Ferry Cross the Mersey is a 1965 musical film featuring Gerry and the Pacemakers.

The film, directed by Jeremy Summers

Jeremy Summers

Jeremy Summers is a retired British television director and film director, best known for his directorship of ITC productions in the 1960s and 1970s, most notably The Saint.-Background:...

, is one of the more uncommon artifacts of the Mersey scene, shown very rarely on television and never issued on video. It was the first to be shot on location in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 after the city's emergence into the music mainstream (which had previously seen only Frankie Vaughan

Frankie Vaughan

Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...

, Russ Hamilton, and Billy Fury

Billy Fury

Billy Fury, born Ronald William Wycherley , was an internationally successful English singer from the late-1950s to the mid-1960s, and remained an active songwriter until the 1980s. Rheumatic fever, which he first contracted as a child, damaged his heart and ultimately contributed to his death...

 as stars). For authenticity, many scenes were shot in clubs near Gerry and the Pacemakers' frontman Gerry Marsden

Gerry Marsden

Gerard "Gerry" Marsden is an English musician and television personality, best known for being leader of the British band Gerry & the Pacemakers.-Biography:...

's home; a scene on a ferry (the Mountwood

MV Royal Iris of the Mersey

The MV Royal Iris of the Mersey is a Mersey Ferry in operation on the River Mersey, England. From launch until a major refurbishment in 2001, she was named MV Mountwood.-MV Mountwood:...

) on the River Mersey

River Mersey

The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....

 showed the docks as a backdrop. Marsden wrote nine new songs for the film which also starred Julie Samuels, Cilla Black

Cilla Black

Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

, Jimmy Savile

Jimmy Savile

Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile, OBE, KCSG was an English disc jockey, television presenter and media personality, best known for his BBC television show Jim'll Fix It, and for being the first and last presenter of the long-running BBC music chart show Top of the Pops...

, and The Fourmost

The Fourmost

The Fourmost were an English Merseybeat band that recorded in the 1960s. Their biggest UK hit single was "A Little Loving" in 1964.-Biography:...

.

The song "Ferry Cross the Mersey

Ferry Cross the Mersey

"Ferry Cross the Mersey" is a song written by Gerry Marsden. It was first recorded by his band Gerry and the Pacemakers and released in late 1964 in the UK and in 1965 in the United States. It was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching number six in the United States and number eight in the...

" was written by Gerry Marsden as the theme song for the film.

For the soundtrack, see Ferry 'Cross the Mersey

Ferry 'Cross the Mersey (album)

Ferry Cross the Mersey is the soundtrack for the film of the same title. It features music by Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Fourmost, Cilla Black and the George Martin Orchestra.It was released in 1965 on the Columbia label...

.

External links

• http://www.triumphpc.com/mersey-beat/a-z/gerry-mersey.shtml