THE STORY OF PEAR HARBOUR...


Dirty Japs torturing our heroes

Our incredible story starts in deepest Barrow on Soar where art house film director Kevin Poole has a dream. A dream to make the greatest film ever. A dream to make a film the like of which has never been seen before. Unfortunately Poilce Acadamy mission to Moscow had already been made, so Kev decided to start work on Pear Harbour. Poole takes up the story....

"It was December 98 and I remember saying to my writing partner, Barry Fry, how I had a great idea for a new film about a bunch of heroic pears. We sat down and after about 6 months and 25 drafts we had the script for Pear Harbour"

Poole and Fry had worked together on the massive English film Stay Down Palace, which was based on the true life story of the 1996 play off final between Leicester City and Crystal Palace. The film is best remembered for an Oscar winning turn from Claire Danes as Neil Lennon, but it was also the film that really put Kevin Poole on the map. Empire described the director as "the new hope for English films". Stay Down Palace made £17.65, making it the highest grossing brit flick of all time. Suddenly everyone wanted a piece of Kevin Poole and he became one of the most well respected men in British cinema, after Jack Davenport.


"Where for art thou Whitlow?"
Unfortunately Kevin's life spiralled out of control. He became embroiled in an ill concieved affair with Sporty Spice and ended up losing his wife. Close friend Noel Gallagher remembers the pain Kevin was going through, "It was hard for Kev. He's a top bloke and he gets upset when he reads the nastiness in the paper. Some of the tabloids were fucking well off with what they said about him."

Poole bounced back in the most unexpected of ways. He entered into the record books after eating the entire cast of ITV prossie drama Band of Gold. Except Mark Addy. However, Barry Fry was not convinced. “He was doing all these crazy things, and people loved him for it, but it wasn’t what he really wanted. He needed to get back to films”.

It was over a burger that Kevin realised the potential of Pear Harbour. “We were sitting in Boston Burger King watching the world go by when I suddenly thought, ‘Action adventure starring pears!’” Barry remembers being equally excited. “What Kevin was proposing was brilliant. All we had to do now was get the funding and we were away!” Getting the funding however turned out to be quite difficult. In the end Kevin had to turn to good friend Tony Cottee. Tony was sure that Pear Harbour was going to be a huge hit so was more than happy to give Poole the £260 needed to make this fantastic film. Work could begin….

The first disappointment for Poole came when Kate Ashfield turned down the part of Evelyn to concentrate on Scrabble commitments. He was then rebuffed for the second time when Jessica Stevenson turned down the same part. In their hour of need, Poole and Fry turned to posh English actress Laura Fishcakes. Laura had played Muzzy Izzet in Stay Down Palace and was eager to work with Poole again. "I cried when I read the script. I thought 'Jesus, this is going to kill my career'. But then I thought 'What career?'". Fishcakes was in, but only on the condition she was delivered the NME every week on set, and she could eat as much Reindeer sausage as she wished. Soon everyone was talking about Pear Harbour, and excitement grew when Poole signed Ben Twat and Tom Sizemore to star in it alongside Laura. Filming took place on location in Glossop and Dover and Pear Harbour was ready to be released in time for the summer blockbuster season.


Ashfield: "No"

The film opened to huge audiences both in America and England. It was applauded for its intricate plot, fine acting and touching portrayal of tragedy. Paul Ross said “Wow! Pear Harbour is the greatest film ever! I love it!” Paul succeeded in his attempts to get his name on the poster. However the Guardian dismissed it as “self – congratulatory American propaganda. The people who made this should be ashamed”. Overall though the critics were won over and the audiences spoke for themselves. On the opening night at Chichester’s Hollywood multiplex, a massive 7 people and 3 Welsh crammed in to the auditorium. The world premier was also a massive event, actors Twat and Fishcake mingled with stars like Keith Chegwin and that bloke off Watchdog. Johnny Vegas of course turned up. What hilarity.

Kevin and Barry could be proud of what they achieved. Pear Harbour is a film that will be talked about for years to come. They have entered in to the hall of cinematic greats.


Remember there is a rat in separate

Meet the cast of Pear Harbour Read the Pear Harbour script
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