13 March 2011
Bradford’s only four-star hotel, the Cedar Court Hotel, is lending its support to Bradford’s UNESCO City of Film project by displaying photographs in its new Executive Rooms from the private collection of award-winning Yorkshire author and film historian Tony Earnshaw.
The first print to be hung is from the classic 1950s drama, ‘Room at The Top’, which included scenes shot at Westgate and Kirkgate on Canal Road, Cartwright Hall in Bingley’s Bankfield Hotel, Gilstead Moor and in the Undercliffe branch of Bradford Library.
Each photograph is accompanied by an insightful commentary written by Tony Earnshaw himself.
The next photograph to be displayed in the hotel’s executive rooms will be an image from the Oscar-winning ‘The King’s Speech’. Scenes from the film were shot in Yorkshire locations including Bradford Bulls’ Stadium and Elland Road, home of Leeds United. The film crew stayed at the Cedar Court throughout the filming in Yorkshire, and Colin Firth himself visited the hotel for a drink and mingled with both staff and guests.
When the programme of refurbishment to the hotel’s executive rooms is complete, pictures from the collection will be on permanent display within the rooms. It will provide guests with a fascinating insight into Bradford’s extraordinary film heritage.
Fiona Daniel, Business Development Manager at Cedar Court Hotel and Bradford City of Film, Visit Delivery Board member, said:
“We are delighted to be supporting the City of Film programme. It is vital that local businesses get involved and support the programme so that we can show the world what a vibrant and culturally rich city Bradford is.”
Tony Earnshaw commented:
“I was a part of the project team that helped achieve the City of Film designation, so I’m thrilled to be collaborating with the Cedar Court Hotel Bradford in promoting the project via my archive. It’s extremely supportive and incentivised that Cedar Court Hotel is showcasing Bradford’s film heritage.”
He added:
“The work achieved so far is merely the start of a project to underline where the city is going in terms of film, and it is hugely positive when movies which are filmed in Bradford – such as The King’s Speech – are fêted on an international stage.”
A well-known writer and broadcaster, Tony Earnshaw works at the National Media Museum in Bradford, where he is artistic director of the annual Bradford International Film Festival which launches its 17th edition on 16th March 2011. Many of the images destined for the Cedar Court are taken from his popular book, ‘Made in Yorkshire’, published by Guerilla Books in 2008, which goes behind the scenes of classic  films made in the region.
Bradford was announced as the world's first official UNESCO City of Film in June 2009. The project’s aim is now to use this fabulous film status to focus Bradford on film, and to help the film world focus on Bradford. Alongside this, the project hopes to make Bradford the world’s best city in which to enjoy, learn about, express yourself through, and to make film and screen based media.