Jacqueline

An ariel view of Belfast moves over the shipyard where Mike McNeil works as a labourer.

As shipyard owner Mr. Lord walks with his Foreman below, a Crane Driver manoeuvres a beam towards Mike who begins to suffer a bout of vertigo. Marnie Knight tells us that some of the shipyard scenes were filmed along the Thames in North Woolwich E16 where her Father, a marine engineer, was working at the time. The filming caused great excitement in her family.

With Mr. Lord suspecting that the dizziness has been brought on by drink, a bucket is sent to rescue Mike. North Woolwich advises Marnie Knight, where Harland and Wolff had a shipyard until 1972.

At the end of his shift, Mike catches a bus to the bar where he orders two doubles. Queen’s Bridge over the River Lagan with Donegall Quay to the bottom left. The bridge is also seen in ‘Odd Man Out’.

Coming out of school, Jacqueline McNeil tells her disbelieving friends that the father she adores was once a farmer. St. Paul’s church on York Street, Belfast 15.

The camera pans right to bring the genuine sign into view. St. Paul’s church on York Street in the north of city.

After two days of not drinking, Mike returns to the shipyard.

With the day's work over, Mike asks a number of his workmates to join him at the pub. Much of the shipyard footage had previously been seen in 'Floodtide' made in 1949.

Fired when causing an accident during another vertigo attack, Mike returns to the bar after going home to find his family out.

Seeking work on a farm near Feystown, Mike McNeil (John Gregson) takes his daughter Jacqueline (Jacqueline Ryan) on a trip into the countryside.

After helping a new born calf, Mike is thanked by Campbell (Jack MacGowran) but told that the job has gone.

Campbell directs Mike to Mr. Lord's estate where positions are available. Across the field stands Craigdun Castle near Cullybackey in County Antrim.

In Belfast, Bob Quinton drives through Donegall Square. Donegall Square East at the corner where Chichester Street and Callender Street meet with Belfast City Hall seen to the right. The location appears in ‘Odd Man Out’ and the City Hall also features in ‘Hidden Agenda’.

Quinton spots Mrs. McNeil waiting at a bus stop. The corner of Donegall Square East and Chichester Street.

Pulling over, Quinton offers Elizabeth a lift home. Facing east on Chichester Street, Belfast 1.

Blaming his father for failing at school, Michael McNeil runs away from home. With railway closures and a changing industrial landscape, this location may prove difficult to trace.

Michael McNeil (Richard O'Sullivan) runs along the railway line to a bridge parapet where he is rescued by Mike.

Determined to secure employment for her father, Jacqueline returns to see Mr. Lord.

The youngster approaches the gates of the estate. This is the gateway to Craigdun Castle on Dunminning Road to the north of Cullybackey with the since demolished lodge just inside.

Jacqueline reaches the house where, after pushing past Baxter the Butler, she speaks with Mr. Lord. Craigdun Castle near Ballymena. The building was owned by the National Health Service at the time of filming.

The film concludes with Mr. Lord driving the McNeil family to a cottage on his land where Mike will work.

As a short post-script to our page, we feature here a selection of publicity stills and reviews kindly provided by John Gregson's son John. This is the Rank Press Release for the film: ‘In one of the outstanding performances of his career, John Gregson brings penetrating pathos and a touch of whimsy to ‘Jacqueline,’ a harsh, yet at times, tender drama of a man-of-the-soil, wasting away in a big city. Gregson plays Mike McNeil, a good-natured Irish farmer who is forced to work in the shipyards at Belfast to support his wife and two children. A man used to having his two feet planted firmly on the ground, he finds the dizzy heights at which he must work too much for him.’

The Daily Mirror wrote: ‘Jacqueline Ryan, a 12-year-old Irish girl making her film debut, gives the performance of the week. This clever child gives an amazingly natural display in ‘Jacqueline’ opening at the Odeon, Leicester Square on Wednesday. She portrays the daughter of a Belfast shipyard worker, who takes to drink to overcome his fear of heights. She can see no wrong in her dad and insists that it is illness, not drink, which lands him in so much trouble and eventually loses him his job. The big scene in which she persuades the tough boss to give her dad another chance will bring a lump to many throats. John Gregson is first-rate as the father and Kathleen Ryan convincing as the worried wife.’ And the Brighton Evening Argus said ‘For all its Belfast blarney, ‘Jacqueline’ is far from fey and a whale of a way from whimsical. It is, in fact, a tale of considerable charm and conviction. It is laced with sentiment but stops short of being sentimental. I recommend it to anyone seeking genial, warm and affecting entertainment. For such an unpretentious venture, John Gregson turns in a performance of quality. I can’t think of anything he has done hitherto that outranks it.’

From the Nottingham Guardian: ‘The combination of John Gregson and a title like this one has obvious dangers. No picture goer, with cherished memories of ‘Genevieve’, could be blames for imagining that ‘Jacqueline’ was an elderly tram or at least a vintage tricycle. In fact, ‘Jacqueline’ is delightfully human and any resemblance between the John Gregson of ‘Genevieve’ and this new film is purely coincidental. In its quiet, unpretentious way, it’s a remarkable picture. Gregson has never been so impressive and the child, Jacqueline Ryan, is quite perfect.'

‘The film, according to Director Roy Baker, was going to be directed by Desmond Hurst who, he felt, would have been ‘much better because he was Irish, for one thing and I’m not!’ And what we had in the end, was what was meant to be a kind of Protestant story, a story about Protestant people – but of course, it was entirely played by Catholics! And there is a difference you know. One of the major problems was obtaining a decent performance from Jacqueline Ryan as the young girl, who ‘seemed frightened to death. Not only of being in front of the camera, but terrified of everything and everybody around her.’ The critics on the other hand, applauded Ryan’s performance with the Evening Standard claiming that the best reason for seeing the film was Jacqueline Ryan: ‘A 12-year-old moppet with the sad, sweet face of a new-born lamb, she can pluck the heart strings like a veteran harpist.’