0:00:01 > 0:00:07From the very beginnings of the film industry, Wales has had a relationship with Hollywood.
0:00:07 > 0:00:14And now filming on Welsh soil and in the US, home-grown show Torchwood is taking Wales to the world.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18It was a shock because the networks don't do it.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20It's unheard of that they've done this.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25Can Torchwood change some of Hollywood's misunderstandings and myths about Wales?
0:00:25 > 0:00:30People say, "My God, that's such a nice accent, where are you from?"
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I'll say "Wales," and they'll go, "OK."
0:00:33 > 0:00:36If you watch Clash Of The Titans, that modern remake of Clash Of The Titans,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39at the end it says on the credits, "filmed in Wales, England".
0:00:39 > 0:00:42On the credits! On the credits, twice!
0:00:42 > 0:00:47We take Torchwood writer and former Doctor Who supremo Russell T Davies
0:00:47 > 0:00:52to a Malibu park, which 70 years ago doubled up as a South Wales valley.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56You can't help wondering how many of these people knew all the extras.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58Did they know what Wales was?
0:00:58 > 0:01:01It must be like an Outer Mongolian tribe for them or something.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04We look at the films that have portrayed Wales ever since.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07Stereotypes, cliches and all.
0:01:07 > 0:01:13We discover how these two rabbit stealing men in Maesteg helped change the face of Hollywood movies.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18And Eve Myles takes trip down the walk of fame to find the Welsh stars
0:01:18 > 0:01:20who have made their mark in Tinseltown.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22- How are you? - I'm very well, thank you.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24- Where you from?- We're from Wales.
0:01:24 > 0:01:25We're doing a documentary from Wales.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Oh, welcome, Wales, welcome to Hollywood. All right, awesome.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40The Welsh have been making an impact over the pond for quite some time.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45And this year home grown show Torchwood is set to fly the red dragon for Wales too.
0:01:45 > 0:01:52Filming in Wales and Hollywood, our hit show and our Welsh talent are making a big impression.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59There's all this buzz going on, this new production from Wales
0:01:59 > 0:02:01was here on the Warner Brothers.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04You can't talk about it because it's really exciting.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07'To take this stuff and to make it truly international is'
0:02:07 > 0:02:12just a compliment for Welsh work, Welsh imagination and Welsh power.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14This is stage 27A,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18constructed in 1935.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21And our Welsh show is on hallowed ground, filming in studios once
0:02:21 > 0:02:25graced by George Clooney, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27This is it, that's Swansea, there.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31This is inside a house in Swansea.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34They've done an amazing job of replicating it, very Welsh. They've done it spot on.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36But we're in Los Angeles.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39And of course no house in Wales should be without one.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42SPEAKS WELSH
0:02:42 > 0:02:43'Most people in America'
0:02:43 > 0:02:48still think of Britain as being people in Beefeater hats,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52so if they think that's what Britain's like, you can imagine what they think Wales is like.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57A lot of people even in the States, you say you're going to Wales, they don't know where it is
0:02:57 > 0:02:59and that's one thing that's great about doing what we're doing.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04It's going to put Wales more on the map, more so than ever.
0:03:04 > 0:03:10They may have trouble locating Wales on the map, but our influence in Hollywood goes back a long way.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11Way before Torchwood,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13even before the birth of Hollywood,
0:03:13 > 0:03:17one man from Wales was causing a bit of a stir in America.
0:03:17 > 0:03:24This entrepreneur was helping turn flickering images into a global industry.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29I don't want you lads worrying about the cost of enjoying yourselves.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31I offer you
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Haggar's magical world of dreams
0:03:35 > 0:03:38for one penny piece.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Yep. William Haggar gave Welsh audiences just what they wanted.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46A penny for your dreams.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49And they flocked in their droves.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Essex boy William Haggar moved to Wales to chase the growing wealth from coal.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58His family thought he'd lost the plot when he spent their
0:03:58 > 0:04:01hard earned savings on a new fangled movie camera.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Audiences of the day were getting bored of the usual films,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08trains going through tunnels or even a wall falling down.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12So, this visionary showman filmed his own spectacular dramas,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15the likes of which had never been seen before.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17And he wasn't making film for the love of it.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22Like the Hollywood machine of today, it was all about the money.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Peter Yorke, great grandson of William Haggar, works hard to keep
0:04:26 > 0:04:30the memory of this pioneering filmmaker alive today.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32So this is Desperate Poaching Affray,
0:04:32 > 0:04:37made in 1903 on the hills above Maesteg.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39The poachers have a butterfly net.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42They have two pet rabbits which they proceed to catch in the butterfly
0:04:42 > 0:04:50net and stuff into their pockets, so they bundle the butterfly net up and rush away into the bushes.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53It may not look much by today's standards
0:04:53 > 0:04:57but William Haggar was helping start a revolution in cinema.
0:04:57 > 0:05:05I think his films were entertaining because he put into them all the movement, all the violence, all the
0:05:05 > 0:05:09shockingness that the fairground audience would find attractive.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12The USA couldn't get enough of these shocking films.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Within weeks of making them in Wales they were hitting screens across
0:05:16 > 0:05:20America, and were widely emulated by Thomas Edison and others.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24His gamble had paid off and was making him very rich.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28And believe it or not, this piece of film is a milestone in cinema history.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31It's one of the first ever camera pans.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34And yes, it was shot here in Wales.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Haggar's poacher chase was so popular it was emulated
0:05:37 > 0:05:39in the American film The Great Train Robbery.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43His films were inspiring a new generation of movie makers.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47And even today we still have all the excitement of a Haggar chase
0:05:47 > 0:05:51on location in Rhossili Bay, Gower, with Torchwood.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56With a foot on both sides of the Atlantic, the series fuses the best of Wales and America.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58OK, OK! Who the hell are you people?
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Torchwood.
0:06:03 > 0:06:04SCREAMING
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Action.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Welsh writer Russell T Davies is on a mission to break the mould
0:06:09 > 0:06:11of how Wales and the Welsh are portrayed on screen.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15'I can remember when a Welsh person appearing on television was like a miracle.'
0:06:15 > 0:06:18I used to put Welsh characters in things, the stuff I wrote in Manchester, and they'd get
0:06:18 > 0:06:23taken out because they'd change the surname. People say, "Just cast a local girl, Ennis or something."
0:06:23 > 0:06:26You'd go, "Oh, all right." I always was passionate about
0:06:26 > 0:06:29getting this stuff. You just shouldn't give up.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34There's plenty of people telling you it can't be done and they're the people who never do anything.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37It's always been a struggle to get Wales on screen
0:06:37 > 0:06:42and when we did see ourselves, many of the cliches and stereotypes were there for all to see.
0:06:42 > 0:06:48Torchwood looks set to change some of these ideas, but where did these images of Wales come from?
0:06:48 > 0:06:51A look back in cinema history will shed light on some long established myths.
0:06:53 > 0:06:54Back in the 1930s
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Wales and its landscape was in demand in Hollywood.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02They didn't actually film in Wales, but influenced by documentaries showing bleak landscapes,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07coal mines and depression, what better place could there be to set dark thrillers?
0:07:07 > 0:07:11There were several Welsh gothic films made at this time.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15And one of them, a favourite of Dylan Thomas, was The Old Dark House.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Oh now, for heaven's sake, stop.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Let's look at a map or something.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Oh you look, I can't see anything.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25It's all a stupid puddle.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27It seems to represent this country very well.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Everything here is under water.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Hollywood was painting a picture of Wales and this was just the start.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Some powerful images were being created. It always rained in Wales.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Black faced miners would sing on their way to work.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44And our tight-knit communities saw outsiders arriving to experience,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and sometimes try to change, this rather strange place.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49They burst into song on the slightest provocation.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51You mustn't take any notice.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55In The Corn Is Green, we see Bette Davies playing an outsider crossing
0:07:55 > 0:07:59the border into Wales to improve the lot of us simple Welsh folk.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01I'm going to start a school.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- A school! What for?- What for?
0:08:04 > 0:08:10You see these books, hundreds of them. These nippers are to be cut off from that forever, are they? Why?
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Just because they happen to be born penniless in an uncivilised country.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17But I couldn't teach those children, I couldn't. They... They smell.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Well, if we'd never been taught to wash, so would we.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22Was this American makeover of Emlyn Williams' stage play
0:08:22 > 0:08:26giving audiences a positive image of Wales and its language?
0:08:27 > 0:08:31IN DIALECT
0:08:32 > 0:08:34That was obviously said for my benefit.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Would you mind translating it for me?
0:08:36 > 0:08:38I said, "Teacher, can I stay in after school?"
0:08:38 > 0:08:42- You don't like the idea of the school.- We do not.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44I hardly expected that you would.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49# All through the night... #
0:08:49 > 0:08:52The Proud Valley saw yet another outsider coming to Wales.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56But this film, featuring American actor and civil rights activist,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Paul Robeson, created a much more favourable picture.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04Even so we still had miners and hardship, and another stereotype was being strengthened.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06This was the land of song.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09# All through the night
0:09:09 > 0:09:11# We're singing. #
0:09:11 > 0:09:13And we kept singing.
0:09:13 > 0:09:14SINGING
0:09:14 > 0:09:16And singing.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19SINGING
0:09:19 > 0:09:20And singing.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Yes, you can always rely on us for a song.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26And we sang all the way from the mines to the Oscars with this classic.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32How Green Was My Valley.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Clint Eastwood's favourite film.
0:09:34 > 0:09:40This thoroughly American epic, for better or worse, was to shine the glitzy Hollywood spotlight on Wales.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Filmed in America, here was a movie painting a rather romanticised
0:09:43 > 0:09:46picture of our nation, that was set to stick.
0:09:46 > 0:09:52Singing and dancing in traditional Welsh manner all the way down the red carpet.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Here we are driving through Malibu, looking at Wales,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58which is the perfect way to spend an afternoon really.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02Exactly 70 years since it hit the big screen, Russell T Davies is
0:10:02 > 0:10:06taking the freeway to the original location of How Green Was My Valley.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11Look at that, it's classic, isn't it? The thing is, that's not just an
0:10:11 > 0:10:14American view of Wales, it's an English view of Wales as well.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17It's how people see the place.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19It's kind of beautiful.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21That could be Swansea.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23I suppose these are meant to be miners' cottages.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26They're quite spacious! They're not doing too badly, these people.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28That house is enormous!
0:10:28 > 0:10:33I don't think they got their research quite right here with humble miners' cottages.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37- Mr Mike Malone. - Hello, good morning, Russell.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39So good to meet you, finally.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44This, in 1941, was Wales here.
0:10:44 > 0:10:45Brilliant. Because I'm a Welshman.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47It's not quite like this at home.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52Right. There was a vision that Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55- had to actually go to Wales.- Yes.
0:10:55 > 0:10:56However there was something going on in Europe
0:10:56 > 0:10:58called World War Two, at least the early beginnings.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01That small detail got in the way.
0:11:01 > 0:11:02That made them rethink it.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06I'm sad now for a moment, I'm sad they didn't bring Hollywood to Wales. People don't realise.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10You look at photos, you think they've put up a few bits of hardboard and stuff like that.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12- They built a village.- Right, exactly.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16They built an entire village, for real, out of stone on this hill.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21Some 150 men laboured over about three months creating and building this village here.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25The streets were strewn with rubble and stone.
0:11:25 > 0:11:32- This hillside right in front of us actually was littered with slag. - This was turned into a slag heap.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Exactly, it was even black stained, to make it have a sheen.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39- They painted rock.- Right, right.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43At the time this was the most expensive outdoor set ever created.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48And for over ten years it was redressed for many more films.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Down this hill they got Welsh extras apparently, so they say, to walk.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Exactly.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58Many of the background actors, or extras, were Welshmen.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03- I wonder where they found them. Did they advertise in Los Angeles for Welsh people?- Exactly.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Back then, Welsh actors seldom had lead roles,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08even in films set in Wales.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12The main characters were often played by English or Americans,
0:12:12 > 0:12:13but How Green Was My Valley
0:12:13 > 0:12:15marked the debut of a real life Welshman,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17proper Welsh accent and all.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Could I have your attention, boys and girls?
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Rhys Williams was originally hired as an accent coach.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26But director John Ford gave him a role as a prizefighter,
0:12:26 > 0:12:32helping start a career as a supporting actor that lasted for 27 years.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Now Matthew Rhys is one of the latest crop of Welsh actors making a career in Hollywood.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41I'm very glad that there was a film 70 years ago about Wales,
0:12:41 > 0:12:46because there was a little confusion as to where or what Wales was.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50People went, "Wow, I didn't know your country's the same size as Connecticut."
0:12:50 > 0:12:52I heard that so many times.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Oh yes! Oh, this is like St Mary Street on a Saturday night.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00And the folksy style Irish dancing was as confused as the accents.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05- Have you been down the collieries? - Ten years. - Ten years?
0:13:05 > 0:13:07While I was studying.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11- A bit of soap now. - Oh, don't bother, please.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15He's not even trying. "Oh, don't bother, please."
0:13:15 > 0:13:20There are a number of us here playing Americans, Russians - we play anything.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24However, when it comes to the press, we're always very proud
0:13:24 > 0:13:26when we say where we're from.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31It was actors from Wales that basked in the spotlight in the 50s and 60s.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35We were starting to make a name for ourselves.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39We saw Stanley Baker, and some of the greatest female actresses,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Rachel Roberts and Rachel Thomas, making their mark.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47But it was one man from Pontrhydyfen who dominated the era.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49You look at Richard Burton's films,
0:13:49 > 0:13:51even though he's not playing a Welsh character,
0:13:51 > 0:13:56there's still something particularly Welsh about the work he does in it.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00And in 1959, a Welsh legend from Anglesey
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Hugh Griffith, was proud to share his accent with the world
0:14:04 > 0:14:07in his portrayal of an Arab sheikh in the epic, Ben Hur.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11One wife? One God, that I can understand,
0:14:11 > 0:14:16but one wife, that is not civilised. It is not generous.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18HE BELCHES
0:14:19 > 0:14:25He managed to bag an Oscar for this larger than life performance.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28- HE BELCHES - Thank you, thank you!
0:14:28 > 0:14:31It may have been a golden era for some of our actors in Hollywood,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34but a familiar theme was still present.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Another 1959 film, Tiger Bay,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39a critically acclaimed thriller set in Cardiff,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43was yet again offset by the lack of big lead roles for Welsh actors.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45But sometimes we can forgive such lapses.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48Only Two Can Play, filmed in Swansea, saw Peter Sellers
0:14:48 > 0:14:53portray a Welsh librarian - with a very convincing accent.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58- You wouldn't do anything violent, would you? - Mmm, violent.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Only I'd like to kiss you, you see, because...
0:15:01 > 0:15:05I'm a great believer in first impressions myself.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Our greatest acting export, Richard Burton,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12helped Cardiff filmmaker Jack Howells win an Oscar
0:15:12 > 0:15:16for this documentary on Dylan Thomas in 1963.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Death wouldn't bother him.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24After the first death, he said, "There is no other.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27"Pity the living who are last alone.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31"The dead in Hades have their host of friends."
0:15:33 > 0:15:39Well, wherever he is, and somehow it can't be Hades...
0:15:39 > 0:15:42you can bet that Dylan has his host of friends.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46And it was Burton's unmistakable Welsh tones
0:15:46 > 0:15:49that opened this epic, Zulu.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53The Secretary of State for War has received the following despatch from Lord Chelmsford.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Actor and producer Stanley Baker sweated and laboured to create
0:15:56 > 0:16:01this moving and heartfelt picture of a Welsh regiment
0:16:01 > 0:16:04in the midst of the Anglo-Zulu war.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09# ...spear points gleaming, see their warrior... #
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Now we were fighting back using song as a weapon,
0:16:12 > 0:16:17and Zulu is remembered as one of the greatest war films ever made.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19- SINGING - Come on, sing!
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Back in modern day Hollywood, Torchwood's Eve Myles
0:16:27 > 0:16:33is out to find the Welsh acting talent formally recognised on the Walk of Fame.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Spotted in London, one actor was whisked off to Hollywood
0:16:36 > 0:16:39to give us our first ever red carpet victory.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Best Actor in 1946 for the film, The Lost Weekend.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48This is Ray Milland's star. He was the first Welsh actor to ever win an Oscar.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52He was born in Neath. So he came a long way.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58And the land of song has produced some stars in the world of music.
0:16:58 > 0:16:59This is Alec Templeton.
0:16:59 > 0:17:06He was a blind composer and pianist from Cardiff who came over to America with his own show.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11He memorised his scripts by having them repeated to him 20 times. Grafter.
0:17:11 > 0:17:17And our biggest singing sensation seems to have made a bit of a name for himself.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20- Finally... - Tom Jones. - Tom Jones. Do you know Tom Jones?
0:17:20 > 0:17:24- Great singer, good Welsh singer. - OK, very good.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26# Delilah! #
0:17:26 > 0:17:28That's it, that's the one!
0:17:31 > 0:17:37This is Anthony Hopkins' hand prints and feet prints.
0:17:37 > 0:17:43He has huge feet. My God, he's got hands like a shovel!
0:17:43 > 0:17:46Fantastic to see.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Oh, Elizabeth Taylor! Oh, oh, oh!
0:17:50 > 0:17:55There's no Richard Burton star, which I can't quite understand or believe.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00I'm looking around and I'm really impressed. It's quite phenomenal.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04But there simply isn't enough Welsh names on this walk.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Where's the Bassey? Where's the Bassey, I ask?
0:18:07 > 0:18:11Honest to God. Where's Catherine Zeta Jones?
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Where's Eve Myles?
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Back in the 1970s and 80s, Hollywood was largely ignoring Wales.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25But by now we were set to forge our own path,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29making the films we wanted to make about ourselves.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And one man was determined to throw off the past
0:18:32 > 0:18:35and project a stark new view of modern Welsh life.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38The man in charge is Karl Francis, the Welsh director,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42one of the busiest and most versatile filmmakers of the moment.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Carl Francis broke away from the stereotypes.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47He cast non-actors to portray real people.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51Using Welsh farmers, coalminers and the unemployed,
0:18:51 > 0:18:56his films projected a sense of realism and integrity that hadn't been seen before.
0:18:56 > 0:19:02I think it's a damn shame we're not awarded the same benefits as other nations.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04And there was one film that didn't figure on the Hollywood radar,
0:19:04 > 0:19:09but showed that, despite the harsh realism of the era,
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Wales hadn't lost its funny bone.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14- Grand Slam. - Grand Slam.
0:19:14 > 0:19:15The Grand Slam.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17I mean, that was a huge cultural moment, that show.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22To see Welsh people be funny and, you know,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24larger than life.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27That's nice, that is, innit? Madame Rochas.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29- What do you want that for? - Maldwyn.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33- Buy it in France, man. - What, waste drinking time? You must be joking.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36I was asked to rewrite it a few years ago and I wouldn't touch it.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Were you? Oh, it's a classic. It's a classic.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43- What I want you to remember is that we are ambassadors of Wales. - Quite right.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Wales!
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Wales had to keep shouting through the 80s to even get a look in.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53And when it did, a familiar theme from the past re-emerged.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54All I need is somewhere
0:19:54 > 0:19:56I can have total isolation,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59and above all, atmosphere.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Well, there's a friend of mine with a property in Wales.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06We were back to the same plot as The Old Dark House 50 years earlier.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Go on Mr Kendall, I'm not easily frightened.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10We were still seeing outsiders
0:20:10 > 0:20:13coming to our dark, rain-soaked land,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17and Wales was still a rather scary place to come.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21- I seem to be lost. - Hardly surprising in this godforsaken part of the world.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23My husband's idea of a holiday.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27I've almost forgotten what civilisation is like.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30They're all like that around here.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34And had the portrayal of the Welsh moved on? Possibly not.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37I think that Wales and Welsh people in particular have always been
0:20:37 > 0:20:40portrayed in quite a silly way sometimes.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44It used to pain me that there were so few Welsh characters on screen,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47never mind Welsh drama, just Welsh characters in other things.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49They'd be very rare. And if they did appear,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52they'd be stupid like Huw in EastEnders and things like that.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55There's something wrong with this yoghurt.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57It's not yoghurt. It's mayonnaise.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Oh, right. There we are then.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02There may have been the odd exception,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04but in the 1990s, Wales and the Welsh were on the up.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09A Welshman, Anthony Hopkins, won an Oscar for this chilling performance.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12A census taker once tried to test me.
0:21:12 > 0:21:18I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. HE SLURPS
0:21:21 > 0:21:25In 1994, we received our first Oscar nomination
0:21:25 > 0:21:28for a Welsh language film, Hedd Wyn.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31With all this newfound confidence in our culture,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34it was time to explode the myths once and for all.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Now it was cool to be Welsh.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44Were these homegrown hits helping demolish the stereotypes?
0:21:44 > 0:21:45Boom-shanka!
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Or were these films building more new ones about the youth of Wales?
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Every club is different, but in the Asylum it's the manager.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55He has a string of home boys
0:21:55 > 0:21:57dealing the pukka Es to the party people in the club.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00Justin Kerrigan's Human Traffic was set in Cardiff,
0:22:00 > 0:22:02but could easily have been set anywhere.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04It simply told a story of urban youth,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07capturing the zeitgeist of the time.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10And the film didn't get hung up on whether it was being Welsh or not.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13And a film starring Matthew Rhys, House Of America,
0:22:13 > 0:22:17was to create a mash-up of Wales's past and reinvent it as cool Cumbria.
0:22:17 > 0:22:18THEY CHEER
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Here was disaffected Welsh youth
0:22:20 > 0:22:22mocking stereotypes
0:22:22 > 0:22:26'that they had been burdened with.'
0:22:26 > 0:22:32On Monday morning. You and me, boyo, we'll be getting up very early,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36getting on the Harley and, with the rest of the rabble in the village,
0:22:36 > 0:22:40we'll be going up to the opencast...
0:22:40 > 0:22:43..to sign up for jobs as labourers.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47We may have been mocking, but were we reinforcing old stereotypes?
0:22:47 > 0:22:49You know, you had the miners and Tom Jones
0:22:49 > 0:22:53'and there was that conflict of identity.'
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Right, five pints of lager, two whiskies, five Scampi Fries.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02'You have to get away from stereotypes of singing miners. They don't exist now.'
0:23:02 > 0:23:05There's a new stereotype one battles against,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08which is the depressed heroin-ridden,
0:23:08 > 0:23:09post-industrial Society.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13That's the one that seems to be more prevalent now, in a way.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15And there's a huge nostalgia for singing miners.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Whether they sang to that extent or not, I do not know.
0:23:19 > 0:23:20At the turn of the new millennium,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23we saw the stereotypes repackaged.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Once again, a lead character was not played by a Welsh actor.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30And the bad accents were back...
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Hello. Can't stop. Father sent me out for our supper.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37..along with the singing.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38SINGING
0:23:38 > 0:23:40And we sang...
0:23:40 > 0:23:42SINGING
0:23:42 > 0:23:43..and we sang.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47And we sang some more.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49HE SINGS
0:23:59 > 0:24:03So, can we change some of the stereotypes that have stuck with us
0:24:03 > 0:24:04since How Green Was My Valley?
0:24:04 > 0:24:06And do we want to?
0:24:07 > 0:24:13To be honest, 70 years ago, I would not expect an accurate representation.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18Ten, 15 years ago, we were still getting cliched representations and probably will continue to.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20It's the writers who will break those cliches.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23They ultimately will give us our identity.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28'There was an awful lot of people who think Welsh drama should be something called Daffodil,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32'that explores the lives of Welsh people been Welsh all day long.'
0:24:32 > 0:24:35- Some of that should exist. I'll write something like that one day.- Absolutely.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38You can't focus on one thing and say that is what Welsh drama is.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42You have got to look at the whole thing. The whole picture and the picture is massive.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45In the last few years, Wales, in all its variety,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47has found its way onto the big screen.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Mr Nice followed the life of a notorious Welshman.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52Welcome to California.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56And here we had our very own Howard Marks played by, yes,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58a real-live Welshman, Rhys Ifans.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02I can hear you the other end of the field, man. It's not even on, Jim.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04And in 2006, it was Howard Marks himself
0:25:04 > 0:25:06who voiced the opening to this film
0:25:06 > 0:25:08in true Richard Burton tradition.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18With new digital methods of production,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21anybody can make a movie and the Welsh did just that.
0:25:21 > 0:25:27It may be crass, but these boys were representing a new generation to a worldwide audience.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31Today, the internet and television are now having an even wider impact
0:25:31 > 0:25:34than traditional cinema.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40And Torchword is exploding across television screens in America and all around the world.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Wales is insane!
0:25:43 > 0:25:46- If you're the best England has to offer, God help you. - I'm Welsh.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53With more and more TV and film now being made in Wales,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56and new drama studios set to open in Cardiff Bay,
0:25:56 > 0:26:01the film and TV production industry seems to be moving at a pace.
0:26:01 > 0:26:02'We're working with Welsh actors,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05'we're working with Welsh technical crews.'
0:26:05 > 0:26:09It is a very well-oiled machine in South Wales, which is a good thing.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Kicked off by Doctor Who, Torchwood and other TV dramas,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16there is a tangible impact on the ground and on screen.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21Bring it on. The Doctor Who effect is amazing. It is providing an infrastructure,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24it's providing technicians, it's providing a critical mass.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27And is proving that we can make stuff of quality. It's a helluva thing.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31All those jobs and departments, they are in Wales.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35You don't have to think you have to travel. I think that is vital.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40Yes, I think it is becoming the hub, which I am very proud of. And why not?
0:26:40 > 0:26:45'I would love to see more stories actually about Wales'
0:26:45 > 0:26:46and for us to actually put our life
0:26:46 > 0:26:51'and our modern life on the screen in a way that is obviously Welsh.'
0:26:51 > 0:26:55I'm not sure that Doctor Who and Torchwood are going to change things
0:26:55 > 0:26:59in any way in that respect, but it is fantastic
0:26:59 > 0:27:03that such a successful and high-quality production is associated with Wales.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06And, since 1991, we have been celebrating our Welsh talent
0:27:06 > 0:27:10at Bafta Cymru, our own Oscars.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13What does the future hold for Wales on screen?
0:27:13 > 0:27:15I saw a film recently called Submarine,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19which I thought was probably one of the most beautiful depictions
0:27:19 > 0:27:23of Wales. It was the Swansea Bay area and Barry and beautifully done.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26'I think that is going to be a milestone in terms of Wales on film.'
0:27:26 > 0:27:30You must be chuffed to bits with the film. It has done ready well.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Yes. It has done ready well. It has opened in America.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36With Submarine's lead actor Craig Roberts also taking Wales to America
0:27:36 > 0:27:42and Welsh locations featured in blockbusters like Harry Potter, Robin Hood and Ironclad,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46it seems Wales does figure on the global radar.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48And the future looks bright in Hollywood, too.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Martin Scorsese is planning to make a film about our own Richard Burton,
0:27:52 > 0:27:58who at last looks set to get the recognition he deserves with a star on the Walk Of Fame.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Pioneered by William Haggar and continued by Torchwood,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06we are making an impact across the pond and all around the world.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11And, 100 years on, what can Wales learn from the original film pioneer?
0:28:11 > 0:28:15It needs to embrace a very commercial, popcorn attitude.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20We have to start adhering to what people want - make some money.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22Make some money to make the other stuff.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28# Get away from me
0:28:28 > 0:28:30# Get away from you
0:28:30 > 0:28:33# What I want to see
0:28:33 > 0:28:36# What I want to do
0:28:36 > 0:28:39# I'm going to live in Hollywood
0:28:39 > 0:28:41# Bet you thought I never could
0:28:41 > 0:28:44# Went to the neighbourhood
0:28:44 > 0:28:46# I want to live in Hollywood. #