WHEN BURSLEM BECAME HOLLYWOOD

Film action, memories and memorabilia bring back to life the days when Burslem was the 'Hollywood' of the Potteries. There's an action movie drama from a century ago, restored and rescued from oblivion by Staffordshire Film Archive for us to enjoy today - with period sidelights and a whistle-stop tour around the streets to find the actual filming locations. There are personal memories of a popular British film of the 1950s - "The Card" starring Alec Guinness - filmed both here and in London - with film of the Regional Premiere at the Odeon, Hanley. There is unique behind-the-scenes filming at Elstree Studios of production on a six-month ITV serial dramatisation of Arnold Bennett's "Clayhanger" in the 1970s. The video begins with a documentary on how films first came to the Potteries and some earliest known film sequences from around 1900. We look at Burslem's first cinemas built before and during WWI, a couple of pioneering cinema managers and a 1930s world premiere at Burslem Coliseum of a top British comedy star's first film - so it "turned out nice again!"
65 minutes dedicated to the times when Burslem Became Hollywood!