Last Updated : 3 Oct 2011
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There have been many films with Liverpool connections from at least the 1920s to the present day. The movies range from low budget projects through to major undertakings with Hollywood actors. You will see some common themes here that fit in with England's distorted view of it's 3rd city.
"Beyond This Place" is a particularly good film made in 1959 with some good location shots and includes Vera Miles who just one year later went on to play a main part in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho".
Following is a selection of films with Liverpool links. Several of the films have different titles in different countries for example "Beyond This Place" became "Web of Evidence" in the USA.
Title |
Year |
Summary |
| Across the Universe | 2006 |
A story about a young man who leaves 1960s Liverpool in search of his real father in America. With location scenes shot at New Brighton. |
| Alfie | 2004 |
A remake of the 1966 version of the film of the same title. Scenes of the movie which includes Jude Law and Susan Sarandon, were shot in Liverpool when posing as the streets of Manhatten. |
| Appuntamento a Liverpool | 1988 |
An Italian made film. |
| (An) Awfully Big Adventure | 1994 |
A story about a reperatory company starring Hugh Grant and Prunella Scales and set in 1947 Liverpool but actually filmed in Dublin |
| Backbeat | 1994 |
A film about the early Beatles in Liverpool and Hamburg |
| Battle of the Mods | 1966 |
Liverpool Mods and Rockers swing it out. [AKA Crazy Baby] |
| Behind the Rent Strike | 1979 |
Film based in Liverpool and directed to Nick Broomfield |
| Beyond Friendship | 2005 |
A film starring Winona Ryder with street scenes in Liverpool being used to double for New York |
| Beyond This Place | 1959 |
A man who had left Liverpool as a child evacuee returns 20 years later from New York to find out about his fathers past and help clear him of a crime. One of the stars is Vera Miles who went on to act in "Physco" in 1960. [AKA "Web of Evidence"] |
| Birth of the Beatles | 1979 |
Filmed in Liverpool and follows the story of the Beatles. |
| Blonde Fist | 1991 |
A woman tries to escape domestic problems by going to New York in search of her father and ends up becoming a boxer. |
| (A) Boy called Dad | 2010 |
A film set in Wirral about a teenage father and his own dad who has been living in Liverpool. |
| (The) Boys & Girl from County Clare | 2003 |
Set in the 1960s and a story about an Irish Band in Liverpool who enter a music championship in Ireland. |
| Candyman | 1992 |
Based on a story "The Forbidden" which was set in Liverpool, the movie transposed the location to Chicago. |
| Capone's Boys | 2002 |
The film is set in Chicago where three young waiters from Liverpool get involved in the mob scene of 1927 working for Al Capone. [AKA "Al's Lads : Don't Mess With Liverpool"] |
| Champions | 1984 |
A film about the 1981 Grand National. |
| Clandestins | 1997 |
A story about six refugees who are trying to get from France to Canada when the ship they are hiding on breaks down in Liverpool. |
| (The) Crew | 2008 |
A film about a gang of hardened criminals in Liverpool's underworld. |
| Dancin' Thru The Dark | 1989 |
A film about a young woman who goes out on a last night out with friends in Liverpool before getting married. |
| Dark Summer | 1994 |
Independently produced film with a love story set in Liverpool. |
| Dangerous Youth | 1957 |
A film set in Liverpool with Frankie Vaughan and Kenneth Cope who are members of the "Dingle Boys" gang. [AKA These Dangerous Years] |
| Dead Man's Cards | 2005 |
Low budget film shot in Liverpool. |
| Distant Voices, Still Lives | 1989 |
Set in 1940s/1950s Liverpool it studies a working class family and centers around a death and a marriage. |
| Dockers | 1999 |
A TV movie with Ricky Tomlinson written by Jimmy McGovern. |
| Don't Worry About Me | 2009 |
A story about a young man from London who visits Liverpool to find a girlfriend but ends up being shown the sights by another girl. |
| Educating Rita | 1983 |
Story by Willy Russel about a Liverpool hairdresser who goes to University. Stars Julie Walters and Michael Caine and actually shot in Dublin. |
| Fated | 2004 |
Film shot in Liverpool starring Craig Charles |
| Ferry Cross the Mersey | 1965 |
Presents various Brian Eptstein entertainers with shots of Liverpool and The Cavern. |
| (The) File of The Golden Goose | 1969 |
A crime film starring Yul Brynner where the gang leader is traced from Liverpool to London. |
| Formula 51 | 2001 |
A story about a chemist who invents a drug in Los Angeles and comes to Liverpool in search of a buyer. [AKA "51st State"] |
| (A) Girl in Every Port | 1928 |
Has a girl from Liverpool in it. |
| Going Off Big Time | 2000 |
A crime drama set in Liverpool and centering on an ex-convicts attempts to go straight. |
| Gumshoe | 1972 |
Albert Finney plays a small time worker in a Liverpool night club who decides to become a detective. |
| Hear My Song | 1993 |
A film about a run-down Liverpool nightclub |
| Hillsborough | 1996 |
A TV movie written by Jimmy McGovern based on the real events of April 1989 when 96 Liverpool Football Club fans were crushed to death at an away match. |
| I Thank A Fool | 1962 |
With Susan Hayward and scenes of Liverpool, New Brighton and Isle of Man |
| In The Mud | 2006 |
A film about a Liverpool family and their relationships with partners and children. |
| Inn of the Sixth Happiness | 1958 |
Starring Ingrid Bergman, the film is based in China but actually filmed in North Wales and used Liverpool Chinese children as extras. The movie is based on the true story of Gladys Aylward's experiences in China who in real life left Liverpool for China on October 15th, 1932. |
| Julie and the Cadillacs | 1997 |
Set in 1964 Liverpool. |
| (The) Leaving of Liverpool | 1992 |
Made for TV, it tells the story of children who emmigrated from Liverpool to Australia. |
| Letter to Brezhnev | 1985 |
Two Soviet soldiers go ashore in Liverpool to spend one night on the town. |
| Land and Freedom | 1996 |
In 1936 Liverpool a young man goes to fight in the Spanish Civil War. |
| Liam | 2000 |
A story about an Irish Catholic family living in 1930s Liverpool during the depression. |
| (The) Long Day Closes | 1992 |
Story of a young boy set in 1956 Liverpool. |
| (The) Long Haul | 1957 |
An ex-GI is married to a woman from Liverpool who convinces him to stay there and get a job as a truck driver. |
| (The) Magnet | 1950 |
Film with scenes of Liverpool and New Brighton |
| Millions | 2003 |
A low budget family film about a father and two sons who move from Liverpool to the suburbs. |
| My Beautiful Son | 2001 |
A TV movie with Julie Walters about a New York psychiatrist who traces his family back to Liverpool in search for a bone-marrow transplant. |
| My Kingdom | 2001 |
Set in Liverpool's gangland. |
| National Velvet | 1944 |
A film about a girl (played by Elizabeth Taylor) who is a jockey in the Grand National. |
| No Surrender | 1986 |
A film with Elvis Costello about a party of senior citizens who visit Liverpool to celebrate New Year. |
| Nowhere Boy | 2009 |
Covers John Lennon's early life in Liverpool centering around his relationship with his Aunt Mimi and his mainly absent mother Julia. |
| Of Time And The City | 2008 |
A film about Liverpool by Terence Davies that was featured at the Cannes Film Festival. |
| Orphan Train | 1979 |
Has a character called "Liverpool". |
| Our Day Out | 1978 |
A film about Liverpool school children who go for a day out to Wales. |
| The Patriot | 2000 |
A historical fiction movie about the American Revolutionary War, the character "Colonel Tavington" played by Jason Isaacs is based on Colonel Bonastre Tarleton, born 1754 in Castle Street and who helped capture General Charles Lee in 1776. |
| Priest | 1995 |
Set in Liverpool and stars Linus Roache as a priest. |
| Revengers Tragedy | 2002 |
A comedy set in Liverpool with Eddie Izzard. |
| Rulers of The Sea | 1939 |
A film with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Margaret Lockwood which is set in the 19th century and about the first transatlantic steam ships running between Liverpool and New York. |
| Seaside Swingers | 1965 |
Includes Liverpool beat group "The Mojos". [AKA "Every Day's a Holiday"] |
| Shirley Valentine | 1989 |
Actress Pauline Collins plays a Liverpool housewife who escapes to Greece in search of love. Written by Willy Russel. |
| Shooters | 2003 |
A story about gangsters set in Liverpool. |
| Slave Girl | 1947 |
Has a character Thomas 'Liverpool' Griswold. |
| Straight On Till Morning | 1972 |
A film with Rita Tushingham who plays a girl who travels from Liverpool to London in search of her "Prince Charming" |
| Strange Relations | 2003 |
A story about a New York psychiatrist who travels to Liverpool to find his family when he finds he's really British and a Catholic rather than a Jew. |
| Swing | 1998 |
Working class friends leave Liverpool to start a band. |
| Three Businessmen | 2002 |
A story starts in Liverpool when two art dealers leave their hotel and walk the streets. |
| Under the Skin | 1998 |
A story set in Liverpool about two sisters whose mother suddenly dies. |
| Violent Playground | 1957 |
A film set in Liverpool with David McCallum, Peter Cushing and a young Freddie Star. |
| (The) Virgin of Liverpool | 2003 |
Comedy set in Liverpool about a 12 year old girl who tries to find a new home for a Virgin Mary statue. |
| Waterfront | 1950 |
Includes Richard Burton and Kathleen Harrison in a story about a Liverpool family whose father goes to sea and returns years later. [AKA "Waterfront Women"] |
| Who Cares | 1978 |
The first film made by Nick Broomfield which documented urban redevelopment in Liverpool |