Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London, London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since. It is the oldest continuously working studio facility for film production in the world,[1] and the current stages were opened for the use of sound in 1931.
It is best known for a series of classic films produced in the post-WWII years, including Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Passport to Pimlico (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and The Ladykillers (1955). The BBC owned and filmed at the Studios for forty years from 1955 until 1995.
Since 2000, Ealing Studios has resumed releasing films under its own name, including the revived
History
Film studios (1902–1955)
The site was first occupied by
In the 1930s and 1940s, the facility as ATP and then Ealing Studios produced many comedies with stars such as
In the post-war period, the company embarked on a series of
The best remembered Ealing films were produced between 1948 and 1955: Whisky Galore! (1949), Passport to Pimlico (1949), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953), The Cruel Sea (1953) and The Ladykillers (1955) are all regarded as classics of British cinema.
Owned by the BBC (1955–1995)
The
Many programmes came out of Ealing from Alistair Cooke's America edited by Alan Tyrer and photographed by Kenneth MacMillan to Z-Cars edited by Shelia Tomlinson and many others and Cathy Come Home edited by Roy Watts, assisted by Roger Waugh. These programmes had post production support, viewing theatres, transfer suites, dubbing theatre, maintenance; all these staff and the film crews made up what was fondly known as the TFS Family.
It was not unknown for major international film stars to visit the studios during BBC Television days. Shortly after The Eagle Has Landed (1976) was released in London on 31 March 1977,[5] Michael Caine was present at the studios during his promotional tour for the film. Apart from the regular production staff and technicians involved with filming the associated interview, at his table in the studio canteen he was surrounded by a large entourage of followers during the obligatory break period.
In the 1980s, the BBC developed and expanded the use of electronic PSC (Portable Single Camera) location equipment and the use of 16 mm film on location gradually declined. The BBC also used the studio facilities at Ealing for filmed inserts where an electronic studio could not be used, such as for the excavation site in
The BBC had preview theatres to run 16 mm
Television Film Studios was also the home before, during and after 1977, of the BBC TV Film Technical & Training Section run by the Senior Assistant, Training, Frank A. Brown. Courses were based in a lecture room at the studios, typically lasting 6 weeks, and comprised both theoretical training, with extensive information-sheet documentation being provided, plus day excursions for practical experience sessions to film cutting rooms, a film dubbing theatre and the Rank Film Laboratories at Denham (where a considerable quantity of BBC TV film programme content was processed and printed). The courses provided instruction to trainees, culminating in a written theory test, with each either being tailored to film photography, film sound or film editing skills for incoming trainees in these departments. The BBC Engineering Training Department, for training in video work and all aspects where a detailed knowledge of electronics is essential, has, alternatively, been based at Wood Norton Hall, Evesham.
With the BBC seeking to reduce costs and in particular studio facilities, a decision was taken to sell Ealing Studios on the open market. Although a sale was agreed with BBRK, the BBC inserted a buy-back clause so that in the event that BBRK (for whatever reasons) put the site up for sale then the BBC would have first option to purchase. BBRK found it necessary to sell the site and the BBC repurchased the site and sold it on for £1.00 to the National Film and Television School, (NFTS).[citation needed]
1995 to present
In 1995, the studios were purchased by the NFTS and again in mid-2000 by a consortium led by Fragile Films' Uri Fruchtmann and Barnaby Thompson, Harry Handelsman and John Kao, with an intention to revive the fortunes of the studio. Handelsman's Manhattan Loft Corporation redeveloped the 3.8-acre site to include the existing Grade II listed sound stages. The studio has since begun to produce theatrical films again, such as Lucky Break (2001), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), and Valiant (2005). Shaun of the Dead and horror film The Descent (2005) were both shot on the lot.
In 2007, Ealing revived the
Ealing Studios is used by the Met Film School London, which has a purposely built film school on the lot and use of the studios. ITV drama Downton Abbey filmed the kitchen and servants' quarters on stages 3A and 3B.[citation needed] The studio is also home to
Ealing Studios films
Basil Dean/ATP era
Michael Balcon era
Documentaries
|
|
BBC TV productions
- Quatermass and the Pit (1958–59) (inserts only; programme was otherwise live)
- Doctor Who (inserts only; programme was predominantly videotaped)
- Alice in Wonderland (1966) (inserts only - stage 2 for courtroom scene)
- Civilisation (1966–69) (35mm film, shot on location around the world)
- The White Rabbit (1967) (inserts only; programme was predominantly videotaped)
- Colditz (1972–74) (16mm film inserts only; programme was predominantly videotaped)
- Porridge (TV series) (1974–77) (16mm film inserts only; programme was predominantly videotaped)
- Oil Strike North (1975) (16mm film inserts only - stage 3A/B for oil rig exterior, using tank; programme was predominantly videotaped)
- Smiley's People(1981) (16mm film, shot at various locations)
- Bleak House (1985) (16mm film, shot at various locations)
- The Singing Detective (1986) (16mm film, shot at various locations)
- Fortunes of War(1987) (16mm film, interior scenes - otherwise shot at various locations)
- Portrait of a Marriage (1989–90) (16mm film, shot at various locations)
- An Ungentlemanly Act (1992) (16mm film, shot at various locations)
Later films
- Notting Hill (1999)
- Lucky Break (2001)
- The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)
- Shaun of the Dead (2004)
- Valiant (2005)
- I Want Candy(2007)
- St Trinian's(2007)
- Easy Virtue (2008)
- St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009)
- Dorian Gray (2009)
- Burke and Hare(2010)
- I Give It a Year (2013)
- The D Train (2015)
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
- Last Night in Soho (2021)
Independent TV
- Granada Productionsfor the BBC)
- Bedtime (Hat Trick Productions)
- Randall and Hopkirk (Ghost)
- Emma Brody (20th Century Fox)
- Downton Abbey – "Downstairs" scenes only (Carnival Films)
- Taboo
- Tour de France ITV4 (2012–2019 VSquared Productions)
- Critérium du Dauphiné ITV4 (2015–2019 VSquared Productions)
- La Vuelta ITV4 (2012–2019 VSquared Productions)
- Luck on Sunday (2017–present, Racing TV)
- Lockwood & Co. (2023-present, Netflix)
Music videos
- "Mama" by Spice Girls
- Walk Away by Franz Ferdinand
- Talk by Coldplay
- The Drowners by Suede (US video only)
- Crazy Beat by Blur
- The Moment You Believe by Melanie C
- Champagne Supernova by Oasis[6]
See also
- List of Ealing Studios films
- British Film Industry
References
- ^ History Archived 26 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Ealingstudios.com, accessed 22 June 2011
- ^ "Ealing Studios". knowledgeoflondon.com.
- ^ "A History of the BBC's Film Department", by David Martin (1983).
- .
- ^ "The Eagle Has Landed (1976)". IMDb.
- ^ Nigel Dick Filmography
External links
- Official website
- Former BBC Film Department crew prepare to shoot a basic interview sequence on 16 mm film
- Demonstration and discussion of 16 mm cameras used at Ealing studios by former BBC Film Department cameraman
- Demonstration of a Steenbeck editing table as used in Ealing studios by BBC film editors
- Ealing Studios at screenonline.org.uk
- Ealing Studios at britmovie.co.uk
- Met Film School
Further reading
- Forever Ealing by George Perry, published by Pavilion, 1981, ISBN 0-907516-60-2; A history of Ealing Studios from its origins in 1902.
- Ealing Studios; A Short History The Film Pilgrim, Accessed 28 February 2011