Denham Film Studios

Coordinates: 51°35′04″N 0°29′56″W / 51.584569°N 0.498902°W / 51.584569; -0.498902
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

51°35′04″N 0°29′56″W / 51.584569°N 0.498902°W / 51.584569; -0.498902

Denham Film Studios, c. 1938

Denham Film Studios was a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952, founded by Alexander Korda, in Buckinghamshire.

Notable films made at Denham include Brief Encounter and David Lean's Great Expectations. From the 1950s to the 1970s the studio became best known for recording film music, including the scores for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Star Wars.

The studio buildings were demolished in 1981 and the site re-landscaped as a business park; as of 2017 it has been turned over to residential use.

History

The studios were founded by Alexander Korda in 1935,[1] on a 165-acre (668,000 m2) site known as 'The Fisheries' near the village of Denham, Buckinghamshire, and designed by architects Walter Gropius and Maxwell Fry. At the time it was the largest facility of its kind in the UK. In 1937, Queen Mary visited the studios while The Drum was being filmed.[2] In 1946, 'Stage One Music Theatre' opened. Designed by sound recordist and engineer Cyril Crowhurst, the stage could accommodate 120 performers.[3]

The studios were known by various names during their lifetime including London Film Studios, the home of Korda's

Rank Organisation's Pinewood Studios to form D&P Studios;[4] Pinewood is just 4 miles south of Denham. Film makers were said to prefer Denham as a location, leading to Pinewood Studios being used for storage during the Second World War.[5]

Harold French's Unpublished Story being filmed at Denham in 1941

Some of the notable films made at Denham include,

Pimpernel Smith was "interrupted 22 times by aircraft noise."[7]

Denham's final film was made in 1952,

office buildings and used most of the sound stages as warehouses. Despite this, from the 1950s Denham became one of the most important centres for recording film music, the studio played host to Bernard Herrmann, John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams, among others.[9]

After the closing of the film studio, Stage One Music Theatre was used periodically by Pinewood Studios and Rank to record film scores, including for

Jesus of Nazareth, Alien and The Empire Strikes Back. The company was forced to move in 1980 when the studio was bought by a developer.[3][10]

The buildings on the south of the site were demolished in 1980 and the area redeveloped and landscaped as Broadwater Park business park.[11] The landscaped gardens, by Preben Jakobsen and utilising spoil from the demolished buildings, are included on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[12] In 2017 the Grade II listed main studio building and surrounding land were redeveloped as luxury flats and houses. The Art Deco main building, which included a film processing laboratory and cinema, is the only surviving building from the original film studios.[13][14]

Selected films

Made on the site during construction:

The first film to be made at the studio proper was Southern Roses (1936). Others included:

The last film to be made at Denham was Disney's The Sword and the Rose (1953).

References

  1. ^ "Record details". Buckinghamshire County Council. 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Full record for 'Queen Mary's Visit To Denham Film Studios'". National Library of Scotland. 1937. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  3. ^ a b Malone, Chris (November 2009). Anvil of Denham - A Brief Musical History Archived 3 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine. malonedigital.com.
  4. .
  5. ^ "Pinewood Studio". British Movie Classics. 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  6. ^ Colin Sorensen , recalling what Bernard Miles had told him, on the radio programme, A Schoolboy at King Arthur's Court.
  7. ^ Colin Sorensen, A Schoolboy at King Arthur's Court.
  8. ^ "Denham Studios". British Film Institute. 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  9. ^ [Matthew Sweet|Sweet, Matthew] ( 23 Sep 2017). Sound of Cinema - Denham Film Studios. [BBC Radio 3].
  10. ^ Ken Cameron – BSound Engineer for Crown Film Unit & Director. heroescentre.co.uk
  11. ^ Colin Sorensen, A Schoolboy at King Arthur's Court, radio programme
  12. ^ Historic England. "Broadwater Park (Grade II) (1466908)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  13. ^ "The Denham Film Studios". Milbank Concrete Products. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  14. ^ First homes go on sale at Denham Film Studios:£120m conversion of iconic site brings hundreds of new homes within a 20-minute commute of central London

External links