Big Screen Big Match: Extra Time
Still more top-notch trivia from the best and worst movies and TV shows about 'the beautiful game'.
Bloomfield (1970)
Richard Harris only directed one film, and for this we should all be grateful. British-Israeli co-production Bloomfield stars Harris as an old pro who can't walk away from the game. Actually, he can neither run nor walk; such is Harris's centre of gravity, he permanently appears to be on a tightrope. And why was he sitting in the director's chair? Because first-choice Uri Zohar quit a week into shooting.
The Fix (1997)
The story of the 1960s Sheffield Wednesday betting scandal posed an unusual problem for Jason Isaacs. Cast as Tony Kay, the corrupt forward who was with Everton when the scandal broke, Liverpool fan Isaacs (pictured alongside co-star Steve Coogan) wanted no part of Goodison Park. "For one scene, I had to drive through the gates at Goodison," the actor recalls. "I told the director I'd drive as far as the gates but no further. Standards are important."
Mean Machine (2001)
Have you seen the American version of Mean Machine? Not the Burt Reynolds movie or the Adam Sandler remake. No, before the Vinnie Jones movie was released in the US, it underwent some cosmetic changes. For one thing, a lot of the slang was lost - 'nipper', 'bird' etc. As for Stephen 'Nitro' Walters, the producers decided his Scouse accent was too thick and so dubbed his entire performance. Into Geordie.
I'm actually in Mean Machine. Went along to interview Vinnie Jones for, I think, Esquire and we got on well enough for him to insist that I dress up as a prisoner in a scene (that actually didn't end up on the cutting room floor)...