Appendix 4
REGIONAL FILM CULTURE
If one lesson is to be learned from the success
of the Manchester Commonwealth Games, it is that to change a climate
of opinion and expectation, all the parties involved must be in
at the beginning and be made to feel a part. Many films are shot
in the regions and yet there is often no trace in a local or regional
museum. I have not yet visited the Museum of Moving Image and
so cannot comment on that concern.
The Centenary of Cinema plaques to commemorate
birthplaces etc has not been followed up or consolidated. Few
museums acknowledge film activity in their area or people in the
industry from their area, an oversight the Film Council must address.
When I visited Hollywood in 2000, I was a VIP
guest at the Warner Brothers Studios Museum in Burbank. I stood
less than a foot away from the Maltese Falcon!, a memorable moment
for me. The curator, Leith Adams, told me the museum now has first
call on any items from new films made by Warner Brothers. The
Film Council should have such powers with films into which they
input, and if a film has been made on location, there should be
a marketing policy to ensure an exhibit is passed on to that local
authority's museum etc.
As a Son of the Desert, I am aware that the
Bradford and Bingley Building Society has acquired one of Stan
Laurel's bowler hats and this is currently touring branches in
the north of England. The Film Council needs to take an active
review as to how film history and film heritage in the UK can
help support the modem UK industry. My late friend Bill Cubin
established the Laurel and Hardy Museum in Stan's home town of
Ulverston and visitors come from all over the world.
Just down the railway line they are restoring
Carnforth Railway Station, so memorably featured in Brief Encounter.
It is these exceptions that demonstrate the
potential, and the weakness of current approaches.
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