Above can be found the link to very first feature film to be set in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. On the Night of the Fire was shot on and around the Quayside in 1939, and released in 1940. It is notable, too, as being an early example of British film noir.
I shall leave you to see if you can identify any of the locations shown in the movie. To be honest, though, it is difficult to pick out more than a handful - and many of the scenes would have been shot in studios. The bridges/Quayside shots are obvious, and look out especially for a scene filmed below Ouseburn Viaduct. Geordie accents are, however, noticeably thin on the ground!
Perhaps surprisingly, the film's star, Ralph Richardson, did actually have some links to the city. He was a direct descendant of the famous Quaker Richardsons who ran the Elswick Leather Works; and his uncle, the well-known mathematician, Lewis Fry Richardson, was born in Newcastle in 1881. The most famous Richardson of them all, shipbuilder John Wigham Richardson, was also a distant cousin of Sir Ralph's.
For those of you who wish to learn more then you can find a few pages dedicated to the film in Chris Phipps' excellent book on Newcastle's role in TV and film entitled Forget Carter, which is widely available online.
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