Dressmaker, The (1988)

Date: 1988
Director: Jim O'Brien
Production Company: British Screen Productions, Channel Four Films, Freeway/Shedlo Film

Stars: Joan Plowright, Billie Whitelaw, Pete Postlethwaite, Jane Horrocks, Tim Ransom
Location(s): Merseyside

Region(s):

Storyline:

A repressed dressmaker and her sister struggle to look after their seventeen year old niece who is having a delusional affair with an American soldier.

Additional Information:

Screen captures by Phil Wilkinson

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Liverpool in 1944. Nellie Copple (Joan Plowright) leaves the house where she lives with her sister Margo and their niece Rita.

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Nellie walks into her brother Jack's shop to return his shirts.

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Young Women gather at a bus stop in the bus station. Victoria Place Bus Station at Seacombe Ferry Terminal on the Wirral in Merseyside.

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Military Policemen patrol the bus station as an American lorry brings G.I.s to meet their girlfriends. Victoria Place Bus Station at Seacombe Ferry Terminal.

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After Rita and Wesley become involved with each other, the pair go out on a day trip together. Facing the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool 3.

The Royal Liver Building taken by Antony Blair.

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A corporation bus carries the two from the city. The camera tilts down to find the since demolished warehouses of Princes Dock, adjacent to New Quay and Bath Street in Liverpool.

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Rita explains that the docks were built by slaves. A hotel now occupies the site of the warehouses alongside Princes Dock.

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Exploring a deserted house, Rita tells Wesley that the owners abandoned the property with everything inside at the start of the war.

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Wesley follows as Rita leads him onward after rebuffing his advances.

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The two explore the shell of another building.

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Wesley runs towards a column of Troops as they file past.

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The Troops continue to march into the distance.

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When conversation becomes stilted, Rita and Wesley kiss before walking hand in hand towards the railway station.

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On her way to the corner shop to buy Margo's cigarettes, Nellie looks across at a house recently destroyed in a bombing raid.

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Wesley tells Rita that, back home, he hasn't got a permanent job. The floating stage at Seacombe Ferry Terminal with the River Mersey beyond.

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Not knowing that the southern farm boy is illiterate, Rita wonders if he could become a businessman before the two head for the tram stop. Looking across the River Mersey from Seacombe Ferry Terminal with Clarence Dock Power Station in the top right distance.

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The couple head towards a dark alley where they can kiss in private . . . only to find it occupied by another courting pair.

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As the tram arrives, Rita watches Wesley head towards a bar,

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Beryl Manders (Rosemary Martin) spots Margo in a queue.

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Margo (Billie Whitelaw) tells her neighbour that her sister has gone to Birkenhead to buy material.

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At Rita's suggestion, Jack drives his sisters and niece to see the Cathedral.

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Inside the Cathedral, Rita enjoys looking at the stained glass windows while Jack tells Nellie that she's been looking a bit off colour. The Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool 3.

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Nellie replies that she can't go on holiday as she has Rita to look after. The St. James's Road entrance to the Cathedral Church of Christ on St James's Mount.

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As Rita appears from the Cathedral, Jack Copple (Pete Postlethwaite) starts the car. St. James's Road in Liverpool with the Anglican Cathedral filling the background.

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After introducing Wesley to her family, Rita speaks with her increasingly frustrated boyfriend who makes excuses not to see her.

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On another day, Rita waits in the bus station but Wesley doesn't appear. Victoria Place Bus Station at Seacombe Ferry Terminal in Merseyside.

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Unable to forget Wesley, Rita spends time alone. The bridge over the lake in Stanley Park on Walton Lane, Anfield in Liverpool located by Steve Randall.