Page 17 - Film Facilities & Studios Almanac_ok

Above: The very first film made at Twickenham Studios, The House Of Temperley (1913) starring Ben Webster (main second from left) and John M East (main third from left). East was a prominent London actor and theatrical manager and also partnered with Dr Jupp at the studios. Our grateful thanks to Iain F McAsh for his research efforts.
Winston Churchill during the war, and take him back to Berlin. The question remains: could such an audacious plot really have succeeded? And yes, I can hear the answer... not with Michael Caine in charge! Robert Duvall along with the unfairly maligned Mr Caine had the unusual casting of high-ranking German officers, with Donald Sutherland as the Irishman who aids them. Curiously enough, the gung-ho U.S. Colonel in the movie, played by a relatively unknown Larry Hagman, and who was killed off in the film by an enemy agent played by Jean M ar s h pre-empted the famed “who shot JR” conversation long before his television demise became a major talking point for millions of viewers worldwide. In the small role of a GI officer was a young American actor called Treat Williams, who had just starred in Dick Lester’s New York bath house comedy, The Ritz, at Twickenham.
Veteran UK producer Euan Lloyd’s mercenary drama The Wild Geese, had a starry line-up headed by Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Kruger. Chris Wilding (the son of Elizabeth Taylor by her marriage to Michael Wilding) was a special photographer and production assistant, while Gly n Baker (Sir Stanley’s son) had an acting role as one of the film’s ‘dogs of war.’ And the tanned blonde American teenager nearby was the daughter of the film’s direc- tor, Andrew V McLaglen, himself the son of the famous Oscar- winning star of past years, Victor McLaglen.
Karel Reisz was back in his office in the studio’s Novello Lodge, in 1981, after directing The French Lieutenant’s Woman on windswept locations around Dorset’s Lyme Regis. He had spent a busy morning in John Bloom’s cutting-room sur- rounded by movieolas and splicing machines. “I enjoy the long months of editing in soli- tude,” he revealed. “It is the calm after the storm when we
can cut without interruptions. “I enjoy the preparation and editing best. I had worked with our director of photography, Freddie Francis, before on Saturday Night And Sunday Morning which made things
easier for both of us.
Jeremy Irons starred and
this was one of his first leading film roles, and he was wonder- ful. Working with Meryl Streep was very exciting and this was without doubt a major venture for her. She is very calm, very sure of her craft and very confi- dent. Thank goodness she did- n’t behave like a big Hollywood star on location and demand a big caravan and the like. Also to her credit she mastered a very good English accent.
“Although I never wanted to be one myself, I enjoy working with actors enormously. I don’t see myself foremost as a techni- cian; portraying characters is most important. The camera is just another tool. It doesn’t mat- ter whether it’s a hand-held camera, or has a wide-angle lens. It’s how you use it that really counts.”
Juggernaut was another major Twickenham movie. A suspenseful maritime drama of a bomb aboard a luxury cruise l i n e r, O m a r S h a r i f p l a y e d t h e Captain with Richard Harris as the bomb disposal expert. Dick Lester directed a large cast which also included David Hemmings, Shirley Knight and Roy Kinnear. Although interiors were shot at Twickenham, cer- tain scenes of the vessel at sea were filmed in the large outdoor water tank at Pinewood.
The chiller Madhouse brought my old chum Vincent Price to Twickenham in 1975. A film with a showbusiness set- ting, he was joined by his fellow crypt-mates Peter Cushing and Robert (Count Yorga) Quarry, with former editor Jim Clark directing his third feature. Price played Hollywood TV star Paul Toomes, also known as Dr. Death, accused of performing in real-life the grisly murders he perpetrated on screen in his
own show. Adrienne Corri, Natasha Pyne and Linda Hayden handled the film’s female roles. Television personality Michael Parkinson had a cameo as a TV chat show host who inter- viewed Price as a guest on his show, a role not a million miles removed from his own persona. Vincent’s portrayal, with his macabre ‘Dr. Death’ make-up, created by George Blackler, was a fitting one for the veteran hor- ror king, marking his first appearance at Twickenham.
Fast forward to the next decade when 1984, Electric Dreams, The Holcroft Covenant, The Bitch, A Fish Called Wanda and the great Shirley Valentine all utilised Twickenham’s famed stages.
Since its infancy, the mini- studio at St. Margaret’s has never been afraid to keep up with technology. Under Julius Hagen’s astute guidance, the studio was quick to respond to the challenge of the ‘talkies’ and the new advent of sound result- ing in production of At the Villa Rose in 1950, using a Visatone van for location shooting.
After a year of experimenta- tion. Hagen’s films were shot in both French and English, with one unit shooting by day and another by night, as recalled by Sir John Mills in his autobiogra- phy. “There just wasn’t enough space for two films to be made together during normal working hours. One crew was coming off duty at 7:50 a.m. while the other was checking in. Schedules were short, averaging around three to four weeks, and if it looked like they were running out of time, the director just ripped a few more pages out of the script. A simple solution!”
Much has happened to update the facilities to the envi- able level enjoyed today. With such a record of past achieve- ments, it’s no wonder that the Twickenham Studios’ manage- ment, under Gerry Humphreys, still takes pride in the studio’s long held motto, “A Club For Professionals”. It certainly is and long may it continue to be