- No Surrender (film)
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No Surrender Directed by Peter Smith Produced by Mamoun Hassan Written by Alan Bleasdale Starring Michael Angelis
Avis Bunnage
James Ellis
Bernard Hill
Joanne Whalley
Ray McAnally
Pete PriceMusic by Daryl Runswick Distributed by Circle Films US
Palace Pictures/Video UKRelease date(s) 1985 Running time 100 min. Language English No Surrender is a 1985 comedy film starring Michael Angelis and Ray McAnally.
The film is black comedy about the Northern Ireland conflict, set in Liverpool on New Year's Eve. The plot focuses on the Irish Catholic and Protestant communities in the city, and the action is seen through the eyes of the manager of a ballroom (night-club for hire) in a rough working class area. The manager (Michael Angelis) is of Greek origin (which leads to some disparaging jokes about 'kebab and chips') and new to the job. He finds out that the previous manager has left a lunatic legacy: before coming to a grisly end, he arranged an elaborate joke on his organized crime employers. He has hired out the same hall for New Year's Eve to several groups of senior citizens, including one hardline Irish Catholic Nationalists dressed in costume, one hardline Protestant Unionists and one of people suffering from mental retardation and senile dementia. As a coup de grace, he has also hired a skittish, incompetent magician, played by Elvis Costello, to perform. Bernard Hill plays the club doorman who is ex French Foreign Legion. 194 Radio City DJ Pete Price starred in this film as a comedian by the name of Frankie Diamond. The Catholics and Protestants recall their skirmishes and sing provocative songs to each other. The other main character is senior citizen Billy 'the Beast' McCracken, a former Loyalist boxer and brawler (with darker deeds also hinted at), played by Ray McAnally. In the midst of all this arrives a Loyalist terrorist on the run (Mark Mulholland).
As the night unfolds, the absurdity of these decrepit pensioners reliving their conflicts plays out against the background of inept entertainers, to great comical effect. More serious issues arise as the runaway terrorist threatens Billy the Beast's family. Despite its dark undercurrents and bleak setting, the film manages to be very funny and even life-affirming overall.
External links
- No Surrender at the British Comedy Guide
- No Surrender at the Internet Movie Database
Television
serialsBoys from the Blackstuff (1982) · Scully (1984) · The Monocled Mutineer (1986) · G.B.H (1991) · Jake's Progress (1995) · Melissa (1997) · Oliver Twist (1999) · The Sinking of the Laconia (2010)Television
playsEarly to Bed (1975) · Scully's New Year's Eve (1978) · The Black Stuff (1980) ·
The Muscle Market (1981)Films No Surrender (1985)Stage
playsAre You Lonesome Tonight? (1975) · Fat Harold And The Last Twenty Six (1975) · Feet First (c.1975) · The Party's Over (1975) · Scully (1975) · Down The Dock Road (1976) · Franny's Scully's Christmas Stories (1976) · It's A Madhouse (1976) · Should Auld Acquaintance (1976) · No More Sitting On The Old School Bench (1977) · Crackers (1978) · Pimples (1978) · Having A Ball (1981) · What Are We Going To Do Now? (published 1982) · Young People Today · Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing (1986) · On The Ledge (1993)Categories:- 1985 films
- 1980s comedy films
- 1980s comedy film stubs
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