Pop Art Generation

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A mansion house used in the classic crime film Get Carter has been put up for sale for £1.75m.  Dryderdale Hall, near Hamsterley, County Durham, acted as the home of the gangster, Cyril Kinnear, in the 1970s movie, starring Michael Caine.  

In one scene, shot in the main lounge, Caine’s character, which has returned Tyneside to avenge his brother’s death, confronts Kinnear while playing cards. A memorable scene outside the hall shows a body being dragged from a pond.   

The Grade II listed hall, set in 20 acres of land, was built in 1872 for the Backhouse family, of Darlington, whose wealth was made in the banking industry. Architect Alfred Waterhouse, who designed the Natural History Museum in London, was responsible for the building’s Scottish baronial style.  

Owners Michael and Dorothy Morley, who purchased the site in 1991, are selling the hall in order to move into a smaller property. Mr Morley said: “The interior has changed a great deal from the time of the film as there was a major fire later in the 1970s.  

“However, if you know the film and look closely, you can see the layout has not changed very much and obviously the exterior and grounds have not changed at all.  “The Get Carter link is of interest to fans and the people of the North East but I doubt anybody is going to pay out £1.75m just because of the film.”   

Estate agents Nick and Gordon Carver Residential believe the sale will create national and international interest.  

A British film about the life and death of Joy Division legend Ian Curtis, starring a first-time actor, has earned a rapturous reception in Cannes.

Unknown Sam Riley said he was “working in a warehouse in Leeds folding shirts” when he was cast to star in Control.

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Debut film director Anton Corbijn said the newcomer had brought “an innocence and freshness that I was hoping for but never thought I would find”.

The movie opened the 60th Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight.

“This is a very hard role for anybody to play, because it is very hard to fit in somebody’s shoes who has become an icon in many people’s eyes,” said the Dutch director.

“I can’t think of the movie without Sam, to be very honest – I think he gave everything to that role.

“It was his first film, it was my first film - in a way we had nothing to lose.”

Control, which also stars Samantha Morton as Curtis’s wife, follows the singer’s rise with Joy Division until his suicide in 1980, aged 23.

The singer battles epilepsy and is torn between his love for his wife and a Belgian girlfriend he meets while on tour.

Riley said his research involved studying the effects of epilepsy, as well as viewing surviving footage of Curtis’s performances.

“I spent a lot of time in the mirror doing dance moves,” he said.

“I tried to play him as a fairly normal bloke, with an exceptional talent.