A music-infused drama about Joe Meek, the flamboyantly gay, tone deaf, songwriter-producer behind the '60s hits "Have I the Right," "Just Like Eddie," "Johnny, Remember Me" and "Telstar."A music-infused drama about Joe Meek, the flamboyantly gay, tone deaf, songwriter-producer behind the '60s hits "Have I the Right," "Just Like Eddie," "Johnny, Remember Me" and "Telstar."A music-infused drama about Joe Meek, the flamboyantly gay, tone deaf, songwriter-producer behind the '60s hits "Have I the Right," "Just Like Eddie," "Johnny, Remember Me" and "Telstar."
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Gene Vincent
- (as Carl Barat)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaActors Nigel Harman, James Corden, Ralf Little and Callum Dixon play Jess Conrad, Clem Cattini, Chas Hodges and John Leyton respectively. The real Conrad, Cattini, Hodges and Leyton all appear in the movie themselves albeit in small cameo roles.
- GoofsThe film is quite clearly set in 1963 but the registration plate of the black van in which the group are touring shows the suffix "D" which was issued in the year 1966.
- Quotes
Major Wilfred Banks: Anton, isn't it?
Geoff Goddard: Sorry?
Major Wilfred Banks: Anton Hollywood, pianist?
Geoff Goddard: Yes. Well, no.
Major Wilfred Banks: Well, I'm afraid Joe's decision is final, he doesn't feel you've got what it takes. And if you've come for compensation, you can trot off back to wherever the hell...
Geoff Goddard: No, it's Geoff, not just Geoff. Geoff Goddard.
Major Wilfred Banks: Oh! The author! Tunesmith!
Geoff Goddard: Composer.
Major Wilfred Banks: Composer, yes, of course.
Geoff Goddard: The name Anton Hollywood was Joe's idea, it's not real. It's a stage name. He thought he'd do a Russ Conway with me, didn't work out.
Major Wilfred Banks: So you're Goddard, are you? Read Goddard, didn't think Hollywood.
Geoff Goddard: No, well, you wouldn't.
Major Wilfred Banks: Don't slouch, young man! Upright! Shoulders back! Splendid song!
Geoff Goddard: [in a whisper] Thank you.
- Crazy creditsStageplay first performed by the New Vic Workshop
- ConnectionsReferenced in The Wright Stuff: Episode #17.110 (2012)
- SoundtracksThe Traitors
Written by Johnny Douglas
Performed by The Packabeats
Courtesy of The Packabeats, under licence from BulloMouse
Meek who operated out of the top of of a leather good shop was a maverick like Phil Spector, and just like Spector with a fondness of guns.
The film starts and feels like a stage play very much in keeping with its origins as a stage play and low budget adaptation as a film. Con O'Neill (reprising the part from the play) plays Meek, harried, frazzled, on the edge with drugs keeping him going. Kevin Spacey makes a cameo as Major Banks his business backer who keeps the whole enterprise in even keel as we find that Meek is certainly no businessman.
Somewhere within the chaos of the upstairs apartment cum music studio Meek who could not read or write music and was ridiculed for being tone deaf managed to produced a string of heats and had major musician working under him such as Ritchie Blackmore, Chas Hodges. I shall omit Screaming Lord Sutch as a major musician though.
However the pill popping, plagiarism accusations, arrest for importuning in a public toilet, his falling out with the Major lead to deepening financial turmoil and the falling out with friends and musicians. The hits dried up and in a tragic demise he ended up shooting his landlady and himself.
The film by actor turned director Nick Moran is rather messy. Moran does well with a low budget to evoke a sixties atmosphere which is away from the swinging which was so beloved by past filmmakers.
Its nice to see support from Spacey, James Corden as well as some of the real life people who associated with Meek turn up such as Jess Conrad.
However the film feels overlong and as Moran tries to imbue Meek with some psychological character traits based on his upbringing and his past family life it feels like a failure as it adds little. Many people of his generation had family affected by The Great War or trauma in childhood.
I found this a middling film whose kinetic energy runs out midway through and the film starts to drag until the tragic ending.
- Prismark10
- Feb 21, 2015
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- £1,250,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $109,339
- Runtime1 hour 59 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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