Mackworth Goes To Hollywood Poem by Martin Ward

Mackworth Goes To Hollywood
(Film: The Black Shield of Falworth)

The year was 1953:
a year of glitz and pageantry.
Her Majesty's coronation
enthralled the world and nation.

But there was one more sensation in the making:
Mackworth, minus the modern population;
the setting for a Hollywood blockbuster,
that should have given our Mackworth lustre;
though now it seldom musters a column inch
or gets a mention on local news (at a pinch) .

With red-carpet release in 1954,
in Hollywood, Cannes and Derby
and with a Hans J Salter score; surely
Mackworth and film were destined for glory?

The first film made in
Technicolour and Cinemascope,
but was it filmed in Derbyshire? Nope.
Its setting was Mackworth Castle,
but to film in Derbyshire
would have been too much hassle.
If you watch the film closely (it is mooted) ,
you can see the wooden set
is not firmly rooted:
movie aficionados do not forget!

Ladies swooned at the leading man:
Tony Curtis, withmillions of fans,
who spoke with an American drawl,
when sword-fighting and having a brawl.
'Aye-up, me duck, ' was never his greeting,
and Mackworth's fame was sadly fleeting,
although the picture entered folklore
for the 'Americanisms' I mentioned before.

The Black Shield of Falworth
gave Mackworth brief fame,
but will the like be seen again?

If Americans should stray from the A52,
having seen the signs for Mackworth,
they may just stop and ask of you:
'Did Tony Curtis come this way? '
Say: 'He didn't, me duck,
but Have a Nice Day! '