When Rupert Creed suggested recreating a scene featuring Spike, a truly feral Welshman and flat mate from hell played by Rhys Ifans, from the 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill I couldn’t say no!
quentinbudworth
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Mc Glinchey’s approached me about recreating the famous scene from the 1969 American Western film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in which Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy and Robert Redford as the Sundance Kid make a leap of faith.
The film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman is based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the “Sundance Kid” (Robert Redford), who are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. The pair and Sundance’s lover, Etta Place (Katharine Ross), flee to Bolivia in search of a more successful criminal career, where they meet their end.
The Mc Glinchey’s made their leap at the Khyber Pass in Hull’s East Park
Gregory’s Girl
Gregory’s Girl is Alison Whitfield’s favourite film she enlisted husband Gary Whitfield to play Gregory which he did with much aplomb. Here Alison talks about why she loves the film.
‘Gregory’s Girl is pretty much the perfect film. Great individual performances and sublime comedy moments. it highlights how friends can create good things for each other and that the best fun in life costs nowt. Gregory although previously besotted with Dorothy, embraces his unexpected date with Susan with positive results’.
Here we recreate the lying down dancing and whistling moments from the film…
Brief Encounter
Helen Marie Smith got in touch with me about recreating the iconic farewell scene from Brief Encounter at Hull’s Paragon Station. Brief Encounter is a 1945 British romantic drama film directed by David Lean about British suburban life, centring on Laura, a married woman with children, whose conventional life becomes increasingly complicated because of a chance meeting at a railway station with a stranger, Alec. They inadvertently but quickly progress to an emotional love affair, which brings about unexpected consequences.
Helen enlisted the services of her friend Gary Crossman to play Trevor Howard in the shoot.
Here are some other shots from the session.
Dr No
Sarah Rose Crawford got in touch with me about recreating Bond girl Honey Rider’s (Ursula Andress) famous emergence from the sea scene in Dr. No on Hessle Foreshore. The weather was spectacularly good in the bright early November sunshine but a long way from that of Jamaica where the film was made however this is Hullywood and we made good.
For the first Bond girl Honey Ryder, Julie Christie was considered, but discarded as the producers felt she was not voluptuous enough. Just two weeks before filming began, Ursula Andress was chosen to play Honey after the producers saw a picture of her taken by Andress’ then-husband John Derek. To appear more convincing as a Jamaican, Andress had a tan painted on her and ultimately had her lines redubbed by voice actress Nikki van der Zyl due to Andress’ heavy Swiss German accent
The Invisible Man
David Osgerby approached me about playing Dr Jack Griffin to recreate the classic 1933 B movie The Invisible Man. A science fiction horror film based on H. G. Wells’ science fiction novel of the same name, published in 1897, as adapted by R.C. Sheriff, Philip Wylie and Preston Sturges. Produced by Universal Studios, the film was directed by James Whale and stars Claude Rains, in his first American screen appearance, and Gloria Stuart. It spawned a number of sequels, plus many spinoffs using the idea of an “invisible man” that were largely unrelated to Wells’ original story.
Rains portrayed the Invisible Man (Dr. Jack Griffin) mostly only as a disembodied voice. Rains is only shown clearly for a brief time at the end of the film, spending most of his on-screen time covered by bandages.
George was so taken by his role that he is planning some performances as ‘The Invisible Poet’ at the Union Mashup in 2017.
Taxi Driver
I arrived at Mark Pollard’s house and he said let’s pop around the corner to my mate’s house we need to pick up the shooter… Let me explain we were recreating a scene from Taxi Driver a 1976 American vigilante film with neo-noir and psychological thriller elements, directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in New York City following the Vietnam War, the film stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle who Mark portrays admirably in the ‘are you looking at me scene’.
Singing in the Rain
I met Richard Sharp Wilson in Hull to recreate a moment from Singing in the Rain the famous 1952 musical comedy starring Gene Kelly. it was pouring down Rich told me that his choice of film moment was all about the unabashed care free expression of joy at the simplest of things. Singing and dancing in the rain.
Mean Girls
Eleanor Churchill contacted me about recreating the mall scene from Mean Girls with her friends and work colleagues. Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film is based in part on Rosalind Wiseman’s non-fiction self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes, which describes female high school social cliques and the damaging effects they can have on girls.
We created this shot after work on friday afternoon after work at St. Stephens in Hull. In the picture from left to right – Sam Kitchen, Bethany Watson, Eleanor Churchill and Nicola Taylor.
Hullywood Icons 