Brighton Weekend

Now the sun is beginning to shine, perhaps a weekend in Brighton? Peppermint rock, whelks, kiss-me-quick hats and damp pebbles. Can't beat it!
So, take your camera and get some fill-in snaps for: Running Man, 1963; Street of Shadows, 1953; Tommy, 1975; Villain; Brighton Rock, 1948; Brighton Strangler, 1945; Bank Holiday, 1938; Carry on Girls, 1973; Genevieve, 1954; Hundred Pound Window, 1943; Jigsaw, 1963; Night We Got the Bird, 1961; Oh, What a Lovely War, 1969; Playground Express; Quadrophenia, 1978, and the dozens of more recent films and movies which have used Brighton, Hove and the Sussex seafronts for their filming sets and locations.
Oh, and don't forget to send us a postcard!
Happy hols.

Hammersmith Murders

A copy of Daybreak has just been sent in by R D Marchant, and our thanks to him. Most scenes are sets, and the waterfront shots vary from Hammersmith via Tilbury to Gravesend, most are stock shots without actors, but one or two will be useful for us.

Interestingly the film was made in 1948 in the same place as The Long Memory, 1953, but Daybreak was made by the Hammersmith Riverside Studios, where it is believed Dogsbody, of Cinema of Darkness infamy worked.

Is there a connection we wonder?

An undetected serial killer working in the shadowy world of film production with all the smoke and mirrors at his disposal, and, as for disposal, the bridge and the Thames were close by, and the unresolved mystery of the Gravesend arm, was only twenty miles downstream from the Riverside Studios and Hammersmith Bridge. Five floating hours at 4mph.

Are there any more links to Hammersmith, films made there, or the identity of Dogsbody? Help us to investigate these apparent murders. Examine the Cinema of Darkness and see if you can unravel more of this mystery.

EALING STUDIOS

I've lived in Ealing all my life and could spend all my time identifying
locations in loads of films and TV series.

Carry on Constable - In fact it was shot around 100yds further down
St Mary's Rd from co001, on the other side of the road and facing south.
South Ealing station is on the other side of the road. At the time of the
film it was on the far side of the bridge over the railway and has since
been rebuilt on the near side.

co003 are incorrect in some respect. The original caption was correct
in placing the shot opposite West Ealing Station.
However West Ealing Station is on Drayton Green Road not
Drayton Bridge Rd as claimed. The corrected caption is also wrong.
Argyle Rd only begins after the junction with Manor Road at the far
end of the bridge.

In Hue and Cry when the boys are mobilised, the boys on the
ice cream bikes all pour out (Pics anyone?) of The Grove, Ealing onto
St Mary's Road, the corner they go around is about 100
yards across Ealing Green from the entrance to Ealing Studios.
This corner featured in the recent looting in Ealing
when the roof of the building on the corner went up in flames.

I suspect the house where the gang hide out in Hue and Cry is
in the same area behind Ealing Broadway as was used for
Inspector Morse's house and may be also be used in Lewis.

(Any clues anyone?)

Michael Adams

And there is a pub in Ealing High Street, called the Basil Dearden. A pint anyone?

Tourist Offices

To all film location enthusiasts

Please note that despite offering various local tourist authorities
FREE publicity on our site,
which attracts some 3.5 million hits a year, and asking for nothing in return,
our offer has been ignored. They are obviously too busy to promote
their areas to our surfers.

The incumbents in the office are obviously unaware of the power of
film-induced-tourism and the millions of pounds spent each year by these
visitors to film location sites throughout the world.

So, if you were thinking of offering free publicity to Bolton, Manchester,
Liverpool, Camden and Hammersmith, probably best you don’t waste your time.
Our offer was a free "plug" on each and every film that was
shot in and around their area that is contained on our site; but no,
they don’t want our help.

They have, obviously, too many tourists.

John Tunstill

Islington Film & Movie Locations

Year Film Location
2006
April & May Claremont Square Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
May Finsbury Square Flawless
June Wharfdale Road & Sir Robert McAlpine Breaking & Entering
Construction Site- York Road
August Northampton Row & Bowling Green Lane Son of Rambow
September Crouch Hill 28 Weeks Later
October London Guildhall Mr Beans Holiday
Finsbury Street & Ropemaker Street 28 Weeks Later
November Farmiloes Building- St. John's Street Eastern Promises
December Whittington Hospital Eastern Promises
2007
January Ironmonger Row Turkish Baths Eastern Promises
March Northampton Square Incendiary
May Farmiloes Building- St. John's Street Batman: The Dark Knight
July Charterhouse Street How To Lose Friends & Alienate People
August Holloway Road Telstar
September Kings Cross Station Hippy Hippy Shake
October Danbury Street, Tabernacle Street & Franklyn
Leonard Street
November Connection House Last Chance Harvey
2008
January Clerkenwell Close & Green & Northampton Road The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
February Penton Street The Other Man
March The Pleasance Theatre- North Road A Bunch of Amateurs
April Farmiloes Building- St. John's Street Me & Orson Welles
September Smithfields Dorian Gray
December Sherlock Holmes Farmiloes Building- St. John's Street &
The Houses of Detention
The Elbow Rooms- Chapel Market Perriers Bounty
2009
March Baring Street Harry Brown
April Islington & St Pancras Cemetery Nowhere Boy
June Exterior Pentonville Prison London Boulevard
July Farmiloes Building-St. John's Street Olivers Arrow
The Houses of Detention- Clerkenwell Green St. Trinians 2: The Legend of Frittons Gold
Garnault Place Streetdance
August Houses of Detention- Clerkenwell Green & Sherlock Holmes
Farmiloes Building- St. John's Street
September Charterhouse Street Blitz
November Gee Street Tamara Drewe
December Farmiloes Building- St. John's Street Brighton Rock
2010
February Richmond Crescent The Special Relationship
Exmouth Market Clean Skin
March Farmiloes Building- St. John's Street Bel Ami
Bemerton Estate, Carnoustie Drive & Blundell Street Attack The Block
May The Great Ghost Rescue The Houses of Detention- Clerkenwell Green
August Arlington Square, Linton Street, Arligton Avenue & The Veteran
Bevan Street
The Egg- York Way One Day
September Crinan Street One Day
December Granvill Square, Granville Street & Granville Sq Gardens

Sent in by Celia Wright The Deep Blue Sea

The Games

When we started ReelStreets we concentrated on films with identifiable locations made in the British Isles. But because of world wide interest we have opened the site up to feature films and movies made anywhere, as well as the popular TV series. Checking back we find that The Games, a film made by Michael Winner in 1970, had a number of foreign location scenes, Tokio, Sydney, Rome and probably Belgium, all of which we have now added. So, next time you visit take a snap.

Film Induced Tourism (FIT) - Part 1

Sue Beaton wrote the book from which many of these extracts are taken, references are to her text, and the book is available from the better booksellers.

The popular media, cinema and tv, of the day influences the appeal of travel destinations and holiday makers. In the past media such as literature, music and poetry have been a major element, and prior to the development of film and television, a mass audience really had access only to written works. By the mid-20th century, film, became the main mass media outlet and has been particularly effective in affecting tourism vial movie locations. (MacCannell, 1976, ch1/pg4). Film locations and tv productions such as Last of the Summer Wine, the Professionals and Open All Hours, and cinema movie classics such as Shane, Laramie, Brief Encounter and Alfie have all influenced thousands of film and movie buffs to search for the real streets used in these wonderful outdoor productions.

Various tourism and film authorities have developed Movie Maps,. (ch1, pg7), showing movie and location sites used by the director, producer and location manager for filming of outdoor scenes. Dolce Vita, Paisa’, La Strada and Roman Holiday made extensive use of outdoor scenes for their movie productions..

The Hawaiian Tourism Authority, in its first-ever Strategic Tourism Plan, has identified encouraging filming in the state as one of its key tourism strategies for film site and location visits. (Hawaiian Tourism Authority 1999, ch1/pg8). Film sets have included Hawaii Five 0 and dozens of more modern films. All filmed on location in the Hawaiian Islands, Mutiny on the Bounty was an early film that too advantage of the beautiful scenery.

TV viewing is probably the greatest single domestic pastime. (Schofield 1996, ch1/pg8) and movie and tv filming locations add to the realism of the episodes, bring tourists to the town, increase the turnover of local shops and businesses and generally benefit the community. 50 Degrees North, Casualty and Holby City are good examples of the location of filming scenes bringing much needed employment and revenue to less obvious towns and villages.

Film and television are pervasive educators and persuaders, especially when they are entertaining. The theory is that many tourists tend to experience the world through a series of framed images, the screen is yet another frame through which tourists vicariously experience a destination or location. Through its image-creating potential, film can also provide strong motivation to actually visit the places. (Schofield 1996, ch1/pg9). Film-induced tourism and filming sites and locations for Braveheart, Clockwork Orange, Harry Potter and Middle Earth (New Zealand) have proved this time and time again and now tourist boards and tourist offices are promoting film location holidays, film destination holidays, movie walks and movie tours.

And reelstreets.com now lists more than 350 films which used outside locations, a wonderland of nostalgia, coupled with well-known actors, and now all on-line at the click of a mouse. Reelstreets.com uses snips from the original film and attempts to find the exact location of the scene which is then re-photographed in order to provide a then and now comparison.

Margaret Richardson - August 2009

A Wonderful Weekend in the Country

If you are a fan of the 1986 cult classic comedy “Withnail & I” you now have the chance of spending “a wonderful weekend in the country”. Sleddale Hall, a traditionally built stone and slate farmhouse near Snap, Cumbria made famous in the film has now been put up for sale by its current owners United Utilities. This lovely 18th century cottage, in a very rural setting is within easy reach of Penrith where you can pickup good quality rubber boots and buy cake. Its nearest neighbours are over a mile away and the nearest public road some 2 miles away.

The property, which has been derelict for a number of years, is in need of some attention and has been valued at £145,000 by the Estate Agents Saville. However if you wish to purchase “Uncle Monty’s” farm expect fierce competition from film enthusiasts at the auction on 16th February at the Berkeley Hotel in London .














Classic lines from “Withnail & I” which maybe be of use when in the countryside, you will find these useful if you are the winning bidder.

-We’ve come on holiday by mistake.
-You’re the poacher?
-We’re not from London you know.
-Can we have a chicken.
-We’re friends of Montague Withnail.
-That bull wants to get down there and have sex with those cows.
-He’s in’t top field (why are farmers in the UK always in top field and in America they are always in the lower forty?)
-Hold your bag up, don’t show him any fear!
-Close the bloody gate!
-Here hare here.
-Don’t threaten me with a dead fish.