Bid to put comedy studios on the map

But now a group of academics is trying to raise the profile of another long-forgotten studio with a prodigious comedy output, Mancunian Studios.

The studio produced more than 30 films, almost exclusively for the North West. In cinemas where they played, Mancunian films outperformed Hollywood blockbusters, even though the rest of the country remained oblivious.

The films typically starred Northern comedians of the day, including George Formby, Frank Randle, Sandy Powell and Jimmy Clitheroe.

One of the movies which has long slipped into obscurity is to be screened next week as part of a comedy conference – and organisers hope it will raise the profile of the studios in Rusholme, which were the only place movies were made outside Greater London.

Somewhere in Civvies starring Frank Randle, pictured, was discovered by Salford University’s Chris Lee who tracked it down to an attic in Yorkshire and persuaded the owner to let him make a copy.

‘Frank Randle was one of the country’s most famous comedians of the Forties,’ Dr Lee said. ‘He was on a salary of £1,000 per week at the Mancunian Studios which was an astronomical wage for the time.

‘Despite this, the role of the Mancunian Studios is often overlooked when people are discussing the British film industry and that’s something I’m trying to change.’

The film will be aired at the What Have You Got In That Box conference at Salford University on May 31 and June 1.

Speakers include Lloyd Peters, who was Peter Kay’s tutor when he studied stand-up at Salford – the first course of its kind in the UK.

Dr Lee added that he believes comedy is worthy of more academic discussion than it currently receives. He said: ‘Comedy brings together elements from all over the academic spectrum: politics, sociology and psychology as well s media studies.’

For more information about the Mancunian Studios, visit itsahotun.com

Published: 25 May 2007