Ferry Cross the Mersey (film) Ferry Cross the Mersey (film) Ferry Cross the Mersey is a 1965 musical film featuring Gerry and the Pacemakers. The film, directed by Jeremy Summers, was the first to be shot on location in Liverpool after the city's emergence into the music mainstream (which had previously seen only Frankie Vaughan, Russ Hamilton, Billy Fury and Lita Roza as stars). For authenticity, many scenes were shot in clubs near the home of Gerry and the Pacemakers' frontman Gerry Marsden. A scene on a ferry (the "Mountwood") on the River Mersey showed the docks as a backdrop. Marsden wrote nine new songs
Gerry and the Pacemakers famous songs, "Ferry Cross the Mersey", refers to the River Mersey that flows past Liverpool. Gerry Marsden formed the group in 1959 with his brother Fred, Les Chadwick, and Arthur McMahon. They rivalled the Beatles early in their career, playing in the same areas of Hamburg, Germany and Liverpool. McMahon (known as Arthur Mack) was replaced on piano by Les Maguire around 1961. They are known to have rehearsed at Cammell Laird shipping yard at Birkenhead. The group's original name was Gerry Marsden and the Mars Bars, but they were forced to change this when the Mars Company, producers of