Over 12 months after its launch at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and after a highly successful US launch, TOMMY’S HONOUR was given its UK Premiere at the New Picture House on North Street in St Andrews.
The New Picture House, Old Course Hotel and GREY POCKET collaborated on an event to give the movie maximum exposure to the St Andrews public, with several different ticket categories for the general population and many special guests invited to watch the movie for the first time.
Jack Lowden, Thereze Bradley and Jason Connery joined Producer Jim Kreutzer at the NPH for a screening of the film and a question and answer session in the elegant 1930’s cinema.
NPH contains three cinema screens, the largest of which contains a row of special "VIP" seats consisting of electronic black recliners and has both a ground level and balcony seating area. There is also a lounge area available for rental by members of the public, with the option to view a licensed DVD digitally projected at a canvas screen.
St Andrews Magazine was one of only two media organisations present at the Premiere, the other being THE COURIER, and Matt spoke to Jack Lowden and Jason Connery ahead of the movie starting.
Matt: What were your initial thoughts when you were approached to do the movie?
Jack: I thought it was a fantastic story, I didn’t know about it so I thought that was a good reason to make it.
Matt: Were you a golfer before the movie?
Jack: Not in the slightest
Matt: Are you, in your personality, a bit like Tommy Morris?
Jack: Yeah, I am quite driven with a decent sense of humour.
Matt: What do you like about playing the role?
Jack: I love the character and the kind of guy he was,
Matt: What was it like to work with Jason?
Jack: It was great, he’s one of the nicest blokes in the world.
Matt: Are you working on anything coming up?
Jack: Yes, so I am going to do Mary Queen of Scots in August.
Matt: What were the challenges involved with shooting this film?
Jason: I think the biggest challenge was creating the golf courses to appear much less manicured than they do now, the logistics of looking at golf courses from that time when courses were maintained by sheep which is very different from now. St Andrews now looks like a beautiful green carpet, so it’s very different.
Matt: Were there any worries about doing a golfing/sporting movie?
Jason: Yeah, it’s the beginning of the game, it’s very different, the problem with sport is the thing which makes it exciting is it’s live. So I wanted the drama of the characters to be the main focus.
Matt: What will viewers be surprised by?
Jason: I what they will be surprised by is the layers of the story, because you have the class system, the father-son relationship, relationships, the church and hope they will be surprised by how full the story is in many different ways.
Matt: How exciting is it to have the UK Premiere in St Andrews?
Jason: It’s great, this is where Old Tom was head greenkeeper for many years, and it’s the perfect venue to do it.
Jason: I think the biggest challenge was creating the golf courses to appear much less manicured than they do now, the logistics of looking at golf courses from that time when courses were maintained by sheep which is very different from now. St Andrews now looks like a beautiful green carpet, so it’s very different.
Matt: Were there any worries about doing a golfing/sporting movie?
Jason: Yeah, it’s the beginning of the game, it’s very different, the problem with sport is the thing which makes it exciting is it’s live. So I wanted the drama of the characters to be the main focus.
Matt: What will viewers be surprised by?
Jason: I what they will be surprised by is the layers of the story, because you have the class system, the father-son relationship, relationships, the church and hope they will be surprised by how full the story is in many different ways.
Matt: How exciting is it to have the UK Premiere in St Andrews?
Jason: It’s great, this is where Old Tom was head greenkeeper for many years, and it’s the perfect venue to do it.
