David Bradley, (aged 14) playing the part of Billy Casper, pictured with his Kestral

Framed Prints

Framed Print of David Bradley, (aged 14) playing the part of Billy Casper, pictured with his Kestral

David Bradley, (aged 14) playing the part of Billy Casper, pictured with his Kestral, on the film set of the film Kes. Here Billy Casper is playing the goalkeeper in the school football match scene.
Kes is a 1969 release drama film directed by Ken Loach and produced by Tony Garnett. The film is based on the 1968 novel A Kestrel for a Knave, written by the Barnsley-born author Barry Hines. The film is ranked seventh in the British Film Institutes Top Ten (British). Films and among the top ten in its list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14.
The film was shot on location around Barnsley, Yorkshire, including St. Helens School, Athersley South, later renamed Edward Sheerien School (demolished in 2011); and in and around the streets of Hoyland and Hoyland Common.
Fifteen-year-old Billy Casper has little hope in life. He is picked on, both at home by his physically and verbally abusive older half-brother, Jud, and at school, by his schoolmates and by abusive teachers.
One day, Billy takes a kestrel from a nest on a farm. His interest in learning falconry prompts him to steal a book on the subject from a secondhand book shop. As the relationship between Billy and Kes, the kestrel, improves during the training, so does Billys outlook and horizons. For the first time in the film, Billy receives praise, from his English teacher after delivering an impromptu talk about training Kes.
Jud leaves money and instructions for Billy to place a bet on two horses, but, after consulting a bettor who tells him the horses are unlikely to win, Billy spends the money on fish and chips and intends to purchase meat for his bird (instead the butcher gives him scrap meat free of charge). However, the horses do win. Outraged at losing a payout of more than 10, Jud takes revenge by killing Billys kestrel. Grief-stricken, Billy retrieves the birds broken body from the waste bin and, after showing it to Jud and his mother, buries the bird on the hillside overlooking the field where he d flown.
Picture taken 15th July 1968. © Mirrorpix

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Media ID 21808131