Main Cast: Michael Angelis, Avis Bunnage, J.G. Devlin, James Ellis, Tom Georgeson
Release Year: 1986
Country: UK
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A moribund nightclub on the fringes of Liverpool's sprawl is the primary setting for this frenetic, dark, and confusing comedy done in a heavy regional "dialect" by director Peter Smith. Set on New Year's Eve, the film chronicles the rivalry between elderly Irish Catholic and Protestant attendees at a party held in a gritty pub in Liverpool. Mixed in with the warring oldsters are some shady types such as Billy the Beast, the killer of an Ulster terrorist. The club's new manager has a talent for dealing with mayhem and violence, but his first challenge lies in handling the punk rock band perversely scheduled to entertain the oldsters by the disgruntled former manager. After that challenge, he is faced with a magician on the verge of a nervous breakdown and other kinds of chaos that tear through the place. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Bernard Hill - Bernard; Ray McAnally - Billy McRacken; Mark Mulholland - Norman; Pamela Austin - Organist; Paul Connor - The Infirm; Gabrielle Daye - Winnis; David F. Doyle - Ulster Boy; Vince Earl - Frank; Ian Hart - Uncertain Menace; Ken Jones - Ronny; Penny Leatherbarrow - Mrs. Morgan; Mark McGann - Rock Group Leader; Peter Edward Price - Comedian; Michael Ripper - Tony Bonaparte; Tony Rohr - McCarthur; Tommy Ryan - Vetran; Arthur Spreckley - Mattew; Marjorie Sudell - Barbara; Joan Turner - Superwoman; Frank Vincent - Policeman; Harry Webster - Priest; Joanne Whalley - Cheryl; Dean Williams - Real Menace; Elvis Costello - Rosco de Ville; Ina Clough - The Infirm; Paul Codman - Member of Rock Group; James Culshaw - Gorman's Cab Driver; Lovette Edwards - The Infirm; Gerry Fogarty - Mustached Veteran; Harry Goodier - Cleanshaven Vetran; Eric Granville - Donald Duck; Robert Hamilton - Special Branch Officer; Gerard Hely - Senior Policeman; Joey Kaye - Driver, Catholic Party; Vera Kelly - The Infirm; Phil Kernot - Stan Laurel; Al Kossy - Bobby; Stephen Lloyd - Rock Group; Johnny Mallon - French Onion Seller; Joe McGann - Policeman; Ron Metcalf - Vetran; Bill Moores - Quasimodo; Robert Nield - Yousee; Doc O'Brien - Driver, Protestant Party; Steve O'Connor - Vetran; Christopher J. Quinn - Warden; Helen Rhodes - The Infirm; Linus Roache - Ulster Boy; Andrew Scofield - Macker; Tony Scoggo - Cold Eyes; Mabel Seward - Waitress; Mark Starke - Rock Group; Gery White - Driver for Infirm Party; Peter Wilson - Comedian's Boy Friend; Richard Alexander - Smoking Kid
Credit
Emma Porteous - Costume Designer, Peter Smith - Director, Rodney Holland - Editor, Kevin Brownlow - Editor, Lois Burwell - Makeup, Andrew Mollo - Production Designer, Michael Coulter - Cinematographer, Mamoun Hassan - Producer, Alison Stewart-Richardson - Set Designer, George Leech - Stunts
The film is set in Liverpool on New Year's Eve. The plot focuses on two Irish characters in their very different communities. One is an ex-hit man (Protestant), the other a night-club manager (Catholic) who finds himself working for a very dangerous employer. The previous manager has left a lunatic legacy: hiring out the same hall for New Year's Eve to three groups of senior citizens, one hardline Irish Catholic Nationalists dressed in costume, one hardline Protestant Unionists and one of uninvolved, elderly, rather addled pensioners, who don't understand what is going on. The Catholics and Protestants recall their skirmishes and sing provocative songs to each other.
As a coup de grace, he hires a skittish, incompetent magician, played by Elvis Costello, to perform. Bernard Hill plays the club doorman who is ex French Foreign Legion. 194 Radio City DJ Pete Price starred in this film as a comedian by the name of Frankie Diamond.
