Genres

Visitors Review

GrahamEngland 2012-05-22 07:28:31

A Good Enough Film

I do know something about the mad genius that was Joe Meek. Enough toknow that putting his turbulent life into one film is not easy, othershave questioned why other formative elements of his life was missedout, if a film is good enough though, surely it will engage those whohave seen and enjoyed it to look into it further, using the medium weare now, the internet?Con O'Neill is excellent as the troubled Meek, he has to dominate thefilm and this he does. While it's true that others in the story weresometimes rather younger than the actors playing them, remember back inthis period, the 'teenager' as we now understand it, was only startingto emerge, young people then still often looked, acted, dressed older.They usually left school at 14-15, at around 18 (like Meek) many had todo military service, hand me down clothes from parents were common. Allthis was changing, as part of the social changes sign posted by themusic, which Meek played a part in but, as shown by his dismissal ofThe Beatles he was doomed not to recognise fully and play a furtherpart in.Meek was the British Phil Spector. But he, as the film well shows, didnot enjoy the financial rewards of hits, but both were innovative,reclusive, obsessive and dangerous around firearms. (Given just howmany times Spector drew guns on some of the most famous music stars, aswell as lovers, business associates, was anyone really surprised at thetragic events at Spector's home in 2003, I certainly thought 'he'sfinally done it'.)Most music or music based biopics fail as films, while 'Telstar' is notup there with the stunning exception that is Ian Curtis biopic'Control', it's way better than 'Great Balls Of Fire'.I was certainly kept engaged by this film.

matmoss-1 2012-05-21 14:31:14

If this is the best British film of the decade we're in trouble.

I am not a terribly critical cinema-goer. I am, however, quitepossessive of my free time and TELSTAR has robbed me of 2 precioushours.My interest in Joe Meek began last autumn when I was taken to adocumentary on the same character at the Raindance Film Festival. Ibelieve it was called A LIFE IN THE DEATH OF JOE MEEK (an intriguingtitle). At the time, I had no previous knowledge of or even interest inJoe Meek or his music. In fact, I was actually dreading going! This wascompounded by an interminable delay once we arrived on the queue. Wewaited nearly an hour for the film to begin! I mention this only asbackground, adding that once it was over, I regretted that I couldn'tsee it immediately again. It was informative (especially to someonerelatively ignorant about the people, era and milieu underexamination), hilarious, cogent, briskly paced, deeply emotional,inspirational and utterly engrossing. All this from what was introducedby the two young American filmmakers as a work in progress. Ireiterate: a film that was complete, though not finished to theirsatisfaction as of the date of the screening. I am not one with anatural interest in documentaries in general (this was my first suchexperience in a theatre), but the filmmakers grasp of their cast andsubject and sheer storytelling skill made me forget my conscioussurroundings for the afternoon; and, as I mentioned, we had beenstanding on line for an hour previous. I was more than impressed, I hadbeen CONVERTED. I now have an active interest in Joe Meek and his workand was eagerly awaiting the narrative telling of his story, which isthe film in direct question: Nick Moran's TELSTAR.Let me begin: Telstar is apparently based on a West End produced playfrom a few years ago by Mr. Moran, an actor by trade (I knew him fromthe enjoyable LOCK,STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS from a decade back). Ican't speak for the quality of writing, directing or acting in thatproduction. I didn't know about it when it ran. The film version,however, I did see. And words cannot express the disappointment anddisgust that I felt all throughout the viewing. The first few minuteswere promising as the style tried to emulate mod films of the sixtieslike TO SIR WITH LOVE or UP THE JUNCTION. However, I couldn't helpnoticing a strong (coincidental? perhaps not...) stylistic similaritywith the documentary (similar title lettering and inter-titles), butperhaps the immediately abrasive and alienating performance of ConO'Neil as Joe and the dramatically revisionist or outright inaccuraterecreation of historic events and characters had me pining for the docagain. To worsen the effect even further was the mean spiriteddepiction of Joe by Moran. It often seemed that Joe's career wasconsidered a joke or his superior recording ability (he was, after all,the most in demand and influential studio engineer in the 1950's herein the UK, a time littered with many formidable talents in the field)was noting but a haphazard fluke (illustrated with too many moments ofJoe idiotically twisting knobs in the control booth, hoping for some ofhis "magic" to appear). This is insultingly condescending, again,especially in comparison to the vast testimony on display in thedocumentary, even from those who apparently were not that fond of theman on a personal level. My head was shaking "no" so frequently duringthe viewing, I could have well been mistaken for having a neuromusculardisorder! Another crucial flaw in the presentation was the supportingcast. Rather than cast boys between the ages of 15 and 17 (which wasthe correct age of most of the young musicians recording for Joe duringhis time as an independent record producer), everyone seems to bepushing 30! Imagine what Moran would do to OLIVER! Would he cast JohnStatham as the Artful Dodger? David Beckham as Oliver? Such toying withthe ages of these lads dramatically shifts the audiences perception ofWHY his musicians looked at him with such ridicule. But, according tomuch testimony in the documentary (it rears it's pretty head again andagain), many of these young men actually seemed to like working withhim due to the creative opportunities he gave them not available atmore rigid studios. It was also frequently stated that Joe was not thatabrasive (as depicted in TELSTAR) but that he had short, motivatedperiod of hysterics and outburst. Another rather bizarre depiction isthat he only had one band recording for him, here shown as the houseband The Tornadoes. In actuality, he had many bands with manydramatically different sounds and styles; some that he created and somethat recorded for him after the auditioning process. My question willalways be: How did 2 young American filmmakers achieve so muchaccuracy, humanity and inspiration in 2 hours and Moran, a Britishnative fail so grandly on all accounts in the exact same amount oftime? In all, I found TELSTAR (the title is NOT intriguing, despiteits, here, underdeveloped significance) to be a depressing, meanspirited, disrespectful, near-condemnation of someone who shouldrightfully be held up as one of England's few true human nationaltreasures, despite his all too human flaws.Badly paced. Poorly written. Incoherently structured. Frustratinglyinaccurate. Depressingly judgemental.If you are looking for a completely dispiriting evening at the cinemayou've come to the right place.

jc-osms 2012-05-21 03:58:56

The Telstar falls down...

I'm a little too young to appreciate Joe Meek's music and it seems tomy ears that his music does seem nowadays as if it's from a museum, itsounds so fossilised....and yet, there's no denying the popularity ofhis rinky-dink pop music from the pre-Beatles era, even achieving thealmost unique feat for a British "artist" (he'd have loved thatsoubriquet, no doubt) of having a number one in America with theirritatingly catchy "Telstar". I some time ago watched the BBC-TV"Arena" documentary on his life and times and my interest was piquedthen at this most unusual man.Even if you didn't know Meek's life story, we pretty much get to knowfrom the outset that Joe's final breakdown is going to end in tragedy,with the narrative frequently inserting scenes from his last dayleading up to the tragic shooting of firstly his landlady (pretty muchan accident, as it appears here), this giving him the final spur toalmost immediately afterwards take his own life in equally violentfashion.The film unfolds from this downbeat start into a most entertainingfirst half as the story charts his rise to mini-Spector status,producing memorable number one hits for John Leyton, The Tornadoes andThe Honeycombs. Into Joe's (no pun intended) orbit drift a motleyselection of eccentric beat group personnel, with much bawdy humour tothe fore. I especially enjoyed Kevin Spacey's spot-on upper-classEnglish accent as Joe's eccentric business manager, military "crusty"Major Banks and there's also a fine turn by Tom Burke as Meek'snervous, sensitive indeed spiritualist in-house songwriter GeoffGoddard. I wasn't quite convinced that Con O'Neill really gave us Meekas he was, although there's no denying his conviction playing. As for the narrative structure, I felt that the the film failed totruly give Meek his due when he finally reached the top and believe hisachievements deserved a bit more highlighting, before theround-the-corner Beatles-era of grittier bands with in-builtsongwriting teams with the flair and talent to display their ownwriting ingenuity and studio inventiveness, effectively consigned Meekto, quoting Chris Andrews' 1965 hit, a "yesterday man".The second half of the film I think, follows a little too much thefortunes of Meek's fellow-travellers, particularly the ridiculouslyone-dimensional "little-voice" that was Heinz Burt. Indeed Meek'scharacter disappears from the screen it seems for some time beforewe're jolted back to the closing scenes and his final demise. His storyis undoubtedly a tragic one (suppressed homosexual, thwarted talent,moody artist) but I didn't think the film quite got behind hischaracter enough and thus failed to catch the full parabola of hiseventful life.The recreation of the period is great though - from the swinging,jigsaw-style opening credits to the chaotic scenes in Meek's makeshiftstudio above his landlady's leather goods shop and good acting byalmost all on board (helped by the main characters' physical similarityto their real life counterparts) and of course the reproduction of thatso distinctive "Joe Meek sound" replete with plinky-plonk organjungle-drums and loads of re-verb, often married to "death-disc"lyrics.An entertaining step-back-in-time then, if ultimately falling short inits attempt to do justice to the memory of a haunted but very talentedand singularly individual pop maverick. To paraphrase Brian Wilson froma little later in the decade, I guess Joe just wasn't made for thosetimes.

MrsT_tobe 2012-05-20 09:54:38

watch it if you're absolutely bored senseless and you can think of literally nothing else to do

I watched this film a while ago with my brother and mum.We were lookingforward to watching it as we thought it would be an interesting,entertaining film. We were however, disappointed.From the start of the film the pace was I felt rushed in parts, itseemed to lack direction and 'flitted' from scene to scene with littleexplanation as to why. Prior to watching the film we(my brother and I)knew a little about Joe Meek. I didn't do any reading before watchingthe film to find out anything else about him.The film focused on Two aspects of Meek's portrayed personality- 1)homosexuality and 2) Frequent temper tantrums- and that's it , thatsthe basis of the story. There's a brief appearance of singer's BillyFury(the tornado's were at one time his backing group) and GeneVincent. The portrayal of Vincent is in my opinion 'cringeworthy' anddisappointing.In short, my advice is watch it if you're absolutely bored senselessand you can think of literally nothing else to do.

chrismartonuk-1 2012-05-20 16:56:48

Not so meek and mild.

At last! Nick Moran's labour of love finally reaches the big screen andit's well worth the wait. It's basically the stage play transferred tothe screen but, considering how claustrophobic Joe's life at 304Holloway Road was, it's no bad thing. When he ventures outside into apre-summer of love 60's London, the culture clash between his datedbe-suited appearance and the bright colours of the kids speaks volumesas to what an anachronism he's become. All the regular support cast inthe Joe Meek story are present and correct. Kevin Spacey is thetragically unheeded voice of reason as business partner Major WilfredBanks. Far from being an insensitive hard-headed businessman, he gaveJoe the finances to indulge his talent but found, as Dennis Preston haddone before, that Joe was an ungrateful employee. Banks role has beenexpanded to incorporate Spacey and give him more screen time and -apart from the odd lapse - his British tones are maintained throughout.Con O'Neill must surely be up for a BAFTA. He truly inhabits the partand one can only hope it doesn't have an adverse mental effect in thelong run a la Heath Ledger. One telling scene has Meek at his lowestebb as the Beatles - whom he could have signed - receive their MBE's ona TV in the background. J J Field is the unworthy object of hisaffections as Golden Boy Heinz. His part is also expanded from the playas we see him grappling with Jess Conrad backstage and witness hisunbelievable arrogance to his backing band. Actually, Heinz got on wellwith his support band in spite of their low opinion of his musicalabilities. Of the rest of the cast, Pam Ferris provides sympathy forthe luckless Mrs Shenton who cheerfully fails to grasp the increasinglydangerous madhouse she has given shelter to. Still, I can't imagine herfamily members sitting through her violent end - which is depicted asmore of an accident than on stage. The actor playing Ritchie Blackmorecould have provided a Brummie accent as the stage version did. Butthese are minor quibbles. Nick Moran and Simon Jordan deserve creditfor getting this on screen. In wake of Phil Spector's recentconviction, it is more timely than ever.

technojazzbrother 2012-05-20 08:14:52

Stellar Performance from Con O'Neil

British films made by people like Richard Curtis (The Boat that Rockedet al) tend to look at the swinging 60's of London with heavily rosetinted spectacles. All pimms, waistcoats, flower power and crazyshenanigans. All very well but not much to do with reality - I thoughtAustin Powers would have killed that off in the 90's....which is whyNick Moran's directorial debut is such a breath of fresh air.For those that don't know the Joe Meek at the centre of this film -control freak, gay in the wrong decade, tone deaf drug addicted musicalpioneer - get ready for a roller-coaster of a ride. Without wishing tospoil the arc of the story, this is a classic tale of a man with avision breaking new ground...with disastrous consequences.Con O'Neil dominates this film with a superb manic performance whichcaptures the claustrophobic and chaotic feel of the centre of Joe'suniverse, his recording studio above a handbag shop in central Londonin the early 60's. Ably supported by a host of good actors - inparticular Kevin Spacey, Pam Ferris, and (even) James Cordon are allspot on. What looks like a cod-60's Curtis-esquire disaster for thefirst 20 minutes heads somewhere altogether darker once the actioncranks up as Joe starts to get some no.1 hits in the charts.A must watch cautionary tale about fame, love, jealously, paranoia andmusic, this is a fine carachter piece with some excellent nuancedcomedy amidst the darker elements, it's a really well executed debutfrom Mr Moran...enjoy.

arisdisc 2012-05-18 16:16:46

For US viewers - well done!

I watched this last night and frankly, thought it was terrific. I wasalive during this short period of musical history but was not aware ofthis story (and I ended up in the music business myself for the next 40years). I see that a number of UK viewers are disappointed with thecasting (apparently many are familiar TV stars) but for us in the USAthis has no negative effect. Kevin Spacey is the only familiar face andfrankly, I found his presence just a tad distracting, since 'anyone'could have played the part. Extremely well acted and directed. Themusical segments are wonderful and I only wish they had been a bitlonger. My only disappointment with the film is the thick Britishaccent - a lot of dialog passed me by (there were no subtitles on theversion I watched) but it's not a reason for US film lovers to passthis by. Fascinating story - and in my opinion, perfectly executed. Seeit!

zoltan-22 2012-05-18 01:39:26

Bad movie

Joe Meek was a genius, he was a pioneer of his field. His influence onpop music is still discernible after almost 50 years. Alone Telstar wasa breathtaking creation, completely different from the music of itstime and from anything else before. This is what made Joe Meek famous.When I first heard Telstar, I was astonished and thougth that thismusic is not from this planet (just as Telstar was off planet). Iassume this movie is watched by people who felt the same and recognizedthe genius of Joe Meek. However, this movie shows Joe Meek as ahomosexual lunatic involved in all kind of conflicts. Many people havesimilar fate but nobody would make a movie of them. In case of Joe Meekall the negative events shown might have been reality, nevertheless JoeMeek was Telstar, The Tornados, Heinz, The Honeycombs and othersuccessful, great music productions. Why would one wash dirty laundrywhen there are so many beautiful things to show? This movie is the samekind of miscarriage as Ray. Disappointing, despite of great acting.

arjunkaul 2012-05-12 01:40:52

Disturbing film with some great moments

This is a cinematic adaptation of the life of Joe Meek.If you don't know who Joe Meek was, lets just say that he was a pivotalfigure in the evolution of popular music whose innovative productiontechniques and zeal for creation laid the path for a lot of the thingsthat are recorded and broadcast today.This movie by Nick Moran may not be factually accurate let me say thatupfront. So don't treat it as a dossier on Joe Meek's life or that ofhis colleagues. This film is however a tribute to Joe Meek andcertainly has some of the things that Joe was great at: Music,Inspiring people and being a sensitive soul.Good performances from everyone. Thats one thing about British cinema.You can be assured of superior acting than their American counterparts.That's a given.I've put an open letter from Patrick Pink in the forum below in caseyou may care to read it. Its his less than happy reaction on the film.However, this film will certainly help spread the legend of Joe Meekand Telstar and its definitely a good movie to watch.You will feel lousy for him at the end of the movie. For him as well asthe other pop music heroes who then succumbed to their less than greatfortunes as ordinary people and died in squalor and poverty unknown tothe rest of the world. That's pretty phucking sad!Watch it, let the music inspire you and say a prayer for them.

info-4733 2012-05-11 16:10:18

Worst directed British film ever?

Because I am old enough to remember Joe Meek I approached this filmwith real relish. That was my first big mistake. Telstar is trulyappalling, largely due to the direction of Nick Moran. It is a completemess from start to finish, lurching around at a frightening speedwithout any real explanation of what is going on, one minute offeringup infantile farce, the next Shakespearian melodrama. It is hard tobelieve that anyone could have taken such an interesting and sad storyand made such a dog's dinner of it. But the director is not the onlyone to blame. It is hopelessly miscast with not one person lookingcomfortable in their role. Kevin Spacey looks like he's just wanderedinto the wrong studio from some sixties sitcom while most of the "band"are totally unbelievable. And Con O'Neil with that horrible squeakyvoice delivers a performance so over the top that he makes BrianBlessed look like a restrained actor. The whole sorry mess drags on andon for close on two hours without ever being even remotely involving. Iwish there was a star rating below one. Telstar is worthy of it.

RobertFarrelly 2012-05-11 03:59:01

The Best British Film in Years

To be honest I only popped into see this at the LFF screening becauseit had Kevin Spacey in it and that bloke from Gavin and Stacey. I hadno idea who Joe Meek was and couldn't sing one of his songs if you paidme. My expectations were low but I thought what the hell and settledinto my seat. The first thing that struck me was the style of thepiece, Nick Moran has captured the era beautifully, it looksincredible. The performances, to a man, are wonderfully heightened andthere is an incredible energy to the piece. I laughed a lot and totallybought into the madness of the Holloway Road studio and itsinhabitants. The second half of the film punches you right in the gut.Meeks descent from manic,comedic,volatile, music genius, to heartbroken, paranoid, physco is painfully moving. Con O'Neill is amazing,it's one of those performances that just haunts you. Staying with youlong after the credits role. I sat in the cinema with the rest of thespellbound audience and watched gobsmaked as Morans film launched intoits final heart wrenching act. This is a British film to be proud of.Unlike anything we have seen for many, many years. A truly remarkabledebut from Moran. Great stuff.

Ali_Catterall 2012-05-10 07:20:55

Hellstar

Telstar takes its name from the galaxy-conquering instrumental composedby maverick pop producer Joe Meek and performed by his in-house bandThe Tornadoes - the first British group to have a US Number 1. Onelisten to 'Telstar' should confirm the obvious. It is the product of asick mind. It sounds like a sharpened Stylophone being dragged acrossthe teeth. A death trap of a fairground ride, whirling murderously outof control. A rictus-grinning glassy-eyed zombie of a hit, whichabsolutely will not stop, ever. It's Margaret Thatcher's favouritetune.Appropriately, 'Telstar's' tone-deaf creator made Phil Spector orFactory's Martin Hannett look the very zenith of psychological fitness.This former RAF radar operator and electronics genius's revolutionaryapproach to studio engineering saw him transform his flat above aleather goods shop in North London's Holloway Road into an unlikely hitfactory. A spaghetti junction of wiring and knobs and mysteriouselectronic devices, giving rise to striking sounding records, drenchedwith echo, reverb, 'compression' and God knows what else; a veryEnglish, kitchen sink approach to hit making.But Meek's tale is tragic. The hits dried up; the biggie, 'Telstar',Joe's tribute to the first communication satellite, had its royaltiesfrozen in a drawn-out plagiarism case; he was arrested for cottaging,then implicated in the murder of a rent boy found dismembered in asuitcase. Already nuttier than a crate of cashews, he sunk further intospeed-freaked, pill popping paranoia and alleged Satanism, beforeshooting his landlady, then himself, with a shotgun on February 3 1967,the eighth anniversary of his hero Buddy Holly's death.With raw ingredients like that, you'd have to try quite hard to serveup a dull Joe Meek biopic. Or be an actor-turned-director with aself-penned script and a cast that resembles what might tumble out ifyou shook an issue of 'Heat' magazine upside down."It's not supposed to be like this!" protests the doomed Meek (ConO'Neill) as the gears of his life grind to a halt, and you can't helpbut agree. There's really no polite way of putting this: Telstar is anembarrassing farrago, an amateurish, incoherent pantomime of a piece,stuffed with interchangeable characters, a sketchy, largelyunsympathetic leading role, and - betraying its stage play origins -unspeakably stilted dialogue. Pity the lucked-out actor forced to spoututter toss like: "With his gadgets and witchcraft he's a proper fackingNostradamus!" Well, cor blimey Guvnah, 'ee's in a right two and eightand no mistake! James Corden (playing Tornadoes drummer Clem Cattini) is rapidlybecoming the one-stop shop for charmless farts who swear a lot and arefat. While Ralf Little (playing a young Chas Hodges, of Chas & Davefame) should have a bit of a think about getting a new agent roundabout yesterday. Tom Burke as Meek's weird songwriter-cum-spiritualistGeoff Goddard is probably the best thing here, save for Kevin Spacey asMeeks' financial backer, the fittingly-named Major Banks who shames thelot of them every time he appears in his ginger walnut whip of ahairpiece.There's the nagging suspicion that big, important lumps of this filmhave been left in the edit and, at times, it's tricky to work out whatthe heck is going on. We're never properly introduced to Meek so neverdevelop any empathy for him. We're shown nothing of his strangechildhood (his mum dressed him as a girl); how he first secretlystamped his sonic style on Frankie Laine's classic 'Green Door' - oreven how he came to be at No. 304 Holloway Road in the first place.The composing and realization of mega-hit 'Telstar', harking back tothe guitar instrumentals of the 1950s, while anticipating the garagepop of the 1960s and the trash aesthetic of the 1970s, should have beenthe movie's big beating heart - it's the film's title after all - butis also afforded scant dramatic weight. Instead, every other sceneseems to feature Meek angrily kicking someone downstairs or flashesforward to his breakdown, diluting the tension by increments.The whole sorry saga is told much better in BBC2's excellent 1991 Arenadocumentary 'The Strange Story Of Joe Meek'. Fifty minutes shorter thanTelstar, it also includes an audio recording of Joe in a graveyard inthe dead of night talking to a cat that has a human voice. Well, we sayhuman voice. It's much more like a miaowing kind of voice. It's justthat every time it miaows, Joe has transcribed it as saying "Help me."Yet Telstar does boast one powerful scene near the end, as bailiffsgatecrash the flat and lever off the boards that the screaming-mad Meekhas nailed to the windows. As light pours in for the first time inmonths, Joe writhes to the ground like the vampire he's become, a seedybloodsucker whose self-destructive streak took more than a few downwith him. All involved in Telstar might like to reflect on this nexttime they sign up for another vanity project.

jotix100 2012-05-05 05:43:22

Holloway Road

Joe Meek, a figure of the the English pop scene in the early 1960s isthe subject of this biopic which we caught recently on a cable channel.It is based on a play by James Hicks and adapted for the screen by theplaywright and director Nick Moran. The film tries to make sense on thelife of a man that was an enigma, even to his own contemporaries.The portrait of this troubled man who tried to give his country and therest of the music world the sounds he had in his mind, does notcompletely clarify for someone not acquainted with that era of what JoeMeek was able to accomplish. His life went from highs to periods wherehe could not even pay the rent of the space he used atop a leathergoods store on Holloway Road.Adding complexity to the story is Meek's own homosexuality and hisinfatuation with Heinz Burt, a blond aspiring singer who showed notalent. The groups he sponsored ended up breaking away from him and theroyalties of his one smash hit ended in a battle with his own backer,Major Wilfred Banks. The irony being that Joe Meek did not live long toenjoy some of the money the French court awarded him.The film is worth a look because of Con O'Neill's performance as JoeMeek. Having only seen him on stage during his "Blood Brothers"success, we were curious to see him on the screen. He does notdisappoint. Kevin Spacey appears as Major Banks. The excellent PamFerris is Violet, the landlady of the property where Joe Meek set up ashis primitive studio. J. J. Feild is Heinz, Joe's first protégé.The film has been given that faded look to take the viewers back to theearly 60s and the rock scene in Britain with the good camera work byPeter Wignall. The audience will probably have trouble recognizing someof he hits from those years that pop on in the movie.

cbak2005 2012-05-04 13:13:23

Good if flawed slice of early 60s Britpop

I had been waiting for this film for over a year, as I have long beenfascinated by Joe Meek, and largely I wasn't disappointed. Thiscertainly showed how Meek made life hell for those around him,especially the hapless and loyal Geoff Goddard.The standout performances were by James Corden as Clem Cattini and RalfLittle as Chas Hodges. Tom Burke shows a painfully shy Geoff Goddardsuppressing unrequited love for Meek, who was more infatuated withHeinz.There are some laugh out loud moments and in jokes. When Meek is toldof a telephone call from Brian Epstein about the Beatles he responds"Yeah Yeah Yeah". Chas Hodges himself has a cameo as a neighbourcomplaining about the noise, and Jess Conrad joins Hodges as being inthe film (as Larry Parnes) and portrayed (be ex-EastEnders actor NigelHarman). A further subtle moment refer to a boy called Tom who had comeall the way from Wales. Did everyone realise that this was Tom Jones?Justin Hawkins also has an amusing time as Screaming Lord Sutch,although it's just as well he isn't given much to say.The film also scores well at the end in showing photos of the realpeople alongside their film portrayals.Heinz Burt's family are upset over what the Press in Southampton arecalling a "gay slur". This is sad. If his relationship with Meek isinaccurately portrayed it is hardly derogatory. The family should bemore distressed that Heinz is portrayed as a buffoon by JJ Feild.The film has a few failings. It hints at Meek's earlier life, butstarts with Goddard's arrival in Holloway Road. I wanted to know howMeek came to that place, his RAF background, and more about how hecreated that amazing sound (there have been rumours that the ending ofTelstar was the sound of a toilet being flushed, played backwards). ConO'Neil's performance as Meek varies from riveting to at times quitehammy, as in his mostly oily treatment of Mrs Shenton (Pam Ferris).Kevin Spacey's casting as a pompous army officer type business partnerwas unnecessary, but aimed at the US market (I don't think the US willbe interested at all). The film also plays fast and loose with theending. Patrick Pink has said that he was downstairs during the fatefulmoments on 3 February.*******SPOILER*******The film is kind to Meek in showing him accidentally shooting MrsShenton (unlikely given Patrick's account), but has Patrick Pinkwitnessing Meek's suicide, which is not consistent with his ownaccount.Worthwhile, though, as a snapshot of the pre-Beatles pop scene.