JohnJames
master brummie
I went to see the film 'Le Mans 66' last night. The film is based on the battle between Ford and Ferrari in that particular race. But there is much more to the film than that. It centres around two characters, Carroll Shelby a race car designer and Ken Miles a racing driver and mechanic. Ken Miles was a Brummie who served an apprenticeship at Wolseley Motors in Ward End and emigrated to the US in the fifties with his wife and son. In the snobby Hooray Henry world of 1950's/1960's British motor racing there was no place for a Brummie mechanic as a racing driver. This was not the case in the US and Miles thrived. I had expected the usual cod Brummie accent that you find in Peaky Blinders and so on but Christian Bale, who plays Miles, does really manage to sound Brummagem. Brummie phrases like "Round The Wrekin" and "Bottle of Pop" abound. In one scene Miles's son is seen wearing a mid 60's Villa top, just like the replica one that I have in my drawer at home. This is an uplifting but poignant film about a man from Birmingham who up to now has been largely forgotten, at least in Britain. It is certainly not just for petrol heads. My wife, who in her own words was dragged to see the film "Kicking and Screaming" left the cinema with tears in her eyes saying that it is the best film she has seen for years and how it made her really miss Birmingham accents, now that we live in the West of Ireland. Please do try to go and see it.
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