting to me.