
Documentary featuring a cavalcade of Northern comedy stars including the great Frank Randle, George Formby, Arthur Askey, Norman Evans and many more. The North of England has always enjoyed its own very particular brand of comedy, best seen today in Coronation Street. 80 years ago however Mancunian Studios produced feature films for the northern masses. Funny Up North tells the story of the Mancunian Studios, its eccentric owner John E Blakeley and its cavalcade of stars including such household names as Arthur Askey, Jimmy Jewell, George Formby and the legendary Frank Randle. Hosted by Professor Chris Lee, the authority on northern cinema, Funny Up North takes you on a journey from its humble beginnings to its sad demise in the 1960s.
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Documentary featuring a cavalcade of Northern comedy stars including the great Frank Randle, George Formby, Arthur Askey, Norman Evans and many more. The North of England has always enjoyed its own very particular brand of comedy, best seen today in Coronation Street. 80 years ago however Mancunian Studios produced feature films for the northern masses. Funny Up North tells the story of the Mancunian Studios, its eccentric owner John E Blakeley and its cavalcade of stars including such household names as Arthur Askey, Jimmy Jewell, George Formby and the legendary Frank Randle. Hosted by Professor Chris Lee, the authority on northern cinema, Funny Up North takes you on a journey from its humble beginnings to its sad demise in the 1960s.
2011-07-23
6
The History Of Northern Comedy
6.1Jimmy Neutron is a boy genius and way ahead of his friends, but when it comes to being cool, he's a little behind. All until one day when his parents, and parents all over Earth are kidnapped by aliens, it's up to him to lead all the children of the world to rescue their parents.
5.7Arthur answers a distress call from Princess Selenia, who is menaced by the nefarious Maltazard.
6.7Let's face it, rats are not the most beloved creatures on earth. However, maybe this little tale about the history of human and rat interaction will change the world's tune. At least that is the hope of Remy, the star of Ratatouille, and his reluctant brother Emile as they guide us through world history from a rat's perspective. Why can't we all just get along?
6.2After Drax Industries' Moonraker space shuttle is hijacked, secret agent James Bond is assigned to investigate, traveling to California to meet the company's owner, the mysterious Hugo Drax. With the help of scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond soon uncovers Drax's nefarious plans for humanity, all the while fending off an old nemesis, Jaws, and venturing to Venice, Rio, the Amazon...and even outer space.
6.0A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's New Earth Army, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.
7.0Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie's friend doesn't get very far, so Charlie takes over the 'job'. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars, and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.
5.9The story of the life of Domino Harvey, who abandoned her career as a Ford model to become a bounty hunter.
8.1In Prohibition-era Chicago, musicians Joe and Jerry witness a mob hit, and flee the state in an all-female band disguised as Josephine and Daphne, but further complications set in.
7.3Cobb, Arthur and Nash are enlisted by Cobol Engineering.
5.1Taj Mahal Badalandabad leaves Coolidge College behind for the halls of Camford University in England, where he looks to continue his education, and teach an uptight student how to make the most out of her academic career.
6.2Asian Hawk leads a mercenary team to recover several lost artifacts from the Old Summer Palace, the bronze heads of the twelve Chinese Zodiac animals which were sacked by the French and British armies from the imperial Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860. Assisted by a Chinese student and a Parisian woman, Hawk stops at nothing to accomplish the mission.
7.1In stifling Edwardian London, Wendy Darling mesmerizes her brothers every night with bedtime tales of swordplay, swashbuckling and the fearsome Captain Hook. But the children become the heroes of an even greater story, when Peter Pan flies into their nursery one night and leads them over moonlit rooftops through a galaxy of stars and to the lush jungles of Neverland.
6.8Venice, 1596. Bassanio begs his friend Antonio, a prosperous merchant, to lend him a large sum of money so that he can woo Portia, a very wealthy heiress; but Antonio has invested his fortune abroad, so they turn to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, and ask him for a loan.
7.1When a lottery winner dies of shock, his fellow townsfolk attempt to claim the money.
6.9David Wozniak is a perpetual adolescent who discovers that, as a sperm donor, he has fathered 533 children. He is advised that more than 100 of his offspring are trying to force the fertility clinic to reveal the true identity of "Starbuck," the pseudonym he used when donating his sperm. To make matters worse, his girlfriend Valérie is pregnant with his child, but doesn't feel that he is mature enough to be a father.
6.8Monsieur Bosquier, the owner of a private school, is far from pleased when his eldest son, Philippe, fails his end of year exams. He decides to send his wayward offspring to England to improve his English. In exchange, Philippe’s host, a wealthy whisky distiller, Mac Farrel, will send his daughter, Shirley, to live with the Bosquiers in France. However, Philippe has already decided to spend the summer holidays on a yacht with his friends, so he sends a fellow student, Michonnet, to England in his place. The deception is soon discovered but things go from bad to worse when Philippe and Shirley fall in love and fly to Scotland to get married...
5.7It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get in with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, Jack's suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring back. When Greg and Pam's entire clan descends for the twins' birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he's fully capable as the man of the house.
6.8Coming out from jail, Lucas has decided to change his life and behave like a good citizen. But when he is taken hostage in a bank by a hare-brained robber, no cops can believe he is not part of the action.
6.5During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors are dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that threatens to invert the purpose of their mission.
6.7One morning in an ordinary town, five people are shot dead in a seemingly random attack. All evidence points to a single suspect: an ex-military sniper who is quickly brought into custody. The interrogation yields one written note: 'Get Jack Reacher!'. Reacher, an enigmatic ex-Army investigator, believes the authorities have the right man but agrees to help the sniper's defense attorney. However, the more Reacher delves into the case, the less clear-cut it appears. So begins an extraordinary chase for the truth, pitting Jack Reacher against an unexpected enemy, with a skill for violence and a secret to keep.
6.5Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private join forces with undercover organization The North Wind to stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine from destroying the world as we know it.
6.0Obsessive scientist Nathan and his lover, the naturalist Lila, discover Puff: a man born and raised in the wild. As Nathan trains the wild man in the civilized ways of the world, Lila fights to preserve the man’s natural state. In the power struggle that ensues, an unusual love triangle emerges.
7.3Writer Harry Block draws inspiration from people he knows, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result.
4.6A mature woman, a widow with a daughter of marrying age, is trying to rebuild her life, but all the men she approaches are interested in her daughter and not herself. After several failed attempts, she eventually manages to find a man of her age.
6.4Sapna runs away from her aristocratic home, fed-up of the hatred and family politics. She meets with Raj, who she is attracted to. Raj, at first wants to get rid of her, then eventually falls in love with her. Then the two of them have to be on the run as her family find out where she is after they put up a reward for her whereabouts.
6.0The career and personal life of writer Lee are at a standstill, so he divorces his bashful wife, Robin, and dives into a new job as an entertainment journalist. His assignments take him to the swankiest corners of Manhattan, but as he jumps from one lavish party to another and engages in numerous empty romances, he starts to doubt the worth of his work. Meanwhile, top TV producer Tony falls for Robin and introduces her to the world of celebrity.
6.3The life of Danny Wright, a salesman forever on the road, veers into dangerous and surreal territory when he wanders into a Mexican bar and meets a mysterious stranger, Julian, who's very likely a hit man. Their meeting sets off a chain of events that will change their lives forever, as Wright is suddenly thrust into a far-from-mundane existence that he takes to surprisingly well … once he gets acclimated to it.
5.8In the film, Solo is a down-on-his-luck writer who is encouraged by his psychiatrist to get a dog. Solo meets his love interest, who he assumes to be a dog owner when meeting her at a dog play park, but dog problems stand in their way.
5.5A London tube driver considers pursuing a third fatal accident to collect a huge payout.
5.6Three girls discover that two men are willing to do anything to impress Mother and what impresses Mother is watching her sons commit acts of rape and murder. Now these women are prisoners and lowered to pawns in the game of checkers between two dim wits and their Maniac Mommy and the question becomes, can any of them escape, alive?
5.2An uptight professional meets his lower-class biological parents for the first time.
6.4The story of an aspiring young filmmaker's encounter with a grumpy fount of movie lore.
5.9A young man inherits a nearly bankrupt funeral home from his estranged father. He falls in love with the alluring young mortician, only to find out she's offing people to keep the place in business!
5.6Young mattress salesman Brian decides to adopt a baby from China but is distracted when he forms a relationship with quirky, wealthy Harriet whom he meets at his mattress store. As their relationship flourishes, unbeknownst to them, a hitman is trying to kill Brian.
5.2Blue-collar Paulie prepares for fatherhood and his forthcoming wedding to Sue by hanging out with his groomsmen. Brother Jimbo, cousin Mike, and his pals fill the reunion with drinking, boys-will-be-boys antics and a few unexpected personal confessions. But, when the bonding devolves into accusations and regret, Paulie has to decide whether he's ready to tie the knot and take this big step into adulthood.
5.3Two young couples using anonymous sex as a catalyst to fix their troubled relationships must rethink what makes a connection work.
5.9Sixteen-year-old Dylan is dying of cancer. When a charitable organization offers to grant Dylan his final wish, the teen has a surprising request: to meet supermodel Nikki Sinclair. Much to his mother's dismay, Dylan, with the help of his best friends, goes to New York to fulfill his dream.
7.1Ermus Daglek, retired Empathtek engineer, commandeers a defunct factory where he creates androids based on persons from his past and recreates a dinner party where he lost the love of his life - until they malfunction and escape.