Comments on: When Roy Kinnear got his ladder stuck in Shadwell

By: charlie

charlie — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:58:16 +0000

i thought the film was brilliant, i read the krays made a cameo appearances, i think reg was playing the drums but i couldnt see ronnie, where in the film does ronnie kray appear?

By: Marjorie Page

Marjorie Page — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 23:21:57 +0000

My grandmother Anne Gill lived at number 17 Cowley gardens E1 I lived there with my mother Marjorie Gill until I was about 3 or 4.I always visited my nan and often stayed with her.Even when I worked in Kelrose clothing factory off Jubilee St. I would stay with her. There was a corner shop at the beginning of Cowley Gardens I worked in for a couple of hours.they used to go hopping from there.My father Sidney Hall and his parents lived at the bottom of Cowley Gardens where the film was made.St Marys and St Micheals always had the Processions with the girls dressed in white and boys.It really was wonderful to watch.The East End life was something I will never forget.It was the happiest time of my life.

By: Tony (aka Pismotality)

Tony (aka Pismotality) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:40:45 +0000

Very enjoyable. Reminds me of some lines in a poem by Kingsley Amis:

“The past” is a name for what’s all over: you can’t, in fact return
To what isn’t a place.

I have also written about Sparrows Can’t Sing in the context of a review of five London films on a DVD box set:

http://sweetwordsofpismotality.blogspot.com/2011/04/views-of-lost-london.html

There are two excellent and far more detailed posts about the film and Joan Littlewood on the Sparks in Electrical Jelly site here:

http://sparksinelectricaljelly.blogspot.com/search/label/Theatre%20Workshop

By: MARIA

MARIA — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 10:47:20 +0000

i’ve always had a fascination for immigrant life in london
you’ve just convinced me to order this dvd

By: Lisa West

Lisa West — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:25:52 +0000

My Great Grandparents lived in Cowley Gardens and it was lovely to see the street in the Sparrows Can’t Sing film.

My Great Grandfather died during WW2 during a bombing raid on London and i was told that he was standing under the railway arches and was hit by debris.

I’ve never been able to find records to confirm this though.

By: Susan Lendroth

Susan Lendroth — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:45:12 +0000

Loved this post from start to finish. Thanks for taking me beyond the brick wall and showing me what once lay past it. You raise the bar high for fellow writers!

Susan