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Wish You Were Here (1987 film)
Encyclopedia
Wish You Were Here is a 1987
British
drama
/comedy film
starring Emily Lloyd
and Tom Bell
. The film was written and directed by David Leland
. The original music score was composed by Stanley Myers
.
) lives in a small English seaside town in the early 1950s. She is feisty and precocious and always shocks other people with her vulgar and saucy tongue (her favourite insult is "Up yer bum"). She is also naive and easily taken advantage of. Bored with conventional jobs (which she frequently loses) and her town's dull young men, Lynda has her first sexual experience with Dave (Jesse Birdsall
) but after she has slept with one of her father's middle-aged friends (Tom Bell
), her life changes. She becomes pregnant and her father, a somewhat rigid and conventional man, disowns her. Desperately she tries to seek an illegal abortion but in the end decides to become a mother.
"Wish you were here" is a sigh Lynda makes because of her dead mother, who understood her and protected her from her intolerant father. Beneath her cheeky exterior, Lynda is a vulnerable girl who seeks love and a place in life; she lives in a time when it was difficult for teenagers like her to do that in their own way.
This movie was based loosely on the memoirs of the British madam
Cynthia Payne
as an adolescent. It was filmed in Worthing
and Bognor Regis
.
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
/comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
starring Emily Lloyd
Emily Lloyd
-Early life:Emily Lloyd Pack was born in London, the daughter of Sheila , now known as , a theatrical agent who was a longtime secretary at Harold Pinter's stage agency, and Roger Lloyd-Pack, a stage actor, well-known as Trigger in the British hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Her grandfather,...
and Tom Bell
Tom Bell (actor)
Tom Bell was an English actor on stage, film and television. He was dark-haired, lean, and in his later years often played characters having a sinister side to their nature.-Biography:...
. The film was written and directed by David Leland
David Leland
David Leland is a director, screenwriter and actor who came to international fame with his directorial debut Wish You Were Here in 1987.-Life:...
. The original music score was composed by Stanley Myers
Stanley Myers
Stanley Myers , was a prolific British film composer who scored over sixty films. Born in Birmingham, as a teenager Myers went to King Edward's School in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham...
.
Plot
Sixteen-year-old Lynda Mansell (Emily LloydEmily Lloyd
-Early life:Emily Lloyd Pack was born in London, the daughter of Sheila , now known as , a theatrical agent who was a longtime secretary at Harold Pinter's stage agency, and Roger Lloyd-Pack, a stage actor, well-known as Trigger in the British hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Her grandfather,...
) lives in a small English seaside town in the early 1950s. She is feisty and precocious and always shocks other people with her vulgar and saucy tongue (her favourite insult is "Up yer bum"). She is also naive and easily taken advantage of. Bored with conventional jobs (which she frequently loses) and her town's dull young men, Lynda has her first sexual experience with Dave (Jesse Birdsall
Jesse Birdsall
Jesse Birdsall is a British actor, known in the UK for his starring roles in several high-profile, popular television programmes, particularly in Bugs as Nick Beckett and later in The Bill as a character named Ron Gregory, a convicted paedophile.As a child, he attended the Anna Scher children's...
) but after she has slept with one of her father's middle-aged friends (Tom Bell
Tom Bell (actor)
Tom Bell was an English actor on stage, film and television. He was dark-haired, lean, and in his later years often played characters having a sinister side to their nature.-Biography:...
), her life changes. She becomes pregnant and her father, a somewhat rigid and conventional man, disowns her. Desperately she tries to seek an illegal abortion but in the end decides to become a mother.
"Wish you were here" is a sigh Lynda makes because of her dead mother, who understood her and protected her from her intolerant father. Beneath her cheeky exterior, Lynda is a vulnerable girl who seeks love and a place in life; she lives in a time when it was difficult for teenagers like her to do that in their own way.
This movie was based loosely on the memoirs of the British madam
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
Cynthia Payne
Cynthia Payne
Cynthia Payne is a retired English party hostess who made the headlines in the 1970s and 1980s when she was accused of being a madam and of running her brothel at 32 Ambleside Avenue, in Streatham, in the south-west of London, England.Payne first came to national attention in 1978 when police...
as an adolescent. It was filmed in Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
and Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...
.
Cast
- Emily LloydEmily Lloyd-Early life:Emily Lloyd Pack was born in London, the daughter of Sheila , now known as , a theatrical agent who was a longtime secretary at Harold Pinter's stage agency, and Roger Lloyd-Pack, a stage actor, well-known as Trigger in the British hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Her grandfather,...
as Lynda Mansell - Tom BellTom Bell (actor)Tom Bell was an English actor on stage, film and television. He was dark-haired, lean, and in his later years often played characters having a sinister side to their nature.-Biography:...
as Eric - Jesse BirdsallJesse BirdsallJesse Birdsall is a British actor, known in the UK for his starring roles in several high-profile, popular television programmes, particularly in Bugs as Nick Beckett and later in The Bill as a character named Ron Gregory, a convicted paedophile.As a child, he attended the Anna Scher children's...
as Dave - Clare CliffordClare CliffordClare Clifford is a British actress.She remains best known for her appearances in the television dramas Angels and This Life.Other credits include Doctor Who, Bergerac, Cardiac Arrest, Peak Practice, The Bill, Torchwood, Doctors and Casualty.Clifford has made the transition from actor to feminist...
as Mrs. Parfitt - Barbara DurkinBarbara DurkinBarbara Durkin is an English actress and trained at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre along with Steve Coogan.Though she made her debut in the 1987 British movie Wish You Were Here, she is better known for her television appearances. Her major credits include appearances in Mr. Bean,...
as Valerie - Geoffrey HutchingsGeoffrey HutchingsGeoffrey Hutchings was a British stage, film and television actor.-Early life and career:Hutchings was born in Dorchester, Dorset, England. After attending Hardye's School, he studied French and Physical Education at Birmingham University before he became a member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic...
as Hubert Mansell - Charlotte BarkerCharlotte BarkerCharlotte Barker is a British actress.She was born to British comedian Ronnie Barker and Joy Tubb.Charlotte has worked mostly for television where she gave her debut in the 1985 film Frankie and Johnnie by Martin Campbell...
as Gillian - Chloë LelandChloe LelandChloë Leland is a daughter of British film director David Leland. She became first notable for playing Emily Lloyd's younger sister in David Leland's directional debut Wish You Were Here in 1987. She later worked as location scout on the movie Land Girls...
as Margaret - Charlotte Ball as Lynda (aged 11)
- Pat HeywoodPat HeywoodPatricia Heywood in Gretna Green, Scotland) is a British character actress who has appeared in stage productions, movies, and television. Married to Oliver Neville, the former principal of RADA.-Career:...
as Aunt Millie - Abigail Leland as Margaret (aged 7)
- Geoffrey DurhamGeoffrey DurhamGeoffrey Durham is a British comedy magician and actor who was known for many years as 'The Great Soprendo'.-Early life:...
as Harry Figgis - Neville SmithNeville SmithNeville Smith is a British screenwriter and actor who has contributed to numerous television productions and movies between 1964 and 1990....
as Cinema manager - Heathcote WilliamsHeathcote WilliamsHeathcote Williams is an English poet, actor and award-winning playwright. He is also an intermittent painter, sculptor and long-time conjuror...
as Dr. Holroyd - Val McLaneVal McLaneVal McLane is an English actress, scriptwriter, director and teacher.She founded the Live Theatre Company in Newcastle in 1973 with director Geoff Gillham...
as Maisie Mathews - Susan SkipperSusan SkipperSusan Skipper is a British television and stage actress.After attending the Central School of Speech and Drama in London she went to the British television. She gave her debut in the Carry On Laughing sitcom series in 1975...
as Lynda's Mother - Lee WhitlockLee WhitlockLee Whitlock is a British television and film actor.At age 12 he gave his debut in the British television series The Gentle Touch in 1980. In 1982 he appeared as Stanley Moon, the son of Harvey Moon, in the series Shine on Harvey Moon and as Falstaff's page Robin in The Merry Wives of Windsor. In...
as Brian - Sheila KelleySheila Kelley (British actress)Sheila Kelley is a British television actress. Her career began in 1974, in the series Village Hall. Further notable appearances were in the series Within These Walls , Empire Road , Play for Today , A Touch of Frost , Dangerfield and Dalziel and Pascoe...
as Joan Figgis
Awards and honors
- 1987: Evening Standard British Film AwardsEvening Standard British Film AwardsThe Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by the British London area evening newspaper Evening Standard. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony honours films from the previous...
Emily Lloyd for Best Actress - 1987: National Society of Film CriticsNational Society of Film CriticsThe National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
Emily Lloyd for Best Actress - 1988: BAFTA Award David Leland for Best Screenplay
- 1988: BAFTA Award Nomination Best Actress