If the gangster classic Get Carter easily takes the plaudits as the finest movie shot on location in our part of the world, a subsequent crime offering also filmed on Tyneside was released to the world this week 35 years ago.
For several months during 1987, Newcastle city centre had been home to a crew of moviemakers and a collection of big-name actors as a curious local public looked on. Stormy Monday enjoyed a lavish premiere in New York City on April 22, 1988, finally arriving in British cinemas early the following year.
Taking its name from the signature song of American blues man T Bone Walker - Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad) - the film did have its moments. The use of Newcastle as a dramatic backdrop, the employment of local extras, and the appearance of a marching juvenile jazz band in one scene all echoed Get Carter - but the $4m production would prove to be far less enduring than its illustrious 1971 predecessor.
