Frank Clarke "didn't really know" he was a good writer. But when he was 25 he wrote the iconic 1985 film, Letter To Brezhnev. The classic film, set and filmed in Liverpool, follows the story of Teresa and Elaine from Kirkby, who meet Sergei and Peter from Russia. The men are fresh off the boat and enjoying their stay in the city. While Teresa is looking for a night of fun, Elaine falls in love with Russian sailor Peter.
Filmed in Liverpool on a small budget
The film was shot over three weeks in Liverpool on a small budget, with scenes in The State nightclub and The Shaftesbury Hotel putting Liverpool on the cinematic map. It made names of its cast, including Alexandra Pigg who was nominated for a BAFTA for her performance in the film. It also stars Frank's sister, Margi Clarke, as Teresa. "It was a bumpy old ride making Brezhnev," Frank says.
Frank, who was also a writer for Brookside, told the ECHO: "[The script] came out of me in one big splurge, like three or four weeks writing non-stop. I was hardly eating, hardly sleeping, just smoking ciggies, and if I didn't have a ciggy I'd just make rollies out of the stumps. It just consumed me. I thought, 'If I stop, I'll never start again.'
"It was like running in a race, except you're running against yourself in a very weird way. I collapsed when I wrote the ending, just relaxed back into life again."
From signing on to Venice Film Festival
Frank left Brookside in 1983, and adapted his Letter To Brezhnev script for a theatre production at the Unity Theatre in Liverpool. Months later, he met 'Baxi' Boiler heiress, Fiona Castleton and went on to visit her and her family in the Isle of Man. Her brother, Charlie, fell in love with the script and funded the production.
Frank added: "This is how poor we were, they scheduled it so people could sign on and then go back to the film. It was one of those things that comes along every now and again, really rare and it had a magic about it. We all came together at the same time, same place, and we made this really successful movie. That was magical for us."
Despite Frank's sister Margi originally "wanting to play the one that gets the fella," she joined the cast as Teresa. It was his upbringing with sisters that inspired the women at the centre of it story. The writer told the ECHO: "We all grew up under the same roof. I would watch these ordinary girls put their makeup and their lashes on, and they would transform into goddesses.
"So I was informed very early on about sisters, how they defend each other, how they attack each other - I mean, there was a fight every day in our house growing up over someone wearing the other's clothes - but if it was someone outside, they closed ranks.
"I was really protected by my sisters. They were fantastic sisters, and they still are."
Inspired by life in Merseyside
It was also inspired by life growing up in Merseyside. He added: "Years ago in Kirkby, there was a chicken factory. The girls would go straight on the ale after work and they'd have on their wellies, their overall, and the cap on, and they'd cop off.
"The men, who were unemployed, could see that they had a job. So you had a situation where the unemployed girls would go round to their mates' houses and borrow their chicken uniforms just to cop off."
The now 71-year-old told the ECHO it "just all came together" and there could be a play in "how it was made". "We went from signing on £30 a week, to this being a really successful film," he says.
"We went right into the Venice Film Festival and we won Catholic Humanities award from the Catholic church and the night Brezhnev was being shown in Venice, it was packed, and Mel Gibson was sitting on the floor in front of us. Mel Gibson sitting there on the floor watching our film from Kirkby. It was completely mind-blowing."
Stage production at Liverpool's Royal Court
Fast-forward more than four decades on, and Letter To Brezhnev will be given a new lease of life on the theatre stage. Adapted by Frank and directed by Nicole Behan, the new production will run at Liverpool's Royal Court from September 11 to October 17.
The writer said: "Since all this has happened, I've had people shouting from across the street saying, 'I've bought my tickets.' It's just fantastic.
"It's mushroomed and I'm really thrilled with what I've seen. They couldn't have got a better bunch of actors, better director, or better producer.
"It's coming home to Liverpool, it's coming back to where it was conceived. I want Liverpool people to love it. I would love it to go on tour, the West End, and go to Broadway. It's ambitious, but why not? Aim for the moon, and you might just hit the lamp post."
Further information on the stage production of Letter To Brezhnev is available on the Royal Court website.
