Telstar (2008)

Director:

Nick Moran

Writers:

James Hicks (writer)
James Hicks (play)
(more)

Release Date:

19 June 2009 (UK)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Plot:

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." |

Plot Keywords:

London England | Lawyer | 1960s | Recording Studio | One Word Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Con O'Neill	...	Joe Meek
Kevin Spacey	...	Major Banks
Pam Ferris	...	Mrs. Shenton
JJ Feild	...	Heinz Burt
James Corden	...	Clem Cattini
Tom Burke	...	Geoff Goddard
Ralf Little	...	Chas Hodges
Sid Mitchell	...	Patrick Pink
Mathew Baynton	...	Ritchie Blackmore
Shaun Evans	...	Billy Kuy
Callum Dixon	...	John Leyton
Tom Harper	...	Alan Caddy
Jon Lee	...	Billy Fury
Nigel Harman	...	Jess Conrad
Carl Barât	...	Gene Vincent
Justin Hawkins	...	Lord Sutch
Jess Conrad	...	Larry Parnes
Chas Hodges	...	Mr. Brolin
David Hayler	...	John Peel
Craig Vye	...	Mitch Mitchell
Joan Hodges	...	Biddy Meek
Jimmy Carr	...	Gentleman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dominic Adams	...	Undercover Police Officer
Dominic Arnall	...	Roger Lavern
Jake Arnott	...	Board Of Trade Man 1
Gareth Corke	...	Accountant
Alicia Davies	...	Lady Victim
Che Deedigan	...	Joe Meek - Age 9
Conor Deedigan	...	Alex Meek - Child
Tom Deedigan	...	Joe Meek - Age 13
Stephanie Dickens	...	Brenda
Lee Donaghy	...	Photographer
Sonia Doubell	...	Secretary
Robbie Duke
Jim Field Smith	...	Howard
Michael Gamarano	...	Person getting shot
Sarah Hannah	...	EMI Secretary
Libby Hayter	...	School Girl
James Hicks	...	Eric
Louis Hennessey Hicks	...	Joe Meek - aged 13
Jon Ivay	...	Board Of Trade Man 2
Bill Kaye	...	Clerk of the court
Matthew Krug	...	Lionel
Guy Lewis	...	Charles
Nichola Lindsay	...	Offensive Girl
Henry Lloyd-Hughes	...	Teddy Boy
Joseph Millson	...	Doctor
Tony Milner	...	Board Of Trade Officer
Nick Moran	...	Alex Meek
Barry Newton	...	Nevello Awards' Guest
Steve Pound	...	Lawyer
Robert Roman Ratajczak	...	Music Fan
Camilla Rockley	...	Girl
Jack Roth	...	Youth
Alan Scally	...	George Bellamy
Gary Schiffman	...	Waiter
Liam Smith	...	Desk sergeant
Nina Spriggs	...	Woman
Nick Thomas-Webster	...	Lord Justice Wignall
Rita Tushingham	...	Essex Medium
Lee Whiteman	...	Lab Technician
Chris Wilson	...	Tornadoes Stagehand
Ruth Wynne	...	EMI Receptionist
Phillip Yorke	...	Officer 1
Pandora Clifford	...	Duchess of Kent (uncredited)
Mark Tristan Eccles	...	1960's Mod (uncredited)

Directed by
Nick Moran

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
James Hicks		writer
James Hicks		play
Nick Moran		screenplay

Produced by
Adam Bohling	....	producer
David Groves	....	executive producer
Simon Jordan	....	producer
Dean O'Toole	....	line producer
David Reid	....	producer

Original Music by
Ilan Eshkeri

Cinematography by
Peter Wignall		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Alex Marsh

Casting by
Kate Plantin

Production Design by
Russell De Rozario

Art Direction by
Joe Howard

Set Decoration by
Steve Oakes

Costume Design by
Stephanie Collie

Makeup Department
Jo Grover	....	makeup artist
Lizzie Lawson	....	makeup designer
Rachael Speke	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Victoria Banks	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Johnny Campling	....	props
Caroline Harper	....	stand-by art director
Oli van der Vijver	....	props
Lee Whiteman	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Simon Bysshe	....	additional boom operator
Mike Dowson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jessie Gambell-Dixon	....	sound trainee
Jamie Gambell	....	sound recordist
Paul Govey	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ben Greaves	....	boom operator
Ashley Haller	....	sound mix technician
Joseph Paines	....	assistant sound
Rob Prynne	....	sound effects editor
Gavin Rose	....	dialogue editor
Danny Sheehan	....	supervising sound editor
Dave Sloss	....	foley artist
Dave Sloss	....	foley recordist
Mark Verner	....	foley artist
Mark Verner	....	foley editor

Visual Effects by
Dave Bannister	....	digital compositor: Rushes Post Production
George Barbour	....	animator: Rushes Post Production
Michael Deming	....	digital film bureau
Sukh Gill	....	visual effects coordinator: Rushes Post Production
Louise Hussey	....	visual effects producer: Rushes Post Production
Alex Jenyon	....	matte painter
Hayden Jones	....	digital compositor
Timothy P. Jones	....	visual effects: digital film bureau
Tom Kimberley	....	compositor: Rushes Post Production
Alex Llewellyn	....	digital compositor: Rushes Post Production
Ian Murphy	....	digital compositor: Rushes Post Production
John Palmer	....	digital film bureau manager: Scanning and Laser record
Mark Pascoe	....	animator
Rob Pizzey	....	digital colourist
Scott Pritchard	....	lead compositor: Rushes Post Production
Jonathan Privett	....	visual effects supervisor: Rushes Post Production
Cristina Puente	....	digital compositor: Rushes Post Production
Adam Rowland	....	digital compositor: Rushes Post Production
Jez Tucker	....	senior systems administrator: Rushes Post Production (uncredited)

Stunts
Gary Arthurs	....	stunt double
Steve Caswell	....	stunt double
Andy Wareham	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Paulo Fernandes	....	additional electrician
Tash Gamper	....	second assistant camera
Sam Goldie	....	focus puller: "b" camera
Stuart Hurst	....	gaffer
Bill Kaye	....	still photographer
Richard Miles	....	electrician
Tim Millikin	....	grip trainee
Mark Morley	....	dolly grip: pick ups
Duncan Riedl	....	electrician
Lee Wooster	....	electrician: dailies

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ellen Crawshaw	....	costume assistant
Vidya Krishnamurthy	....	assistant costume designer
Heather Leat	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Ian Cunningham	....	assistant editor
Emily Greenwood	....	digital on-line editor
Erin McGookin	....	digital intermediate producer

Music Department
Christoph Bauschinger	....	arrangement & programming
Andy Brown	....	conductor
Andy Brown	....	music contractor
Elisa Kustow	....	music production coordinator
The London Metropolitan Orchestra	....	music performed by
Stephen McLaughlin	....	music producer
Ann Marie Shields	....	music supervisor
Jonathan Stewart	....	music supervisor
Jeff Toyne	....	orchestrator

Transportation Department
Ben Dillon	....	picture car coordinator

Other crew
Freya Beales	....	researcher
Jo Gross	....	production coordinator
Julia Jones	....	unit publicist
Tom Kennedy	....	runner
Iain Mackenzie	....	assistant: Mr Bohling & Mr Reid
Iain Mackenzie	....	post production coordinator
Yasmin Rais	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Aspiration Films

Distributors

• G2 Pictures (2009) (UK) (all media)

Special Effects

• Rushes Post Production

Other Companies

• ARRI Media  camera and grip equipment provided by
• Fuji Photo Film  film stock provided by
• Media Services  stationery supplier
• Mint Post  foley studio
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Holloway Road, Holloway, London, England, UK

Company:

Aspiration Films

Trivia:

Ralf Little plays the part of musician Chas Hodges, whilst Chas Hodges himself appears in the part of Mr. Brolin.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the group are touring in the black van it is quite clearly set in 1963 & yet the registration plate of the van shows the suffix "D" which was issued in the year 1966.

Telsar falls down...

I'm a little too young to appreciate Joe Meek's music and it seems to my ears that his music does seem nowadays as if it's from a museum, it sounds so fossilised....and yet, there's no denying the popularity of his rinky-dink pop music from the pre-Beatles era, even achieving the almost unique feat for a British "artist" (he'd have loved that soubriquet, no doubt) of having a number one in America with the irritatingly catchy "Telstar". I some time ago watched the BBC-TV "Arena" documentary on his life and times and my interest was piqued then at this most unusual man.

Even if you didn't know Meek's life story, we pretty much get to know from the outset that Joe's final breakdown is going to end in tragedy, with the narrative frequently inserting scenes from his last day leading up to the tragic shooting of firstly his landlady (pretty much an accident, as it appears here), this giving him the final spur to almost immediately afterwards take his own life in equally violent fashion.

The film unfolds from this downbeat start into a most entertaining first half as the story charts his rise to mini-Spector status, producing memorable number one hits for John Leyton, The Tornadoes and The Honeycombs. Into Joe's (no pun intended) orbit drift a motley selection of eccentric beat group personnel, with much bawdy humour to the fore. I especially enjoyed Kevin Spacey's spot-on upper-class English accent as Joe's eccentric business manager, military "crusty" Major Banks and there's also a fine turn by Tom Burke as Meek's nervous, sensitive indeed spiritualist in-house songwriter Geoff Goddard. I wasn't quite convinced that Con O'Neill really gave us Meek as he was, although there's no denying his conviction playing.

As for the narrative structure, I felt that the the film failed to truly give Meek his due when he finally reached the top and believe his achievements deserved a bit more highlighting, before the round-the-corner Beatles-era of grittier bands with in-built songwriting teams with the flair and talent to display their own writing ingenuity and studio inventiveness, effectively consigned Meek to, quoting Chris Andrews' 1965 hit, a "yesterday man".

The second half of the film I think, follows a little too much the fortunes of Meek's fellow-travellers, particularly the ridiculously one-dimensional "little-voice" that was Heinz Burt. Indeed Meek's character disappears from the screen it seems for some time before we're jolted back to the closing scenes and his final demise. His story is undoubtedly a tragic one (suppressed homosexual, thwarted talent, moody artist) but I didn't think the film quite got behind his character enough and thus failed to catch the full parabola of his eventful life.

The recreation of the period is great though - from the swinging, jigsaw-style opening credits to the chaotic scenes in Meek's makeshift studio above his landlady's leather goods shop and good acting by almost all on board (helped by the main characters' physical similarity to their real life counterparts) and of course the reproduction of that so distinctive "Joe Meek sound" replete with plinky-plonk organ jungle-drums and loads of re-verb, often married to "death-disc" lyrics.

An entertaining step-back-in-time then, if ultimately falling short in its attempt to do justice to the memory of a haunted but very talented and singularly individual pop maverick. To paraphrase Brian Wilson from a little later in the decade, I guess Joe just wasn't made for those times.