Elstree Studios

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Historically, the name "Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England.

Ironically, despite being called “Elstree Studios” only one studio was actually located in Elstree itself, the remainder being in Borehamwood. There are a number of reasons for this:

When the studios were being established, Elstree was significantly larger than Borehamwood. It must therefore have seemed sensible for anything that needed the name of the town in its name to be named after Elstree rather than Borehamwood. Nowadays, Borehamwood is the larger, but the old names have stuck. The fact that the parish that contains the town is also called "Elstree" may have had some influence on the choice of name.

When the studios were at their most prolific, the local railway station was called just "Elstree". (Nowadays, it is called "Elstree and Borehamwood".) Furthermore, the local telephone exchange was also called just "Elstree". Before the advent of subscriber trunk dialling, a person wanting to make a call to a studio would ask the operator for, say, "Elstree 1234". It would therefore be natural for anyone visiting the town to make a film to think that the whole town was called Elstree.

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The Neptune Film Company opened the first studios in Borehamwood in 1914. It contained just a single small windowless stage (the first “dark stage” in England), relying entirely on electricity from a gas powered generator for lighting.

Production ceased in 1917 and the studio was sold to the Ideal Film Company who used the site up until 1924.

In 1928 the studio was sold to Ludwig Blattner who connected it to the electricity mains and introduced a German system of sound recording.

The Blattner Studio was leased to Joe Rock Productions in 1934 and 2 years later they purchased the site. Rock Productions built 4 new large stages and began making films including the 1937 feature The Edge Of The World.

The studios were owned by British National Films Ltd between 1939 and 1948, although during this period a large portion of the studio was taken over by the Government for war work.

In 1953 the studios were leased to Douglas Fairbanks Junior, mainly for television production (including the Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents series and Alfred Hitchcock Presents) but were sold to Lew Grade’s Associated Television in 1962. The Muppet Show and the first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet were filmed at the studios in its ITV days.

Most recently, the studios were bought by the BBC in 1984 and has become the home of Eastenders, Grange Hill and Holby City.

British National Pictures Ltd purchased 50 acres of land on the south side of Shenley Road and began construction of two large film stages in 1925. The first film produced there was Madame Pompadour in 1927.

British International Pictures Ltd (BIP) took over the studios in 1927 and the second stage was ready for production in 1928. In 1929 Blackmail, the first British talkie, was produced at the studios. With the death of silent films came the construction of 6 new sound stages on the site and three of these were sold on to the British and Dominions Film Corporation (see below) with BIP retaining the remaining stages.

BIP were absorbed into the Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) in the early 1930s.

During WWII the studios were used by the War Office for storage.

In 1946 Warner Brothers acquired a substantial interest in ABPC, appointed a new board and decided to rebuild the stages. The rebuild was completed in 1948 and work began on Man On The Run followed by The Hasty Heart starring Richard Todd and Ronald Reagan.

In 1968 Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI) bought control of ABPC and the studios were renamed EMI Studios.

In 1979 Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI and the studios were renamed Thorn-EMI Studios. However, the studios did not fit in with the parent company’s operations and in 1985 they were put up for sale. A management team beat off all other prospective buyers with the help of Alan Bond but the team had difficulty raising their share of the purchase price and Bond took over. Soon afterwards he sold the studios to the Herron-Cannon Group.

Depite the turmoil of this period, the studios produced some of their most well know films including the first three Star Wars films, and the Indiana Jones trilogy. At one time during the 1980s six of the top ten box office hits of all time had been produced at the studios.

In 1987 Cannon sold the studios to the leisure and property company Brent Walker plc and much of the backlot was sold off and a Tesco superstore was built. A "Save Our Studios" campaign was launched in the 1988 by local Town Councillor and studio historian Paul Welsh, with the support of many old stars and the general public. Hertsmere Borough Council stepped in and bought the remaining studio in February 1996 and appointed a management company, Elstree Film & Television Studios Ltd. The purchase ended an 8 year struggle that was due to have culminated in High Court action. Brent Walker’s offer to sell the site to the Council, for an undisclosed sum (but no more than its worth as a film studio), represented a victory for the Local Authority in upholding the planning agreements that protected the studios.

The current lease expires in March 2007 and following a tendering process, Hertsmere Borough Council approved proposals for California-based Pacifica Ventures to take over the lease of the studios.

A single large stage was built in Station Road in 1928 by Whitehall Films Ltd but the company was wound up in 1930. In 1935 Julius Hagan, the owner of Twickenham Studios, bought the site and formed a new company JH Studios.

Financial difficulties forced Hagan to sell the studios to MP Productions in 1937.

During WWII the studio was used by the government for storage.

In 1950 the site was bought by J. Arthur Rank who renamed it Gate Studios and made religious films.

Production ceased in 1957 and the site was sold to Andrew Harkness, a manufacturer of cinema screens. Harkness Screens moved out of the site in 2004 and the building was demolished.

In 1930 British and Dominion bought three new sound stages from British International Pictures Ltd on the adjoining site before their construction was completed. Film production continued until 1936 when fire destroyed the 3 stages. British and Dominion made substantial investment in Pinewood Studios and moved production to Iver Heath, Bucks.

The support buildings that remained after the fire were sold off to various companies including Frank Landsdown Ltd, who opened a film vault service. The music stage was bought by the Rank Organisation for the production of documentary films. It later became the headquarters of the film and sound-effect libraries.

Amalgamated Studios Ltd constructed a large studio on the north side of Elstree Way between 1935 and 1937. The company was unable to meet the cost and sold out to Arthur Rank.

During WWII the studio was used by the government for storage.

In 1944 the studio was purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) although they did not take possession until 1947. After improvements the studio contained 7 stages totalling over 70,000 square feet of floor space.

MGM continued production at the site up until 1970 when they moved to the EMI Studios on Shenley Road (see above). The site was demolished and redeveloped for industrial use and housing.

The Danziger brothers built a studio to the west of Aldenham reservoir in 1956. It was used mainly for television production but proved unprofitable and closed in 1962.

Established in 1993, the Millennium Studios on the south side of Elstree Way offer TV and film production space together with associated services.

Castle, Stephen; Brooks,William (1988). The Book Of Elstree & Boreham Wood. Buckingham, England: Barracuda Books Ltd. ISBN 0860234061. 

Welsh, Paul (1996). Elstree Film & Television Festival Programme. Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council.

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