The very first Technicolour rock ‘n’ roll musical will be screened in Lancaster this July as part of a free event celebrating the Fifties and Sixties.
The Girl Can’t Help It (U) stars Fifties blonde bombshell, Jayne Mansfield and features appearances by music legends Little Richard, Fats Domino and Gene Vincent among others.
This 1956 satire on the music business will be screened at The Dukes Cinema on July 21 during an afternoon of Fifties and Sixties nostalgia as part of Jukebox: The Teenage Revolution, organised by Lancaster-based arts and heritage charity, Mirador, and Lancaster University Library.
The event is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players; the Granada Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation.
Prior to the screening, the Bentham-based author of Jukebox Britain, Adrian Horn will be interviewed to provide context and background both to the film and what made the Fifties such a distinctive social history period where the jukebox played a significant role in teenagers lives.
The audience can also enjoy music from the Fifties and Sixties on a vintage record player and a display of memorabilia from the era including the Ditchburn Jukebox Museum’s collections.
Doors open at 12pm and the film screening begins at 1.30pm. The event runs until 4pm and refreshments will be available in the café bar.
This event is one in a series which have been happening this year to celebrate Lancashire as the birthplace of the distinctive British jukebox, produced by the Ditchburn Equipment company in Blackpool and Lytham St Annes.
Famous band leader and impresario, Jack Hylton, played an important role in bringing the jukebox to the UK and his archive is held at Lancaster University.
The project is also a celebration of the decades which saw the birth of the teenager so if you have memories of being a teenager in the Fifties and Sixties or photographs from that era, please contact us.
About Lancaster University
Lancaster University is a collegiate university in the UK city of Lancaster and a member of the N8 Research Partnership: an association of the eight most research-intensive universities in the North of England.
Lancaster University is a highly ranked UK university with a global reputation for excellence in research and teaching. Lancaster is consistently ranked among the top 15 in all three major UK university league tables and continues to build a growing reputation both nationally and internationally.
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
As the largest dedicated funder of the UK’s heritage, The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033.
Over the next ten years, the Heritage Fund aims to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to bring about benefits for people, places and the natural environment.
The Heritage Fund helps protect, transform and share the things from the past that people care about, from popular museums and historic places, our natural environment and fragile species, to the languages and cultural traditions that celebrate who we are.
The Heritage Fund is passionate about heritage and committed to driving innovation and collaboration to make a positive difference to people’s lives today, while leaving a lasting legacy for future generations to enjoy.
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