Most of the actors of the silver screen's golden age have long since gone to the eternal critic. Many of us who grew up admiring their work at the local "flicks", or "pictures"; have remained enthusiastic about their achievements; and now a growing band of younger filmgoers are recognising the entertainment, and also the social, values, inherent in these old films or movies. This article is concerned with the British Cinema in the sixty years between the 1920's and 1980's, which perhaps really was the "Golden Age"; but more, it is concerned with scenes which were shot outdoors in recognisable built-up locations, and which incorporated some of our favourite actors and actresses, and how those places have changed in the intervening years.
Many early films or movies were shot outdoors; the film of Queen Victoria's Jubilee procession makes fabulous viewing; but here the investigation is of full length features, classic movies and cult films, not documentaries, and remembered "stars". "Two Lancashire Lassies in London" was made in 1919, but where is it, who has seen it, who has a copy and who remembers it? Perhaps "Underground", Alissa Landi, 1928, and "Piccadilly", with Anna May Wong, in 1929, may have been the earliest examples that combine the three principles, length, stars and architecture.
Apart from the entertainment value in these old films, the makers, the directors and producers, unintentionally captured a way of life now superseded. Valuable historical and social lessons can be learned from a study of these wonderful moving images; the language, the accents, and the idioms; the buildings and their architectural detail; the damage caused by the war years; and even the interior film sets show domestic situations, based on the reality, or the contrived reality, of the time.
Furniture, fixtures and fittings, that are now unavailable except in a museum, are shown in fine detail. Then, in the cinema of reality; "Look Back in Anger", "Millions Like Us", and "Poor Cow", and “Room at the Top”; we see the awful drabness of our, or their, lives, exposed to the viewing millions of film-goers.
Even the escapism of the comedy film "Genevieve" paints a depressing picture of south London after the war. Look carefully at the passing streets, the houses, the shop fronts, and see how really mean they looked after five years of war. Rationing existed until the 1950's and much of damaged London wasn't rebuilt until well into the 1980's. Real history on film, cinema history in the making, a commentary on British social life.
Our food; how, where and what we ate and drank, Ovaltine, Wonderloaf and Guinness may have been national staples; just watch the shop windows, the hoardings and the bus side advertising in "The Leather Boys", “Heaven’s Above” and "Sparrows Can't Sing". The layouts of the shops, of offices and factories; "Man at the Top" and "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", the street equipment, the vehicles, and then, just our clothes, could provide material for another whole series of articles, and all provided by the British and American film industry.
The class-conscious behaviour of the actors must have reflected the way we were, or thought we were. Just listen to the Huggetts, Alistair Sim, Margaret Rutherford; and Celia Johnson on Carnforth Station, in "Brief Encounter" getting ".......something in my eye", or was it "...........my ei", ".........mai ay", or even "............mai ii"? Yes we did talk like that, and some will mourn the fact that we no longer do. We have changed, we are changing, and probably will continue to change. No longer does one receive a "Thank you and good afternoon", but usually just a "Ther' yer go"! That's change for you!
The dark paint, invariably scuffed, the scumbled doors, the dingy floral wallpapers, stained and grubby with finger-marks around the light switches, discoloured around brass plates or letterboxes where the Brasso had affected the paintwork; just review "Millions Like Us" and "I Believe in You", for the evidence. The evil sinks made of buff porcelain with their curious vertical slots, or indentations, in their sides, set off by the cracked white-tiled surrounds; the linoleum; the Ascot water heaters, the chipped baths, the hard crackley sadistic Izal lavatory paper. "Man at the Top", “Look Back in Anger”, “For Them That Trespass”, a rare film, and “10 Rillington Place” show what I mean.
Loose sweets in paper bags, and sweet shops with glass jars full of confections. Wide throated milk bottles with push-in cardboard caps, on the front step, see Norman Wisdom in "Early Bird", or try Stanley Baker in "Hell Drivers"; and the deck-chair striped material hung over the front doors of middle class houses to stop the sun blistering the paintwork, which gave the opportunity to small boys to pop the bubbles. All now gone, except on the celluloid reflections of "Room at the Top", "This Sporting Life", and many others.
Men, not just gentlemen, always wore hats or caps, and the workers sported mufflers and brown overalls, and wrap-around pinafores were the order of the day for womenfolk of the lower orders. Look at "I'm Alright Jack", "School for Scoundrels" and "The Lavender Hill Mob", classics of the silver screen.. And any man, when dressed, wore a tie; many members of the Northern Ireland administration, the BBC, and the Knesset in Israel have now even dispensed with this badge of office. Trainers and shell suits will soon be "de rigour", never mind stiff collars, three piece suits and gloves! Watch the folks in the background in “Bond Street”, those were the days.
Parents were called, by each other, and their offspring, Mother and Father, they used phrases like 'browned off', 'toodle pip', 'old girl', 'old man', 'TTFN','You lucky people'and "Give 'im the money Barney", the last were the unforgettable words of Wilfred Pickles, the father in "Billy Liar", from his show "Worker's Playtime", another movie with a cult following.
Discarded 'woollies' were unpicked and rewound into balls for reuse in other garments; that guy in the 'Time Team' still wears such jumpers made in this way even now, probably knitted by his mum. Letters were addressed to "so and so" Esq, and firms and companies were referred to as "Messrs". It really isn't that long ago, I remember it well, but in reality it was a different world. Oh, and TTFN, stood for 'Ta Ta For Now', from ITMA, the radio show, or rather, the wireless show.
Filming locations now need hundredweights of permissions, police, health and safety, fire-brigade and local authorities all become involved, the old days of film production are now gone. Film producers and movie directors are stifling under a mound of paper.
The middle and upper classes, when portrayed, lived a different life, in different buildings, with different furniture, fixtures and fittings. Here the changes are much less dramatic, the antiques and antiquities of the seriously rich and famous are still mainly in their original places, no slum clearance was needed, no high rises were considered; but they in their way add to the glamour of film and movie history, as well as providing accurate architectural records.
The middling classes still occupy their pleasant semis, country cottages, and mews flats. But which were these suburban streets that were shown in "The Amorous Milkman", with Diana Dors? The greatest changes have been made in the living conditions of the, then termed, working and lower-middle classes. Theirs were the real streets, those of Alf Garnett's "Saga" in London’s East End. “Sparrows Can’t Sing” was a reflection of family life in those times.
Wincarnis port wine, crystal sets, wirelesses that needed to 'warm up', Alvar Liddel reading the news, and Victor Sylvester entertaining us on Sunday evenings from the Palm Court of Grand Hotel. Prints of the 'Wreck of the Hesperus', 'The Stag at Bay', and 'Napoleon on the Deck of the Bellerophon', all slightly foxed and badly framed, gradually gave way to a selection of Tretchikoff's 'Green Ladies', which now too have become desirable objects for collectors.
Washing-up suds were produced with the remaining small ends of toilet-soap tablets held in metal-mesh whisks, and the actual cleaning of the plates was done with small string mops, see "This Happy Breed" and “Fly Away Peter”. The finished product was often placed on a wooden rack over the sink, or on a squigily wire rack on the top of the blue-grey "marble finished" gas stove, "10 Rillington Place". Sculleries and outside lavatories were the order of the day, “The Sandwich Man”, mangles and wringers were the housewife's domestic appliances.
The cinema, movie theatre, or “pictures” were the cheap form of entertainment before the advent of television for the masses. love stories, comedies, musicals, detective tales, horror films and adult movies were the staple diet at British and US cinemas, rarely was there the opportunity to examine foreign films. “Rififfi”, “Ladri di Bicicletti”, “Riso Amaro”, “La Strada”, “Roma, Citta’ Aperta” appear on the reelstreets website, with up to date images of the same streets today, but they rarely appeared on the British or American film distributor’s lists.
The 'Times' didn't have photos on its front page, and the exposures of page three fame were only to be found in pocket size copies of 'Spick and Span' and 'Beautiful Britons', and those only in the 50's. There's a window full of sexy magazines in "Sparrows Can't Sing ", and of course the pictures were being taken by Hardy Kreuger in "Peeping Tom" in Bloomsbury, London. The 'News of the World' provided salacious scandal, and the 'Sunday Pictorial' the photos. TV announcers wore evening dress, but I always suspected that McDonald Hobley wasn't wearing the correct trousers, or possibly not wearing trousers at all.
All of this is but a precursor to the architectural differences between "then" and "now"; and these changes to the bricks and mortar are every bit as great as those mentioned above regarding the social manners and customs captured on film.
England's capital city, London, had the greatest attention from the cinematographers, and this city figures largely in most of the old movies with worthwhile architectural detail. There are almost 300 films listed showing scenes of the capital, from "Adventures of a Private Eye" to "Up The Junction", each showing different parts of the metropolis. It, the "Great Wen", the "Smoke", together with the home counties, had the greatest population, the majority of the film studios; Pinewood, Elstree, Denham, Walton, Gainsborough, Merton, Shepherds Bush, riverside and many others; was home to many of the producers, directors and actors, had a huge variety of available locations and extras, and also was easily accessible by the film crews. The back-up services and suppliers were at hand and the local authorities were usually co-operative in the process of film production and movie location work. Film posters and front of house stills could be quickly produced and distributed to all the cinemas in the kingdom.
The heart of London, the centre from which all measurements were made, was Trafalgar Square; it was the centre of the metropolis, therefore the hub of the Empire, and, by implication, the world. The areas of heaviest population have suffered the greatest changes, whilst the "tourist" sets beloved by many film-makers, in order, one supposes, to be able to sell their products more readily in overseas markets, have changed hardly at all. Did all the shots of Trafalgar Square with Terence Stamp driving a kidnapped Samantha Eggar towards his Kentish hideaway, in "The Collector"; or Keir Dullea making a phone call from the newly opened 24-hour Post Office on the corner in "Bunny Lake is Missing"; or David Evans and Hilton Edwards; P H, the blind man; walking and reminiscing about returning to Cheltenham in "Victim"; or, Joan Dowling, buying a ticket in "Train of Events", really help the film’s distribution chances?
Did the shots really impinge on the subconscious of audiences in Nebraska, or Alice Springs or Wagga Wagga, or did they just demonstrate the foreign-ness of the film, or would, or could, the cinema-goer really identify these far-away places. 'Gee, is that really Trafalgarrr Squarrr?'.
That the reality of the scene helped in the fiction and fantasy of the moving image, and added considerably to the sum of its parts, there is no doubt, but as the British film industry has hardly ever managed to impinge on the US market, this could not really have been a consideration. After all, they couldn't understand the way we spoke. Perhaps it was aimed at the domestic market, where, fifty years ago most British people had never actually seen Nelson's column. The numbers, even today, of those who still haven't, would surprise one. Or maybe it was the location scouts that were less adventurous, or lazy. Why was an unremarkable corner of Hammersmith used some twenty times and why was Battersea church and yard the focus of attention so often by location managers, directors and producers?
Obvious tourist locations aside, how and why are locations chosen to be used as the settings for feature films? It was always reasonably important to find a site that corresponded more or less to the plot. But did the sight of Richard Widmark catching a bus somewhere in London in "Night and the City"; in, would you believe it, Trafalgar Square again; or of Michael Caine walking the streets in Notting Hill in the "Ipcress File"; where he could have found Tom Courtney in "Otley", or Yul Brynner, Charles Grey or Edward Woodward, in "The File of the Golden Goose"; really help to sell the product? And why all the, possibly unhealthy, interest in the unfashionable corner of Hammersmith for so many filming locations? Movie history reflects the social history of the nation filmed and recorded, the movies shot in real streets show the reality of everyday living. Elizabeth Taylor was in a church in West London, “Secret Ceremony” which was used also by “The Boys“ and appeared in “The Blue Lamp”. but the “Boys in Brown” managed easily to find new and exciting locations in Islington for their exciting chase, easily leaving the scene of the robbery in “Lady killers”, and one of “Alfie’s” seductions, King’s Cross, from where the hero in the “39 Steps” removed to Scottish locations.
But in the context of the film these scenes provided verisimilitude and authenticity by using real streets, which reflect, by their architecture, their street furniture, the shapes of the windows, the doors, and even the green-grocer's shop front, the nationality of the location, its foreign feel, and therefore perhaps suggested the possible romance or interest of far off places.
Out of London, Beconsfield High Street was used in “Press for Time”, “Brief Encounter” and “Don’t Talk to Strange Men”, and Norman Wisdom raced down to Teignmouth, in Devon for parts of the film. Location filming took place in Brighton for “Villain”, “Quadrophenia”, ”Genevieve”, “Brighton Rock”, “The Night We Got the Bird” and many others. It was, aterall, just an hour or so south of London and provided actors, actresses, extras, film crews and location managers a day at the seaside.
A good outdoor scene is worth fifty studio sets; but proximity to the studio was another consideration, the western home counties of London, close to many of the studios, provided endless locations for Norman Wisdom, the "Carry On" gang, Windsor, the "Doctor" series, Beconsfield and a host of other feature films, including the host of Hammer horror flicks. Have you ever actually identified any of these streets, it really is a defining moment, a realisation of a detective’s clue, a moment of coming face to face with cinema history whilst walking in the footsteps of the stars at a real movie making location.
The Laurel and Hardy films, and the "Keystone Kops' kapers made in and around Hollywood, and often using exterior shots, provide an incredible record of the growth and development of that city's suburbs. So much so that a variety of books have been produced detailing the various locations of these filmic heroes. An enthusiast called Tony Reeves has also written a very interesting book, "The Worldwide Guide to Film Locations", it's currently in print and is a worthwhile purchase for film location buffs. The International Movie Data Base, IMDB, on the internet also sometimes comes up with information on where a film was shot. Whilst for London, Simon James has compiled the London Film Location Guide listing hundreds of films and there outside locations.
More recently the acquiescence of a sympathetic local authority could sway the placing of a film, and nowadays every region has a film development office to promote the business of filmmaking. This placement of cinematographic activity, and the use of the locations in the first place, which is a real boost to local employment. The British Film Institute claims that the making of a film causes a measurable rise in employment. Sometimes the film crew and extras outnumber the residents who didn't participate in the epic. "Whiskey Galore", "Moby Dick" and "I Know Where I'm Going" must, at times must have fallen into this category.
Firstly the film crew, actors and extras, several dozens of people at least; and sometimes a cast of thousands; supported in their work by several hundreds of local providers and artisans; and then finally the tourists, who arrive after having seen the film and want to visit the sites; all these factors add to the 'industry' of the area. Film induced tourism is now a major factor in determining the help that local authorities will give to film producers and their crews, and often a location is chosen solely on the financial advantages that are presented by the town council who realise that their area will be made considerably more popular by the continuous trail of film induced tourists. But in days gone past perhaps it was the location finder, producer, or director, who just fancied the area, for any one of a number of mundane personal reasons. It was near home, it had good communications, or a pleasant restaurant, or an available girlfriend / boyfriend, or what have you.....
Authentic scenes of Bolton, Wakefield, Nottingham, Barnsley, Cardiff and Keighley, the towns which featured with such distinction in "Spring and Port Wine", "This Sporting Life", "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", Kes", "Tiger Bay", and "The Railway Children" have helped, by location, to place their stories in a realistic framework, something which the majority of the finest set builders could never achieve. The local businesses profited at the time, and the tourist related industries have been profiting ever since, as film pilgrims visit the sites.
But there are a hundred alternative towns that could easily have been used instead of the ones chosen. Why were they picked? Why, oh why, was "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" made in Stevenage? A nice enough town, but what compelling artistic reason decided that its fate be immortalised in this "epic"? Why not Watford, Welwyn Garden City; where at least I had a girlfriend; Wheathampstead or Wapping, or even Poplar? Which actually had its own film, "Fly a Flag for Poplar". Possibly the location managers were wooed by active local councillors, Bracknell is a case in point with “The Offence” and a few others, an unremarkable modern-ish town, but therin perhaps was its attraction, and close to the studios in west London.
Actually the local newspaper in Stevenage revealed that the director chose the 'New Town' of Stevenage in 1967 as 'it blended with the image of a new young England', it was to be 'a teenager's answer to "Alfie"’, said the clipping in the local library file. Well, there yer go, there yer ‘av'it. “Here We go Round the Mulberry Bush” location choice solved!
Obviously the availability of faster film stock, smaller and quieter generators; and the film crew of ‘Fallen Idol’ were constantly berated for making so much noise with their generators in and around Belgravia; and better roads and faster transport gave more possibilities for using real streets, only the weather was the enemy. On many occasions realism could be achieved and the production costs of building large sets saved. Only occasionally was a budget large enough, or a director strong enough, or the story convoluted enough, to require the building of whole streets of sets. Much of the area in “Passport to Pimlico”, as well as the street with the underground station and the cinema in “Sabotage”, were all fabricated. David Lean, he of “Ryan’s Daughter” fame, actually had the temerity, strength, or, more probably the temperament of a megalomaniac, which allowed him to employ 500 Irish builders for six months creating the “correct” village for the film.
It wasn’t enough that on the Dingle Peninsular there were probably fifty suitable villages, but no, Lean had to build one. Also the school house, all built to order. What an astonishing waste, yes, waste, of money, when so many alternative crumbling schoolhouses were available.
Do you know Bolton? Did you know Bolton? Queen's Park is still there, they say, but most of the streets and much of the canal, where James Mason and Diana Coupland had such scenes in "Spring and Port Wine" have long since gone under the developers bulldozer, and rightly so. But where were these old scenes shot, can anything still be identified? Adrienne Posta nipped up from Stevenage, after being chased around the “Mulberry Bush” to take part. Sometimes, in the background, is a church tower or spire, a gasworks, cooling towers or some such feature which still exists and which could give good reference for tracking down these elusive real streets.
Filmgoer's archaeology may yet be entered into the syllabus of our leading universities, perhaps under the grand title of Vernacular Cinematographic Architectural Archaeology. Such important titles attract more financial support, give more kudos to the recipient and look super when framed. Perhaps among the university cities, Oxford, which featured in “Accident”, Edinburgh, with “Greyfriars Bobby”, Cambridge with “Bachelor of Hearts” or Cheltenham, with “If”, could lead the way.
Most of "Tiger Bay" has gone; it used to be Bute Town, and is now mainly redeveloped. The only building left to link it to John and Haley Mills' epic, shot in and around Cardiff Docks in the Port Authority’s Victorian tower. How many Welsh locations can you think of that were used in films that contained real streets? "How Green is my Valley" is a non starter, made entirely on location in the San Fernando Valley in California! And "The Stars Look Down", was made in Northumberland, not Wales, they tell me. A snip from "The Foreman Went to France" shows a supposed Welsh village, as of course does “Under Milk Wood” and “Last Days of Dolwyn” and “Constant Husband”.
The mill town and streets in "Man in the White Suit", were in which, probably, Lancashire town? Where were Alec Guiness and Ernest Thesiger in this human industrial drama? Actually the location used in the filming of this British classic was outside a now demolished factory in Battersea, London. Not north at all, just a film-makers trick. Would you believe Church Road in Battersea in south London, the old Morgan Crucible works, now a block of expensive, shiny, glass, bed-sits.
"Hobson's Choice", John Mills and Brenda di Banzi, was shot in Salford, they say, or was it Oldham? However the last scenes, set prior to World War One, outside the church, show 1930's power station cooling towers, a producer’s gaff, but a vital piece of evidence for all location sleuths. But where was it?
Alec Guiness with Stanley Holloway went tearing around the City of London in "The Lavender Hill Mob"; a wonderful film that had nothing to do with the south west London suburb named in the title. Many shots of St Paul's Cathedral, the Bank of England, Thames bank, Holborn and the City could be filmed again today for a "Then and Now" documentary series on British film locations.
The start of Hitchcock's "Stagefright", shows the St Paul's bomb sites again, see them now, with the holes filled in with skyscrapers, and see the director himself in one of the real streets near the embankment in Pimlico, where the film "Passport to ......." wasn't filmed. It was done over the river in Lambeth, near the Vauxhall Station roundabout.
Well, this is where we came in…………… And to keep you awake at nights; apart from Berkley Square, where was the film "A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square" filmed, was it Kilburn, Lewisham or the Old Kent Road? Berkley Square was also in "Life and Death of Colonel Blimp", and “I’ll Never Forget What ’is Name”.
Did you ever see the "Confessions" films, yes, painful memories, but where were they shot? Harrow? Lewisham? Perhaps our ex-leader's wife could ask her dad, because yes Anthony Booth was in many of them.
Norman Wisdom's series, "On the Beat", "The Early Bird" and etc., had many good exterior shots, but of which part of suburbia? Selfridges, Oxford Street, Marble Arch and Hyde Park all figure in "Trouble in Store", but the others?
Laurence Harvey, in 'I Am a Camera', opens his reminiscences by walking down a London street with a distinctive "Wren" type church spire in the background, Do you know where it was, it? This film was made again, years later, as 'Cabaret', with Liza Minelli.
But, as I said before, this is where we came in.
Revised and up-dated version John Tunstill 2009-09-06
First published www.reelstreets.com 2003
