The Brylcreem Boys
When two enemy pilots shoot each other down over Ireland they are both captured as prisoners of war. During World War II neutral Ireland interned all soldiers, sailors and airmen, regardless of their nationality, captured on Irish soil. What they failed to mention was that they would put them all in the same camp.
Our pilots, Miles (Bill Campbell) and Rudi (Angus McFadyen) are astonished to come face to face with each other at the entrance to the internment camp. Further surprises are in store as they discover that Commandant O'Brien (Gabriel Byrne) allows the prisoners out on day passes. They can enjoy a drink at the pub or a day at the races as long as they sign out agreeing not to escape.
Tensions are already rife in this extraordinary camp but when a stunning girl catches the eye of both men nothing can contain their mutual distrust and hatred - but Mattie (Jean Butler of Riverdance) has a profound effect on these arch rivals and forces them to confront their perceptions of what an enemy really is.
Based on real-life events, The Brylcreem Boys brings an unusual chapter in Irish History into the present with a highly enjoyable mix of romance, humour and adventure.The film is set in 1940's Ireland , but shot on the Isle of Man in 1996. This was one of the first films to be shot on the Isle of Man, not only to take advantage of the tax savings through the Isle of Man Film Commission, but also to find locations that were more evocative of period Ireland than exists in Irleland itself, which has been highly developed in recent times.
Our pilots, Miles (Bill Campbell) and Rudi (Angus McFadyen) are astonished to come face to face with each other at the entrance to the internment camp. Further surprises are in store as they discover that Commandant O'Brien (Gabriel Byrne) allows the prisoners out on day passes. They can enjoy a drink at the pub or a day at the races as long as they sign out agreeing not to escape.
Tensions are already rife in this extraordinary camp but when a stunning girl catches the eye of both men nothing can contain their mutual distrust and hatred - but Mattie (Jean Butler of Riverdance) has a profound effect on these arch rivals and forces them to confront their perceptions of what an enemy really is.
Based on real-life events, The Brylcreem Boys brings an unusual chapter in Irish History into the present with a highly enjoyable mix of romance, humour and adventure.The film is set in 1940's Ireland , but shot on the Isle of Man in 1996. This was one of the first films to be shot on the Isle of Man, not only to take advantage of the tax savings through the Isle of Man Film Commission, but also to find locations that were more evocative of period Ireland than exists in Irleland itself, which has been highly developed in recent times.
Theatrical Trailer
Designs
Sketch view of the main camp.
The camp was built on a disused and virtually empty barracks on the Isle of Man where we were able to make use of a few existing structures in the background. Everything looking in towards the camp was shot here, but the views looking out of the camp were not possible because of some modern structures at this location. We built a matching set of entrance gates out in the countryside, selected for its beauty and representation of rural Ireland,( see next picture) which both got around the problem view of modern buildings looking out from the main camp, and gave the story the sense of place in Ireland.
The camp was built on a disused and virtually empty barracks on the Isle of Man where we were able to make use of a few existing structures in the background. Everything looking in towards the camp was shot here, but the views looking out of the camp were not possible because of some modern structures at this location. We built a matching set of entrance gates out in the countryside, selected for its beauty and representation of rural Ireland,( see next picture) which both got around the problem view of modern buildings looking out from the main camp, and gave the story the sense of place in Ireland.
Blank site we were able to use as a basis for building the camp.
this is how it looked at the main camp looking out - we could see an industrial estate across the street. so we only looked into the camp from here
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This is a duplicate of the entrance that we built in the countryside to shoot scenes looking out of the camp. This helped show the rural location, while the main build of the camp was elsewhere and able to utilize existing structures
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While greatly helping the visual quality of the film, particularly as this set was literally pivotal between the inside and the outside of the camp, it necessitated shooting parts of the same scenes on completely different days at each of the two locations.
I believe it is hard to tell when watching the film that these sequences are inter cut with material that was both miles apart at shot at very different times. All of the fencing is real barbed wire, except for the sections where actors had to climb it. The German side was supposed to look much neater than the British side.
I believe it is hard to tell when watching the film that these sequences are inter cut with material that was both miles apart at shot at very different times. All of the fencing is real barbed wire, except for the sections where actors had to climb it. The German side was supposed to look much neater than the British side.
As you can see from the photo on the left, not all of the huts were built in their entirety, this was for budgetery reasons, knowing that we would never be shooting from one end of the camp ( from the angle of the photograph) so why waste the money building walls that could never be seen?
You can also see from the plan view above that the partial "L" shaped huts got progressively smaller the further they were from the main camera positions in the parade areas. As the line-of-sight from the parade area gets more accute the further away you look, the less you need of those objects in the distance, so not only did we need to build 2 sided huts, but the further away they could be much smaller too.
You can also see from the plan view above that the partial "L" shaped huts got progressively smaller the further they were from the main camera positions in the parade areas. As the line-of-sight from the parade area gets more accute the further away you look, the less you need of those objects in the distance, so not only did we need to build 2 sided huts, but the further away they could be much smaller too.
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The room interiors were built within existing barrack halls at the location. Rooms were divided to create the right size space, with the ability to "float" (remove) walls to facilitate easier shooting. The concept in this room was to show the complete opposite of what we might normally expect in a prison camp room, because the interns were allowed in and out of the camp we wanted to show that they had the ability to decorate with abandon.
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Manx Tails magazine (pun on the tail-less cats from the Isle of Man) used a shot of Gabriel Byrne and Bill Campbell for a cover article on Filming in the Isle of Man.
The main town square was shot in Castletown on the South of the Island. Much of the modern technology was removed or hidden and the asphalt ground treated with dirt. The central Celtic cross was built (the cross carved from styrofoam) painted and aged. The period vehicles were supplied by existing collectors on the Isle of Man, with the horses and carts supplied locally too. The bus that the interns are shipped out in was again supplied by the Isle of Man Bus service, as they happened to have the right period vehicle in their fleet. It took a lot of effort to get it up and running as it was a museum piece. Sadly on this day it couldn't keep up the pace and the shot of it leaving the town square in the film is achieved by towing it out behind another vehicle. The beginning of this shot had the towing vehicle hidden by a passing car. The passing car with a coffin tied to its roof was one of those incongruous images of Ireland that I came across in research and felt compelled to use. .
As this picture of the corner of the room shows, they had more than the comforts of a regular prison camp, including comfy chairs a gramaphone and even a musical cocktail cabinet!
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Here are edited highlights of the movie I put together to show the sets.
Excerpt from Documentary on the making of the Brylcreem Boys.
Photo panorama of proposed town square by Lawlor's pub.
Acetate overlay to show needed alterations to make it right for the period in Ireland
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One of a few sets of storyboards I did. This one to show the horse and bike chase.
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For the parachuting sequence at the beginning of the film I came up with a practical solution that would get us the shots we needed. I found a great overlook where we felt we were up in the air and by suspending the actors on parachute harnesses using cranes we were able to puppeteer them in a controlled way.
Dressing notes for kitchen