Hollywood came to Manchester in 2010 to recreate 1930s Brooklyn on a grand old backstreet right in the heart of the city. The elegant ghost of the past was evoked with plastic lamp posts and chipboard shopfronts creating a world so convincing that local residents begged the film crew to leave the set standing when they left. Tax incentives and the world’s most respected film industry means that Uncle Sam often comes to Britain to make his movies. Alfie was remade in Manchester’s Northern Quarter just down the road from Dale Street where Captain America staged a chase scene.
A timewarp turns present day Manchester into 1930s Brooklyn
Here you can see how authentic the set really was, although the street at the back of the picture was in miniature to create a sense of scale. Quite surreal to walk past on your way home from the bars. When the vintage cars and extras arrived, everything sprang to life. Guns fired, cars exploded and windows blew out as the steam rose from artificial grates in the road. The glamour of Hollywood is of course a painstaking illusion, stitched together from endless hours of waiting around while green screens are hitched and cameras fixed.
Miming gunfire
Beautiful vintage cars – packed with explosives
Attention to detail
A solid chassis and a nice car too
Storefronts were added to the front of old warehouses
Even the extras looked like hardened Brooklyn bruisers, or at least this guy did on the left.
the vibes 
I had no idea this had happened – wish I’d seen it myself. Great photos Mark – looks like you had a great view of the set.
Hi Sue, my friend has an apartment right above the set so we all got a good view. Getting any decent pictures or footage meant hanging around for hours because so little actually happened. The best bit was walking on the set at night (it was open to the public) and seeing the attention to detail in the scenery.
We love it when they do it here too–and Pittsburgh has become a very popular city for filming so we all have a chance to be extras.
I’d love to be an extra! Have you been in any movies?
Not yet–a bunch of us tried to be in the latest Batman movie when it was filmed here, but they kept changing the filming schedule and we couldn’t be there when they filmed certain city scenes. It was snowing in the movie but it was 90 degrees here!
Can I get a drum roll here? That would have made you Cat Woman! 😀
I really wanted to be “discovered” for my true calling!