The Slab Boys (1997)

The Slab Boys: Directed by John Byrne. With Robin Laing, Russell Barr, Bill Gardiner, Louise Berry. Paisley, Scotland, in 1957. Three working-class lads look forward to the staff dance at the local carpet factory. Exuberant social piece of observation cinema that concentrates on the boys’ obsessions with lust, music and ‘getting out’.

“The problem with THE SLAB BOYS is the limited appeal . It`s based on a stage play – And boy does it show with its static locations – set in a Paisley dye factory in the late 1950s . I know Paisley fairly better than the majority of IMDB members because I used to shop there for clothes , but watching a film about a Paisley factory won`t appeal to me , in fact I doubt if it`ll appeal to anyone in Paisley . Not seeing through this flaw the producers tried to market THE SLAB BOYS as a musical by having u0026quot; Hot u0026quot; Scottish acts like The Proclaimers and Lulu do cover versions of songs from the 1950s for the soundtrack . So let me see the producers were hoping that teenagers would flock to the cinema to watch the film and then rush out and buy the soundtrack which features 50s pop songs by The Proclaimers and Lulu ? Teenagers ? The Proclaimers and Lulu ? I think I can spot a flaw in this cunning marketing idea u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI remember reading in the Scottish press that THE SLAB BOYS cost three million pounds to produce and only made a little over thirteen thousand pounds at the UK box office . The reason it made so little money is obviously because of its limited appeal , but unless you know a bit about film producing you`ll be confused as to how it cost so much to make since it has only a few sets and a small cast . The answer to that is simple , most of the budget went on the copyright of having artists do cover versions of songs . The Proclaimers ? Lulu ? I`m sure they enjoyed their pay day”