That Sinking Feeling

Last updated

That Sinking Feeling
That Sinking Feeling Poster.jpg
Promotional movie poster
Directed by Bill Forsyth
Written byBill Forsyth
Produced byBill Forsyth
Starring
Cinematography Michael Coulter
Edited byJohn Gow
Music byColin Tully
Production
companies
  • Glasgow Youth Theatre
  • Lake Films
  • Minor Miracle Film Cooperative
Distributed byGTO
Release dates
  • 28 August 1979 (1979-08-28)(Edinburgh)
  • October 1980 (1980-10)(UK)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryScotland
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10,000 [1]
Box office$90,000 [2]

That Sinking Feeling is a 1979 Scottish comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth, his first film as a director. The film is set in his home city of Glasgow (the Calton, Bridgeton and Parkhead areas) in Scotland. The young actors in film were members of the Glasgow Youth Theatre. The film also features Richard Demarco, the Edinburgh gallery owner, playing himself. The four main actors went on to feature in Forsyth's following film Gregory's Girl .

Contents

Plot

Ronnie, Wal, Andy and Vic are four bored, unemployed teenagers from Glasgow. One day, Ronnie comes up with the idea of stealing stainless steel sinks from a warehouse and selling them. Their plan involves dressing up as women and using a strong tranquiliser ('stop-motion potion') on the driver of a Morton's Rolls bread van.

During the robbery they encounter a ninja style thief who asks to join them. They steal 74 sinks but do not manage to sell many. Richard Demarco, an art gallery owner, buys four in a pile as an artwork at the bargain price of £200.

They still have many to sell, stored in the back of the bread van, when they accidentally take an identical van and end up with a load of doughnuts. Meanwhile, the heavily tranquilised van driver remains in hospital, expected to wake in 2068.

Cast

Production

Forsyth said "I couldn't actually afford real actors, and I certainly hadn't had any experience working with them. So I asked the teenagers at a Glasgow community centre if they would appear in my movie at no pay. Actually, I promised them points in the film (a percentage of any profits)." [2]

Filming locations

Filming took place on location around the city of Glasgow; scenes featured locations such as Kelvingrove Park, Dennistoun, Springburn and Bishopbriggs railway stations, Cowcaddens, Sighthill, Whiteinch and Woodside. Allan Court (which was a building site at the time) in Gardenhall, East Kilbride was also used as a location for the night scene.

Dubbed soundtrack

The film was released in the United States four years after the United Kingdom, following the success of Gregory's Girl and Local Hero . For the American market, (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) the soundtrack was re-dubbed using more mainstream accents from Edinburgh. [3] The MGM version cost more to re-dub than the entire budget for the film itself.[ citation needed ]

Release

Critical reception

In 1987 Forsyth said the film earned $90,000, "and we still haven't seen any profit from it." [2]

Philip French, writing in The Guardian , described the premiere of That Sinking Feeling as "Among the happiest surprises of my years as a movie critic", writing that the arrival of the film marked Bill Forsyth as a "major new talent". [4]

Vincent Canby, in The New York Times wrote that "That Sinking Feeling doesn't have quite the panache of Gregory's Girl and Local Hero" but nonetheless praised it as "amiable", "funny" and "gentle". [5]

A review in Empire gave That Sinking Feeling four stars out of five, calling it "funnier, meaner and less wistful than [Forsyth's] subsequent successes". [6]

Home media

In September 2009, a restored copy of the film was re-released on DVD by 2 Entertain. This has generated controversy however due to the use of the re-dubbed soundtrack, which had the effect of impinging upon the delivery of the dialogue and character of the film. [3]

The British Film Institute, through their Flipside arm, released the film on DVD and Blu-ray on 21 April 2014, with the original Glaswegian dialogue track restored. This release also featured an audio commentary by Bill Forsyth and critic Mark Kermode, as well as other short films Forsyth was involved with. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Local Hero</i> (film) 1983 Scottish film by Bill Forsyth

Local Hero is a 1983 Scottish comedy-drama film written and directed by Bill Forsyth and starring Peter Riegert, Peter Capaldi, Denis Lawson, Fulton Mackay and Burt Lancaster. Produced by David Puttnam, the film is about an American oil company representative who is sent to the fictional village of Ferness on the west coast of Scotland to purchase the town and surrounding property for his company. For his work on the film, Forsyth won the 1984 BAFTA Award for Best Direction.

<i>The Love Bug</i> 1969 film directed by Robert Stevenson

The Love Bug is a 1969 American sports adventure comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, based on the story "Car, Boy, Girl" by Gordon Buford. The film is the first installment in the Herbie film series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clare Grogan</span> Scottish actress and singer (born 1962)

Claire Patricia Grogan, known professionally as Clare Grogan or sometimes as C. P. Grogan, is a Scottish actress and singer. She is best known as the lead singer of the 1980s new wave music group Altered Images, as well as for supporting roles in the 1981 film Gregory's Girl and the science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf as the first incarnation of Kristine Kochanski.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vic Tayback</span> American actor (1930-1990)

Victor E. Tayback was an American actor. He is known for his portrayal as Mel Sharples in the television series Alice (1976–1985) and his appearances in The Love Boat (1977–1987). The former earned him two consecutive Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

<i>Twilight Zone: The Movie</i> 1983 American science fiction anthology film

Twilight Zone: The Movie is a 1983 American science fiction anthology film produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis. Based on Rod Serling's 1959–1964 television series of the same name, the film features four stories directed by Landis, Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller. Landis' segment is an original story created for the film, while the segments by Spielberg, Dante, and Miller are remakes of episodes from the original series. The film's cast includes Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Scatman Crothers, John Lithgow, Vic Morrow, and Kathleen Quinlan. Original series cast members Burgess Meredith, Patricia Barry, Peter Brocco, Murray Matheson, Kevin McCarthy, Bill Mumy, and William Schallert also appear in the film, with Meredith assuming Serling's role as narrator.

<i>1941</i> (film) 1979 film by Steven Spielberg

1941 is a 1979 American war comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. The film stars an ensemble cast including Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Lee, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Stack, Nancy Allen, and Mickey Rourke in his film debut. The story involves a panic in the Los Angeles area after the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

<i>Gregorys Girl</i> 1981 Scottish film

Gregory's Girl is a 1980 Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth and starring John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan. The film is set in and around a state secondary school in the Abronhill district of Cumbernauld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Forsyth</span> Scottish film director and writer

William David Forsyth. known as Bill Forsyth, is a Scottish film director and writer known for his films Gregory's Girl (1981), Local Hero (1983) and Comfort and Joy (1984) as well as his adaptation of the Marilynne Robinson novel Housekeeping (1987).

<i>My Dinner with Andre</i> 1981 film by Louis Malle

My Dinner with Andre is a 1981 American comedy-drama film directed by Louis Malle, and written by and starring André Gregory and Wallace Shawn as fictionalized versions of themselves sharing a conversation at Café des Artistes in Manhattan. The film's dialogue covers topics such as experimental theater, the nature of theater, and the nature of life, and contrasts Andre's spiritual experiences with Wally's modest humanism.

John Gordon Sinclair is a Scottish actor. He is best known for playing Gregory in the 1981 film Gregory's Girl. There was a Gordon Sinclair already registered with Equity, so he took John Gordon Sinclair as his professional name. In 2019, Sinclair played Drew Cubbin in the BBC drama Traces.

<i>Comfort and Joy</i> (1984 film) 1984 Scottish film

Comfort and Joy is a 1984 Scottish comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth and starring Bill Paterson as a radio disc jockey whose life undergoes a bizarre upheaval after his girlfriend leaves him. After he witnesses an attack on an ice cream van by angry competitors, he is led into the struggle between two Italian families over the ice cream market of Glasgow. The film received a BAFTA Award Nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 1985.

<i>Speed Zone</i> 1989 film by Jim Drake

Speed Zone is a 1989 American action comedy film set around an illegal cross-country race. The plot follows the race sponsors, who must line up new contestants after the previous racers are all arrested before the race begins.

<i>Gregorys Two Girls</i> 1999 film by Bill Forsyth

Gregory's Two Girls is a 1999 Scottish film, set in Cumbernauld and also in various locations in Edinburgh. It is the sequel to Gregory's Girl (1981), which also starred John Gordon Sinclair and Kennie Pullen and was written and directed by Bill Forsyth. The film received mixed reviews.

<i>Elvis</i> (1979 film) 1979 television film directed by John Carpenter

Elvis is a 1979 American made-for-television biographical film aired on ABC. It was directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley. It marked the first collaboration between Carpenter and Russell.

Paul Rhys is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor.

Scotland has produced many films, directors and actors.

Robert "Rab" Buchanan is a Scottish former actor, most famous for playing in three films by director Bill Forsyth: That Sinking Feeling (1979), Gregory's Girl (1981) and Comfort and Joy (1984). Buchanan, like other young actors in these films, had come to the notice of Forsyth while at the former Glasgow Youth Theatre. After these films Buchanan quit acting and now works on the technical staff at Tolbooth Theatre in Stirling, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Sannachan</span> Scottish actor

Douglas Sannachan is a Scottish actor and film maker most widely known for playing Billy the window cleaner in Gregory's Girl. His famous line was "If I don't see you through the week, I'll see you through a window". He grew up in the Calton area of Glasgow and was a pupil at John Street Secondary School, Glasgow. When he was 16 years old he was the subject of a chapter of a book called The Year of the Child by Bel Mooney.

<i>Housekeeping</i> (film) 1987 film by Bill Forsyth

Housekeeping is a 1987 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Bill Forsyth, starring Christine Lahti, Sara Walker, and Andrea Burchill. Based on Marilynne Robinson's 1980 novel Housekeeping, it is about two young sisters growing up in Idaho in the 1950s. After being abandoned by their mother and raised by elderly relatives, the sisters are looked after by their eccentric aunt whose unconventional and unpredictable ways affect their lives. It was filmed on location in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. It won two awards at the 1987 Tokyo International Film Festival.

<i>Body Cam</i> (film) 2020 film by Malik Vitthal

Body Cam is a 2020 American police procedural horror film directed by Malik Vitthal, from a screenplay by Nicholas McCarthy and Richmond Riedel and a story by Riedel. The film stars Mary J. Blige, Nat Wolff, David Zayas, David Warshofsky, Demetrius Grosse and Anika Noni Rose.

References

  1. BILL FORSYTH TAKES A LOOK BACK IN LAUGHTER Robertson, Nan. New York Times12 Feb 1984: A.19.
  2. 1 2 3 BILL FOSYTH'S OFFBEAT CONTRIBUTIONS ENRICH THE WORLD OF LOW-BUDGET FILMS Reich, Howard. Chicago Tribune 19 Sep 1985: 7.
  3. 1 2 Jane Graham (9 October 2009). "That Sinking Feeling: The heist that stole an accent". guardian.co.uk .
  4. Philip French (18 May 2014). "That Sinking Feeling – Philip French on Bill Forsyth's brilliant 1979 debut". The Guardian .
  5. Vincent Canby (15 February 1984). "FILM: 'THAT SINKING FEELING'". The New York Times .
  6. William Thomas (1 January 2000). "That Sinking Feeling Review". Empire.
  7. "Bill Forsyth's That Sinking Feeling Detailed". 6 March 2014.