Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester
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Manchester may not be as densely populated as other major global cities, but its impact has been felt around the world. There are a great many reasons for people to want to visit, from the city’s industrial history to its musical legacy that birthed bands such as The Smiths, Oasis and Take That, not to mention the famous City-United football rivalry – and now its part in cinema history. Manchester’s architecture has played host to a number of movies from the UK and abroad, its famous streets filling in for locations around the world. Whereas some cities fall in and out of fashion, Manchester has retained its fascination for filmmakers over the decades. Join us as we look at some locations you can visit in real life!

By Victoria Luxford

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Town Hall, Albert Square (Sherlock Holmes, 2009) – We’ve heard of actors being typecast, but buildings? Our journey starts with Manchester’s Town Hall, the seat of local government and a striking Gothic building that was completed in the late 1800s. Anyone visiting will note that the exterior and interior both bear resemblance to the Palace of Westminster in London, aka the Houses of Parliament. Hollywood noticed, too, and the building has ‘played’ Parliament in many films including The Iron Lady, Victor Frankenstein and Guy Ritchie’s reboot of Sherlock Holmes, where star Robert Downey Jr can be seen trying to foil a nefarious plot.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Dale Street, Northern Quarter (Captain America: The First Avenger, 2011) – A couple of years later, one of the founding fathers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would make the city’s historic Northern Quarter his home. Since New York had changed substantially from the Second World War, this area was dressed as a typical 1940s street from across the pond. Dale Street in particular plays a big part in a pivotal scene, just after Captain America’s (Chris Evans) transformation, where he gives chase to a villain. One of the more distinct areas of the city, the Northern Quarter is known for its eclectic mix of bars and boutiques, becoming a must-see for tourists and movie fans alike.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Stevenson Square, Northern Quarter (Morbius, 2022) – Marvel returned to the area more than ten years later, this time focusing on Stevenson Square for the recent dark superhero tale Morbius with Jared Leto. His character, a scientist with a form of vampirism, lives in modern-day New York over ninety years after the events of Captain America, but the production only needed to move a few streets away. Stevenson Square, once a hub for protests and public speaking, now adds to the vibrant nightlife of the city and in 2019 was given a makeover to look like the Manhattan streets Dr Morbius called home.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Old Trafford Football Stadium (Looking for Eric, 2009) – An elegant way to combine a love of film and sport – Ken Loach’s touching comedy-drama is about a man who battles his way out of a personal crisis with the help of his hero, Manchester United football legend Eric Cantona. If you know anything about the movie or football, Old Trafford should need little introduction: The Theatre of Dreams, as it’s called, has hosted everything from the 1966 World Cup games to events at the 2012 Olympics. Of course, it is also home to Manchester United, with options to either take in a game or buy a ticket for a stadium tour.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Oldham Street (24 Hour Party People, 2002) – The biopic of Factory Records, the independent powerhouse that revitalised the Manchester music scene in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, is a beloved cult British comedy starring Steve Coogan as the label’s notorious founder, Tony Wilson. It’s a story born in Manchester, but sadly many of its key locations are no longer standing. A walk down Oldham Street, the site of the infamous Dry Bar owned by the label and featured in the film, puts you in the area where both the film and real events happened. The bar is currently being redeveloped as a hotel, presumably with less rockstar mayhem!

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Spring Gardens (Official Secrets, 2019) – Another film where Manchester stood in for its southern neighbour, Official Secrets is the story of whistle-blower Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley), who attempts to thwart the 2003 US invasion of Iraq by leaking a government memo. Oscar nominee Knightley filmed on Spring Gardens, a popular street famous for its association with the financial industry and notable for its historic listed buildings. While many of those buildings are places of work, the exteriors used for filming are public scenery, making it easy for you to follow in the footsteps of the stars!

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Chetham’s Library (Tolkien, 2019) – X-Men star Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins brought this biopic of the early years of author J. R. R. Tolkien to life, but it was Manchester that provided the setting! Chetham’s Library, the oldest library in the English-speaking world, doubled as Tolkien’s (Hoult) college library in the film, where many breakthrough moments take place. As well as visiting the set of this Hollywood movie, the library itself is worth visiting for its vast collection of writings, its eye-catching design and the centuries of history within its walls. Oh, and did we mention it’s completely free to the public?

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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The Daily Express Building (The Man in the White Suit, 1951) – This is one for the real film geeks among you! The Man in the White Suit, a 1950s satire about an inventor (Sir Alec Guinness) who falls foul of big business when he invents a fabric impervious to the elements, is considered a classic of British cinema. One scene clearly features Manchester’s Daily Express Building, a giant office complex that was ahead of its time, sporting a very modern look for a structure built in 1939. While the newspaper that gave it its name left in the ‘80s, the building still stands and looks remarkably at home beside its much younger neighbours.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Soap Street, Shudehill (Alfie, 2004) – This area in Greater Manchester became Manhattan for the 2000s Alfie remake, where Jude Law plays the titular womaniser about town. The original 1960s movie saw Michael Caine living in London, but Law’s version comes to America – sort of. Soap Street stands in for New York’s Grove Street in café scenes with one of Alfie’s lovers, Julie (Marisa Tomei). Interestingly, however, if you arrive on the street now, the café won’t be there – it was purpose-built for the production and demolished afterwards. Other parts of the city were used as imitation New York streets, including another credit for the Northern Quarter!

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Openshaw, Greater Manchester (East Is East, 1999) – This late ‘90s gem followed the tribulations of a British-Asian family as the younger generation rail against their parents’ expectations. It’s set in Salford, Greater Manchester, but the filming took place a few miles away in Openshaw. Locations all over the area were used for filming, such as Old Ashton Road for the interiors, and a cinema in nearby Ashton-Under-Lyne. If you want to get a feel for an area away from the tourist traps, as well as the chance to absorb the ‘set’ of a UK cinema classic, this is the place to go.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Stalybridge, Greater Manchester (Yanks, 1979) – This small, unassuming town about eight miles from Manchester City Centre became the focus of Hollywood’s cameras in the late 1970s when Richard Gere, then one of the biggest stars in the world, came there to film romantic war drama Yanks. He played one of several American GIs who arrive in a small town in the north of England during World War II and sweep the local women off their feet. However, in real life he was less than enamoured with the town, with the media reporting some cutting remarks about Stalybridge that he later denied. Decide for yourself, stopping by Trinity Street where the opening of the film was shot, which remains largely the same.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester (A Monster Calls, 2016) – Another small town touched by movie magic, the streets of Ramsbottom kept their lights on extra late in 2014, filming the high-concept family movie A Monster Calls. The town’s centre played host to a car chase in the film, and it’s believed Alien legend Sigourney Weaver was also present for filming, playing the grandmother of the lead character in the film. The day-to-day reality is likely to be a little more idyllic, although we’re sure there will be some locals on hand to talk about the night their home was immortalised!

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester.
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Paton Street (It’s a Sin, 2021) – We end with a bit of small-screen royalty: It’s a Sin blew audiences away last year with its funny, touching and honest look at the lives of people in the LGBTQ+ community during the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. While much of the story is set in London, Paton Street in Manchester was used for the location of the main characters’ flat. Eagle-eyed viewers will spot Clampdown Records, a popular Manchester music shop, kept for the show. Paton Street is near the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village, featuring the bustling bars of Canal Street, and the enormous Pride festival that happens every year.

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Movie Capitals: On Location In… Manchester

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