Telstar The Movie

DISAPPOINTING Biopic of Joe Meek,most off the film is historically inaccurate....He is a list of just a few points..
In the film Heinz drives a smallish feminine red Ford Consul Capri Coupe (to make him look more like a poof,which in real life he was not). In reality he drove a big masculine blue Ford Zephyr 6 estate.

Clem cattini was the drummer in the Tornados in the film he has his hair parting on his right hand sideonly woman had there parting on that side in the 60s,look at pictures of Clem cattini and the 2 videos i have of him on my channel,,1958 and 1964 his parting has always been on the left hand side..

Why was John peel in the film...
John Peel didnt even work for the NME or any Music publication.He was in the USA.
At the time of Joe Meek he would have been doing his national Service then after would have been in America working as a DJ in the southern USA...
And John Peel was still using his name John Ravenscroft..

Most of the film is about the relationship between Joe Meek and Heinz..Heinz is port raid as being gay,i guess only Meek and Heinz would know but,even his wife Della Burke and his son Simon Burt have spoke out about there discuss and anger about this...follow this link and read..

Alan Caddy of the Tornados did not play a Hofner- he had a blonde Gibson 335-he played with tissue paper under the strings at the nut to get the special sound.

Heniz is seen miming on Oh Boy,This TV series ended in 1959.It should have been Thank Your Lucky Stars...

In the film there is a scene were Joe Meek is shagging Heinz even the produces of the film i read in a magazine article at the time,admit this is not true,but they said they part this in the film to keep the story going.....

Clem Cattini and Chas Hodges are depicted as being in several Meek groups,whereas they were only ever in the Tornados and the Outlaws,respectively

At the start of the film where Geoff Goddard first enters the Shenton's shop, the film is reversed. The shop name on the glass and the "Open/Closed" sign are back to front.

Mitch Mitchell is threatened with a shotgun by Joe meek in in 1966.Bizarrely,the group are supposedly recording The Night Of The Vampire,an RGM track from 1961....

Joe throws a huge tape recorder out of the window of 304,aimed at the fleeing Clem Cattini in 1965.The year was actually 1962 (when Clem told Joe that he didn't think much of Globetrotter as it sounded like Venus In Blue Jeans) oh and the tape machine was thrown down the stairs of 304,Holloway Road..

When the group are touring in the black van it is quite clearly set in 1963 & yet the registration plate of the van shows the suffix "D" which was issued in the year 1966.

Joe Meek did not reject Tom Jones out of hand,In fact Tom Jones recorded seven excellent tracks at 304,Holloway Road..

Also the film implies that Patrick Pink (Joe's loyal and final studio assistant) was also a poof.This was definitely never the case.It was Terry O'Neil who went on holiday with Joe in 1965...

Goddard was a shy and reserved person. Why Nick Moran's movie "Telstar" from 2008 portrays him as a sort of complete moron is the director's secret; we can be sure that this is strongly exaggerated.

At the end of the film when Joe shot himself he was alone up stairs with his landlady (Mrs Violet Shenton) on the way upstairs not with Patrick Pink,who was down stairs,so Joe did not kiss him Farewell at the end...

[emmahasler]

I love this film. One of my favorites, it's a shame it didn't do well

[pampennyworth]

The casting in the film was simple perfect.

[elektrikjohn]

I am just glad they recognise Joe Meek as a great innovator. 

[debbiehill]

Fantastic must buy this film ..remember Telstar as a kid always being played on juke box in cafe at Northweild Air drone

[clivelarman]

Just watched it on telly and thought it was great.
It's historically inaccurate for good reason.
For instance, Wikipedia suggests that 10 people passed through The Outlaws, a further 21 passed through The Tornadoes, and yet more were in Heinz' backing line ups!
Taking the most famous handful and casting them as the main members of all bands is precisely the artistic licence creators of a two hour movie should take.
You can't develop characters if they change every scene!

[melseyT]

Just coming to this now, long after the movie - which I did enjoy despite its artistic licence. Very good previous update of the facts on here by RGM304, a lot of which I didn't know even though I was there at the time in that crazy studio in a house, if only briefly. Joe offered me a recording contact way back then, maybe around a year and a half before he died, following an audition there, but I didn't sign it and I never went back because of the stories I heard about him. This plus what amounted to a brief pass he made at me at the time! I had a friend years ago who was gay and explained to me how he along with some other gay men was much more attracted to heterosexual men, so perhaps this was the case with Joe. Regardless of this I came to realise many years later that he was a production genius, plus with sound equipment and effects. I have read that he was tone deaf, and if this really was the case then it is even more amazing. Many of us look back and think to ourselves, well, I wonder if I'd taken that chance....but we'll never know. I do hope that one day someone makes a big proper movie with more of the facts, as I think the story is bigger than that told.

[thebadloser]

I am very familiar with the story of Joe Meek and I enjoyed the movie. It irritates me to see people squabbling over the 'facts' when I'll wager none of them were there. The only people who really know were the ones who WERE there and usually, after long passages of time, memories can become blurred and accounts can differ. Just be glad someone took the trouble to make it.

[paulchristopher]

I would like to hear what Richie Blackmore from Deep Purple, thought of the film. He was there in the early days so he would have lots of stories to tell

[clivelarman]

I do have some sympathy for Patrick Pink who having suffered seeing his friend and mentor blow his brains out, is probably a bit sensitive about being accused of supplying psychosis inducing drugs and leaving the resulting madman in possession of a shotgun.
That said, just as was done with the band members, it makes sense to roll up characters in a two hour movie. There's no point bringing in dealers, and later lovers for a scene each. The movie flows better if they're all rolled into Patrick.

[CycolacFan]

Thanks for pointing out all the errors, even the minor ones. Look forward to your perfect film version of the story coming out soon then?

[ric]

Not surprised to find a film publicised as being very good and truthful falls far short of the those attributes.

[raymondgill]

An interesting film about a tallented, complex and dare I say flawed man. If I remember the actor who played Heinz was also in the film of Alexander The Great, which went to great lengths to be historically accurate and suffered from a complex narrative. Purists are never going to be happy with the filmakers choices and the audience is not there to justify a worthy uber accurate story. I sat through the play this was based on and felt annoyed that the referances to Johnny Kidd and Billy Fury were not nuanced enough but I am glad I saw it and I enjoyed this film too. By the way Joe dressed to the left.

[BrianGoguen-kk]

This got no release in the U.S or Canada.Very sad.Such a great film.

[barrabasi]

Actually, if I'm right, in the last piece of footage, Chas isn't talking to Joe Meek: he's talking to no one less than the great, former Deep Purple guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, played herein by Matthew Baynton. Cheers!

[midlandssongwriters]

Telstar was a great film - but it didn't include Joe's best act - Mike Berry. And while clem Catini is featured as the drummer with the Outlaws - there's no mention of The Outlaws drummer Bobby Graham.

[RGM]

There will be one day
A Life In The Death Of Joe Meek -- the definitive Joe Meek

[briangoguen]

All bio pic filmakers take liberties.They weren`t there to see what happened exactly or hear what was said.It`s apparently a lot like the stage play.Buddy Holly wasn`t the overly aggressive guy that Busey played.Still an interesting film.I thought Telstar was the best film of 2008.

[charliedontsurf]

When you have other brit's who never heard of Joe....Theirs something wrong...

[brettreece]

lol. You guys KNOW that it isn't a doco, right?

[davewattskeyboards]

Details about what side Clem had his parting and a sign being back to front are quite irrelevant to the overall film.  Perhaps the shotgun episode supposedly with Clem in the studio could have been more accurate. It was actually Mitch Mitchell that had the gun in his face not Clem. I was playing on that particular session. I also new Heinz very well and at no time on any of the weeks I spent on tour did I ever see signs of him being gay. In fact he pulled more girls than most men would have in a life time. The part of Joe meek was played brilliantly but strangely enough he was a lot more  volatile and unpredictable than the film portrayed. The Tornados were also made to look like idiots which they certainly were not. Its a pity that the producers didn't get more genuine facts from people that were actually there, but there you go, perhaps it was the very limited budget they were working with. Next time perhaps Spielberg could do one.  He would have really captured the essence of the time.Dave Watts