Charlie Bubbles
Encyclopedia
Charlie Bubbles is a British film of 1967 starring Billie Whitelaw
and Albert Finney
, and also featuring a young Liza Minnelli
. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival
, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France.
The film made great play of its Manchester setting, contrasting the return of its eponymous lead character, played by Finney, to his home city after achieving success as a writer in London. During his return he visits his former wife, played by Whitelaw, in Derbyshire and watches a Manchester United match at Old Trafford, featuring footage of Bobby Charlton
and Denis Law
with his son. They are cut off from the outside world in a glass-fronted box as they watch the match. Finney's character is bored with his success and his privileged position, which allows him to indulge himself in most ways he wishes. One of these is a relationship with his secretary Eliza, played by Minnelli (in one notable scene it is apparent, though not shown, that she gets a good look at him).
Bubbles glides around in a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III convertible - CB 1E, contrasted with the working class life and the poverty of post war Salford. Reference to the colliery and the gas works further put forward the message that Bubbles has come a long way but that he still isn't that happy. Liza Minnelli capturing the hatchet faced old man at a bus stop and the child on a bike whilst driving open top along the cobbled and crumbling streets is particularly poignant. Joe Gladwin
plays a waiter serving breakfast in the Manchester hotel room. "I used to know your father sir. We're all very proud of you. Are you still working sir or do you just do the writing now?" Bubbles retorts "No. Just the writing" and hands him a bank note. This scene and others highlight the North-South divide - political and economic - that exists in Britain.
The character Charlie Bubbles was almost type-casting for the successful and charismatic Finney in terms of background; he had risen to film-stardom from a background as a bookie's son in the neighbouring, mainly working class City of Salford
.
Finney starred in and directed the movie for the only time. For her performance, Whitelaw won the 1968 British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for Best Supporting Actress
The film is a slightly surreal off-shoot of the kitchen sink drama in which Finney had achieved stardom in Karel Reisz
's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
of 1960. The film's writer Shelagh Delaney
, had also achieved fame as the writer of another film in this genre - Tony Richardson
's 1961 A Taste of Honey
. Delaney also wrote Lindsay Anderson
's 1967 film The White Bus
like Charlie Bubbles, set in part in Manchester and Salford, which has a distinctly surreal feel to it at times.
Charlie Bubbles is referred to in The Kinks
song "Where are they now?", on the album Preservation Act 1.
The film was released on DVD in September 2008.
Billie Whitelaw
Billie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
and Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
, and also featuring a young Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival
1968 Cannes Film Festival
The 21st Cannes Film Festival was held on May 10 - 24, 1968, before being cancelled due to the turmoil of May 1968 in France.Peter Lennon's documentary Rocky Road To Dublin was to be the final film screened at the festival...
, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France.
The film made great play of its Manchester setting, contrasting the return of its eponymous lead character, played by Finney, to his home city after achieving success as a writer in London. During his return he visits his former wife, played by Whitelaw, in Derbyshire and watches a Manchester United match at Old Trafford, featuring footage of Bobby Charlton
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
and Denis Law
Denis Law
Denis Law is a retired Scottish football player, who enjoyed a long and successful career as a striker from the 1950s to the 1970s....
with his son. They are cut off from the outside world in a glass-fronted box as they watch the match. Finney's character is bored with his success and his privileged position, which allows him to indulge himself in most ways he wishes. One of these is a relationship with his secretary Eliza, played by Minnelli (in one notable scene it is apparent, though not shown, that she gets a good look at him).
Bubbles glides around in a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III convertible - CB 1E, contrasted with the working class life and the poverty of post war Salford. Reference to the colliery and the gas works further put forward the message that Bubbles has come a long way but that he still isn't that happy. Liza Minnelli capturing the hatchet faced old man at a bus stop and the child on a bike whilst driving open top along the cobbled and crumbling streets is particularly poignant. Joe Gladwin
Joe Gladwin
Joe Gladwin was a British actor born in the Ordsall district of Salford, Lancashire. He was baptised at Mount Carmel RC Church, Ordsall and educated at the parish school...
plays a waiter serving breakfast in the Manchester hotel room. "I used to know your father sir. We're all very proud of you. Are you still working sir or do you just do the writing now?" Bubbles retorts "No. Just the writing" and hands him a bank note. This scene and others highlight the North-South divide - political and economic - that exists in Britain.
The character Charlie Bubbles was almost type-casting for the successful and charismatic Finney in terms of background; he had risen to film-stardom from a background as a bookie's son in the neighbouring, mainly working class City of Salford
City of Salford
The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
.
Finney starred in and directed the movie for the only time. For her performance, Whitelaw won the 1968 British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for Best Supporting Actress
The film is a slightly surreal off-shoot of the kitchen sink drama in which Finney had achieved stardom in Karel Reisz
Karel Reisz
Karel Reisz was a Czech-born British filmmaker who was active in post–war Britain, and one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in 1950s and 1960s British cinema.-Early life:...
's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (film)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a 1960 British film. It is an adaptation of the 1958 novel of the same name by Alan Sillitoe. Sillitoe wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Karel Reisz.-Synopsis:...
of 1960. The film's writer Shelagh Delaney
Shelagh Delaney
Shelagh Delaney, FRSL was an English dramatist and screenwriter, best-known for her debut work, A Taste of Honey ....
, had also achieved fame as the writer of another film in this genre - Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
's 1961 A Taste of Honey
A Taste of Honey (film)
A Taste of Honey is a 1961 British film adaptation of the play of the same name by Shelagh Delaney. Delaney adapted the screenplay herself, aided by director Tony Richardson, who had previously directed the first production of the play...
. Delaney also wrote Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Anderson
Lindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born, British feature film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave...
's 1967 film The White Bus
The White Bus
The White Bus is a 1967 short film by British director Lindsay Anderson. The screenplay was jointly adapted with Shelagh Delaney from a short story in her 1963 collection Sweetly Sings the Donkey....
like Charlie Bubbles, set in part in Manchester and Salford, which has a distinctly surreal feel to it at times.
Charlie Bubbles is referred to in The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
song "Where are they now?", on the album Preservation Act 1.
The film was released on DVD in September 2008.
Cast
- Albert FinneyAlbert FinneyAlbert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
- Charlie Bubbles - Colin BlakelyColin BlakelyColin George Blakely was a Northern Irish character actor. He was considered an actor of great range.-Early life:...
- Smokey Pickles - Billie WhitelawBillie WhitelawBillie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
- Lottie Bubbles - Liza MinnelliLiza MinnelliLiza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
- Eliza - Timothy Garland - Jack Bubbles
- Richard PearsonRichard Pearson (actor)Richard de Pearsall Pearson was a Welsh actor. Notable films of his career included Brian Desmond Hurst's Scrooge as well as a brief appearance in John Schlesinger's Sunday Bloody Sunday and cameo roles in three films by Roman Polanski: Macbeth , Tess and Pirates...
- Accountant - Nicholas PhippsNicholas PhippsNicholas Phipps was a British actor and screenwriter who appeared in more than thirty films during a career that lasted between 1938 and 1970. He was born in London in 1913. He made his screen debut in the 1938 television film Hands Across the Sea. He appeared mainly in British comedy films, often...
- Agent - Peter SallisPeter SallisPeter Sallis, OBE is an English actor and entertainer, well-known for his work on British television. Although he was born and brought up in London, his two most notable roles require him to adopt the accents and mannerisms of a Northerner.Sallis is best known for his role as the main character...
- Solicitor - Charles HillCharles HillCharles Hill may refer to:*Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton , English administrator, doctor and television executive* Charles Hill , American football player...
- Head Waiter - Charles LambCharles Lamb (actor)Charles Lamb was a British film and television actor.His longest role was as Mrs Dale's gardener, Monument, in the radio soap opera Mrs Dale's Diary.-Selected filmography:* Once a Crook...
- Mr. Noseworthy - Margery MasonMargery MasonMargery E. Mason is an English actress and director. She was the Artistic Director of the Repertory Theatre in Bangor, Northern Ireland in the 1960s....
- Mrs. Noseworthy - Diana CouplandDiana CouplandBetty Diana Coupland was an English actress best remembered for her role as Jean Abbott on Bless This House, which she played from 1971 to 1976.-Early life:...
- Maud - George InnesGeorge InnesGeorge Innes is an English actor.-Stage career:He began his career on the stage with the National Theatre of Great Britain under Laurence Olivier. Before that, he trained at Toynbee Hall and evening classes at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art , where he was awarded the Shakespeare Cup...
- Garage Attendant - Arthur PentelowArthur PentelowArthur Pentelow was an English actor who was best known for playing Henry Wilks in Emmerdale Farm from 1972–91...
- Man With Car - Alan LakeAlan LakeAlan Lake was an English actor, best known as the third husband of Diana Dors.-Biography:Lake was born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire on 24 November 1940...
- Airman - Yootha JoyceYootha JoyceYootha Joyce was an English actress, best known for playing Mildred Roper in Man About the House and George and Mildred.-Early life:...
- Woman in Cafe