Outside of the capital London, no other British city has attracted more filmmakers than Liverpool. Sometimes standing in for London, New York, Chicago, Paris, Rome, or Moscow, and sometimes playing itself—or a version of its own past in Beatles biopics—Liverpool is an adaptable filmic backdrop that has attracted filmmakers to its ports for decades. A place of passion, humor, and pride, Liverpool evokes caverns and cathedrals, ferries and football grounds; it is a city so vivid we see it clearly even if we’ve never been there. From the earliest makers of moving images—among them the Mitchell & Kenyon film company, the Lumière brothers, and pioneering early cinematographer Claude Friese-Greene—who preserved the city, the river, the docks, the streets, and the people, Liverpool has endured as a cinematic destination. This collection celebrates that survival instinct and will be welcomed by enthusiasts of British cities, films, and culture.

Jez Conolly is the faculty librarian for arts, social sciences, and law at the University of Bristol. She is the author of Beached Margin: The Role and Representation of the Seaside Resort in British Films and a regular contributor to Big Picture magazine. Caroline Whelan is an independent writer and researcher. Together, they are coeditors of the World Film Locations: Dublin and World Film Locations: Reykjavik, both also published by Intellect.