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Andtherangeofdifferentclientsisimpressive. Recent feature films have included Spiceworld: The Movie - who used Ealing for a tank shot - The Secret Agent, Keep The Aspidistra Flying, Titanic Town, The Land Girls and the forthcoming Mansfield
Park. Currently in production is Guest House Paradiso, the latest anarchic comedy from Rik
Mayall and Ade Edmondson, with Edmondson making his feature directing debut.
There have also been prestigious dramas for American television, such as Scrooge for TNT - starring Patrick Stewart in the title role - the BBC’s Pride & Prejudice, and the hit chil- drens’ adventures The Demon Headmaster, and The Phoenix & The Carpet. And pop videos from All Saints, Jamiroquai and others have been shot within their walls. To think that Ealing began and ended with a succes- sion of classic comedies in the 1940s and 50s would be a mistake.
But they are proud of their heritage. The garlanded “Ealing Studios” sign is still there - and who cannot resist a smile at the promise that’s always held? - just as Ealing Studios continues to prove itself an essen- tial part of British filmmaking. With the expertise on hand, and the ideal location they offer, they were called upon recently to
provide wet weather cover for, perhaps, the biggest and most hyped British film of the year, Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill.
“The major filming was in fact at Shepperton Studios with, obviously, a lot of location stuff in Notting Hill itself,” recalls Musitano. “But they actually shot here for a couple of days when it did rain, because it saved them a lot of time going from one to the other. It was a similar decision that brought the BBC here orig- inally - the fact that we’re very close to Shepherd’s Bush.
“Our position here is a key factor, because we’re easy to get to compared to places like Pinewood and Shepperton where you really have to have a car. We’re also relatively close to Soho and all the post production facilities there, so everything else is an easy link. I think that’s a key thing, and that’s why we have been fortunate and have been busy - and remain busy.”
And, although she is too modest to say so, after leaving Ealing Studios one imagines some of the appeal lies in who they are too. ■ ANWAR BRETT
EALING STUDIOS
Photos from top: Alec Guinness with Woodbine and fans; Alec Guinness with Michael Balcon: Rhys Ifans in Notting Hill ; Belinda Lee in The Feminine Touch; Basil Dearden, Benny Hill and T.E.B. Clarke on Who Done It? Set construction in progress; Secret Agent ’s Patricia Arquette; Herbert Lom, director Alexander Mackendrick and Alec Guinness joking on The Ladykillers; English rose Madeleine Carroll in The Dictator (1935)
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