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Bennett). His WW11 experiences serving as a reserve officer in the Metropolitan Police must surely have proved an asset when writing The Blue Lamp (1950). He won his Oscar for The Lavender Hill Mob, after being nominated for Passport To Pimlico. Clarke was reputed to have hated trains, yet also scripted Train Of Events and the classic The Titfield Thunderbolt. Among his many other writing credits were For Those In Peril, Johnny Frenchman, Dead Of Night, Hue And Cry, Against the Wind, The Magnet, The Rainbow Jacket, Who Done It? and Barnacle Bill, which effectively ended his long association with this most famous of studios.
Among the great cameramen to have worked at Ealing during the 1950’s were Ronald Neame, Douglas Slocombe, Wilkie Cooper, Gordon Dines, Gunther Krampf, Ernest Palmer, Roy Kellino, Stan Pavey, Otto Heller and Paul Beeson.
Ealing has been known as a film- making centre since pioneer Will Barker moved from Stamford Hill in 1907 to West London to set up his glass-covered silent studio on Ealing Green. The sale was made to General Film Renters in 1920, who in turn sold out to Union Studios nine years later. The sound era saw Associated Talking Pictures taking con- trol, run by Basil Dean and Reginald Baker, with Dean remaining in charge until the studio was bought by new own- ers in 1938, after which the enigmatic Michael Balcon, a Birmingham business- man, became production chief, a reign which was to extend for the next two glo- rious decades.
Gloria Swanson, Laurence Olivier, Maurice Chevalier, Cedric Hardwicke, Madeleine Carroll, Basil Rathbone, Ivor Novello, St anley Lupino and James Mason made some of their earliest film appearances at Ealing, along with the young M ar g ar et L oc kwood , St ewar t G r an g e r , P e t e r U s t i n o v a n d C o r al Browne. Paul Robeson starred in The Proud Valley, while Arthur Wontner made a definitive Sherlock Holmes in The Sign Of Four.
From the start, Ealing had provided a haven for comedy stars, among them G r ac i e F i e l d s , G e o r g e F o r m b y , B u d Flanagan, Chesney Allen, Tommy Trinder, Will Hay and Stanley Holloway. During the ‘Thirties, Gracie fields had crowds flocking to cinema boxoffices with Looking On the Bright Side, This Week Of Grace, Love, Life And Laughter Sing As We Go, Look Up And Laugh, The Show Goes On and Queen Of Hearts.
But if our Gracie was Britain’s most popular female star of her day, it was the gormless antics of George Formby which had them rolling in the aisles in Trouble Brewing, Come On George, Spare A Copper, I See Ice, Keep Your Seats Please, Keep fit, No Limit and, finally, Turned Out Nice Again (which became
his personal catch-phrase). Lantern- jawed Tommy Trinder starred in a trio of Ealing films, Sailors Three, The Bells Go Down and Champagne Charlie. Another Ealing laughtermaker was the inimitable Will Hay, who was at his best in The Ghost Of St. Michael’s, The Black Sheep Of Whitehall, The Goose Steps Out and My Learned Friend.
One of Ealing’s most prolific pro- ducers at the time was Russian-born Monja Danischewsky, who joined the stu- dio in 1938 at the start of the Balcon era. In his capacity as publicity director he was responsible for innovating the unique style of poster artwork which became an Ealing trademark and much sought after by collectors today.
The ‘Fifties saw Jack Worrow in charge of publicity until he followed his boss at the end of the decade when Michael Balcon decided to join the board of the newly-formed independent compa- ny Bryanston Films.
It was the end of a slice of British film history when Ealing was bought by the BBC for £350,000 in 1955. Television took over, with the Corporation produc- ing the Colditz series, along with two dra- mas written by Dennis Potter, Pennies From Heaven and The Singing Detective. Over the following years, the BBC Ealing productions mixed costume dramas with contemporary television series, including Our Friends In The North, Bergerac, To Play the King, The Buccaneers, The Chef and, since 1994, more recent TV classics such as Pride And Prejudice, Hard Times and the well adapted Middlemarch.
But Ealing was not entirely neglect- ed by the theatrical movie-makers. Rik Mayall, Imelda Staunton and Robert Lindsay starred in Remember me?. Franco Zeffirelli directed his version of Jane Eyre, its international cast headed by William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Anna Paquin, while Peter Chelsom made Ealing his studio base while filming Funny Bones.
Much has happened since since Sir Michael Balcon’s heyday, when the stu- dio was run like a family business on the Ealing Village Green. Looking back on those times, he said in one of his most memorable quotes after taking over pro- duction control, “well ...In the absence of money, we will have to make do with talent.” Never a truer word was spoken. and how right he was, for throughout the ‘Forties and ‘Fifties the studio was at its most creative. Balcon had his finger firm- ly on the public pulse with his intention to make “films about day-dreamers, mild anarchists and little men who long to kick their boss in the teeth.” Great marketing!
Small is beautiful could well have been the motto for Ealing Studios during the 1950’sand 60’s, while anyone arriving at the studio would be sure of a big
hearty welcome from chief commission- aire Robin Adair at the front office. More than any other film factory, the Ealing tra- dition represented the very best of British contemporary life at all times.
It was the end of an era when the BBC sold the studio to BBRK, a scenery, props and special effects consortium in June1992 for £6 million. Tragedy struck when in July of the following year a fire destroyed the original negatives of The Lavender Hill Mob, Whisky Galore, Passport To Pimlico and The Man In the White Suit, an omen if ever there was one, but fortunately other film prints of these classics remained unscathed.
Under the new regime, distin- guished playwright Ant hony (Sleuth) Shaffer was appointed head of develop- ment at Ealing in 1994. A year later, the heavily debt-ridden firm of BBRK went into receivership.
Since then, there has been much talk that the National Film And Television School, assisted by Arts Council Lottery finance, would move to Ealing from their long-time base at Beaconsfield, but these plans are still under discussion.
From almost documentary-style realism (remember The Cruel Sea and Dunkirk) to the classic laughtermakers, Ealing has always occupied a very spe- cial place within the British film Industry. With its five superb stages (four with sound), post-production, back-up facili- ties, restaurant, canteen and surrounding garden, it is still considered today a most pleasant working environement.
The Balcon era (he died on 18 October 1977) is still fondly remembered. Whatever its future, the studio remains alive and well sustained by its proud his- tory as the spirit of Ealing lives on. The exclusive British stage rights to the inter- nationally acclaimed Ealing comedies are controlled now by French owned Canal+ worldwide. whilst Charles Vance and his CV Productions Ltd have so far adapted four of these Ealing comedy classics for English stage performance.
Last year, their first record-breaking production, in association with the Colchester Mercury Theatre, was Kind Hearts And Coronets, adapted and directed by Giles Croft, starring Robert Powell and Colin Baker.
For 1999, Croft has adapted The Ladykillers (again with Colchester) fea- turing a star-studded cast including such luminaries old and new as Tim Brooke- Taylor, Dulcie Gray, Brian Murphy, Owen Aaronovitch, Tim Marriott and Martin Hardinan, directed by Richard Baron. For the upcoming new Millennium they have announced plans for The Lavender Hill Mob, while for the famed year 2001 The Titfield Thunderbolt is scheduled.
God forbid that the British people or the film community ever forget the giant contribution made to world cinema by Ealing Studios over the years - but in
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