London in film
Encyclopedia
London has been used frequently both as a filming location
and as a film setting
. These have ranged from historical recreations of the Victorian
London of Charles Dickens
and Sherlock Holmes
, to the romantic comedies of Bridget Jones's Diary
and Notting Hill
, by way of crime films, spy thrillers, science fiction
and the "swinging London
" films of the 1960s.
Because of the dominant role played by the city in the British media
, the number of British films set in London is huge. It has also been used many times in American films, and often recreated on a Hollywood studio backlot
.
, Victorian
, Edwardian and Second World War periods in the city's history have all been regularly depicted.
has often been portrayed in films, including Fire Over England
(1937), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
(1939), and Elizabeth
(1998). Much of Shakespeare in Love
(1998), a comedy involving Shakespeare in a fictionalised romance, was set around the original Globe Theatre
, as was Laurence Olivier
's 1944 Henry V
.
The Tudor period
has also been shown in other films, including the 1966 film of Robert Bolt
's play A Man for All Seasons
, the 1990s adaptation of Orlando
and various versions of Mark Twain
's The Prince and the Pauper
.
Cromwell
(1970) is one of the few films to show the city during the English Civil War
, but several have been set during the subsequent restoration of the monarchy under Charles II
. These include Nell Gwyn
(1937), Forever Amber
(1947) and Stage Beauty
(2003). The 1995 film Restoration incorporates both the Great Plague
and the Great Fire of 1665-66
.
Late 18th and early 19th century London has been seen in a number of films, including Lady Hamilton (1941), Lady Caroline Lamb
(1972), A Bequest to the Nation
(1973), Princess Caraboo
(1994), Sense and Sensibility
(1995), and the various versions of The Scarlet Pimpernel
.
Several 1960s films showed a grimier, more realistic depiction of 18th century London, including Where's Jack?
(1968), based on the true story of highwayman Jack Sheppard
and crime boss Jonathan Wild
.
, Jack the Ripper
and Sherlock Holmes
. There have been almost 200 films based on the novels of Charles Dickens alone, beginning with the silent short film Death of Nancy Sykes in 1897. The most memorable of these are probably the musical Oliver!
and the two David Lean
films of Oliver Twist
(1948) and Great Expectations
(1946). Other film adaptations include David Copperfield
in 1935
and 1969
, Nicholas Nickleby in 1947
and 2002
, The Pickwick Papers
in 1952 and Little Dorrit
in 1987. There have also been many versions of Dickens' A Christmas Carol
, the best known of which is probably the 1951 Alastair Sim film Scrooge
.
Many films have also been made of the Sherlock Holmes
stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
. Basil Rathbone
played Holmes in a series of American films from 1939 to 1946, with London recreated in Hollywood at 20th Century Fox
and later Universal Studios
. Other notable Holmes films which have strongly featured London backgrounds and locations are Young Sherlock Holmes
(1985), Billy Wilder
's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
(1970), and the comedies The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
(1975) and Without a Clue
(1988), as well as innumerable television films.
Holmes also dealt with the notorious Whitechapel
serial killer Jack the Ripper
in A Study in Terror
in 1965 and Murder by Decree
in 1978. The Ripper was also featured in Pandora's Box
(1929]), Jack the Ripper
(1958), Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
(1971), Hands of the Ripper
(1971), From Hell
(2001) and several versions of The Lodger, including Hitchcock
's silent film of 1926.
Much of the action in the Bram Stoker
novel Dracula
takes place in London, although several film adaptations have set it elsewhere. One notable exception is Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), directed by Francis Ford Coppola
.
Other films set in Victorian London include the 1945 version of The Picture of Dorian Gray
, Victoria the Great
(1937), Sixty Glorious Years
(1938), The Mudlark
(1950), The Wrong Box
(1966), The Assassination Bureau
(1968), The First Great Train Robbery (1978), Topsy-Turvy
(1999), An Ideal Husband (1999), Shanghai Knights
(2003), the 1956 version and 2004 version
of Around the World in Eighty Days, and the black-and-white film The Elephant Man
(1980), based on the life of Joseph Merrick
.
Other British cities, such as Edinburgh
, or locations in other countries, are now often used for period films instead of filming in London itself. From Hell
(2001), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
(2003) and Roman Polanski
's 2005 film of Oliver Twist
all recreated Victorian London in Prague
in the Czech Republic.
comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets
in 1949, the Merchant Ivory E. M. Forster
adaptation Howards End
(1992) and the biopic Young Winston
(1972).
Wartime London has featured in many films, with The Man Who Loved Redheads
and Zeppelin
(1971) among those set during the First World War. The 1943 film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
covered 40 years in the city, including the Edwardian era, the First World War and the Second World War. Several others made during the Second World War itself, featured London locations, including Millions Like Us
(1943) and Waterloo Road
(1944). The Blitz
featured prominently in the Ealing
drama The Bells Go Down
(1943), and in Humphrey Jennings
' drama
-documentary
Fires Were Started
(1943). The latter featured real firemen
recreating scenes from the bombings. At the same time, a number of London-set films were being made in Hollywood, like Waterloo Bridge
(1940), Mrs. Miniver
(1942) and Forever and a Day (1943). The latter followed several generations of owners of a London house until 1943. Later films set in the city during World War II include The Man Who Never Was
(1955), I Was Monty's Double
(1958), Battle of Britain
(1969), Hanover Street (1979), Hope and Glory (1987), Shining Through
(1992) and The End of the Affair
(1999), as well as some low-budget Italian-made war films like Stukas Over London (1970) and From Hell to Victory (1979).
The 1950s has been recreated in several films including 84 Charing Cross Road
(1987) and Shadowlands
(1993). The 1960s has proved particularly popular with film makers in recent years, especially for crime films like Buster
(1988), Scandal (1989), The Krays
(1990), Honest (2000) and Gangster No. 1
(2000). Withnail and I
(1987) economically recreated the Camden Town
area in the 1960s.
comedies of the 1940s and 1950s made repeated use of locations in the city. Hue and Cry
(1947) and Passport to Pimlico
(1949) were memorably set in the ruins and bombsites of post-war London. In the 1950s The Lavender Hill Mob
made extensive use of London locations, as did the dramas The Blue Lamp
and Pool of London
, while The Ladykillers
used King's Cross Station and its surrounding marshalling yards as the backdrop to its story. The 1952 film The Happy Family
is set on the South Bank
during the lead up to the Festival of Britain
.
Many other comedies have used locations in the city, some of the best known being The Ghosts of Berkeley Square
(1947), Doctor in the House
(1954), The Horse's Mouth
(1958), Bedazzled
(1967), Brassed Off
(1996), Billy Elliot
t (2000) and Bend It Like Beckham
(2002).
", partly a creation of Time
magazine, helped to fuel a production boom in the British film industry throughout the decade. The Beatles
made memorable use of locations in the city in A Hard Day's Night
(1964), and a huge number of other London-set films followed. These included The Pumpkin Eater
, The Knack ...and How to Get It, Darling
, Arabesque
, Kaleidoscope
, Georgy Girl
, Morgan!
, Alfie, Blowup
, I'll Never Forget What's'isname, Casino Royale
, Poor Cow
, Up the Junction
, Bedazzled
, To Sir, with Love
, The Jokers
, Otley
, Wonderwall
, Smashing Time, Salt and Pepper and The Italian Job
, all in 1964-1969.
and Ingrid Bergman
and A Touch of Class (1973), and has become popular for romantic comedies in recent years. This is at least partly due to the television and film writer Richard Curtis
, who has written some of the most successful British films of recent years — The Tall Guy
(1989), Four Weddings and a Funeral
(1994), Notting Hill
(1999) and Love Actually
(2003), all set or partly set in the city. The films follow the awkward love lives of largely upper-middle class characters (aside from The Tall Guy, always including one played by Hugh Grant
).
Curtis has been criticised for pandering to the American market by playing to the stereotype
of the English as posh, socially awkward eccentrics. This hasn't stopped the films generally being a huge success in the American and British cinema box office charts. Other films which have followed in Curtis's footsteps include Sliding Doors
(1998), Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
(1998), About a Boy
(2002), Wimbledon
, and the American film What a Girl Wants
(2002). Londinium (2001) used locations in Berkeley Square
, Mayfair
, Hyde Park
, Primrose Hill
Park and at Waterloo Station
.
Natalie Portman
, Julia Roberts
, Jude Law
and Clive Owen
conducted their affairs around various parts of London in Closer
(2004), which uses locations such as Clerkenwell, the London Aquarium. Bloomsbury, the River Thames and the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.
Woody Allen's Match Point
(2005), uses a very up-market view of the city to reflect the upper class lives of the protagonists, including locations in Notting Hill, Belgravia
, Chelsea
, St. James's Park
and Tate Modern
.
probably started the fashion for using London landmarks for spy films, starting with Blackmail
in 1929, which was set entirely in the city and finished on the dome of the British Museum
. Many of his other thrillers followed a similar pattern, including The Man Who Knew Too Much (both the 1934
and 1956
versions), The 39 Steps
(1935), Sabotage
(1937), Foreign Correspondent
(1940), Stage Fright
(1950) and Frenzy
(1972). London has since featured in many other thrillers, including Hunted
(1952) The Yellow Balloon
(1953) Sapphire
(1959), Bunny Lake Is Missing
(1965), The IPCRESS File
(1965), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
(1965), The Deadly Affair
(1966), Arabesque
(1966), The Black Windmill
(1974), The Whistle Blower
(1987), The Fourth Protocol
(1987), Blue Ice
(1992), The Innocent Sleep
(1995) and briefly in Mission: Impossible
(1996). This trend was spoofed in the films Otley
(1968) with Tom Courtenay
, and more recently in The Man Who Knew Too Little
(1997) with Bill Murray
and the Austin Powers
films. Anthony Minghella
's film Breaking and Entering
(2006) with Jude Law
is named also a Romantic drama.
Landmarks featured in some of these films include the Royal Albert Hall
, Westminster Abbey
and Trafalgar Square
. Both Night of the Demon
(1957) and The IPCRESS File
(1965) feature scenes filmed in the famous reading room at the British Museum
. The 1978 version of The Thirty Nine Steps features a climax on the clock face of Big Ben, an idea borrowed from the 1943 Will Hay
comedy My Learned Friend
. A similar scene features in the 2003 Jackie Chan
film Shanghai Knights
.
Several American thrillers have also produced mangled versions of London's geography, including Twenty-Three Paces to Baker Street (1956), Midnight Lace
(1960) and The Mummy Returns
(2001), which features a chase across Tower Bridge
on a double-decker bus
and several scenes inside the British Museum
. The 1944 version of The Lodger
also features a scene by Tower Bridge, although the film was set several years before it was built.
Britain's most famous spy, James Bond
, generally spends little time in London, other than to receive his orders from his boss 'M'. However, some of the films do feature locations in the city. These include On Her Majesty's Secret Service
(1969) in which George Lazenby
as Bond visits the College of Arms
and For Your Eyes Only
(1981), in which Roger Moore
experiences a hair-raising helicopter flight over the Docklands area. In the more recent Pierce Brosnan
films, the Secret Service's headquarters are identified as being the new MI6 building on the River Thames
at Vauxhall
. The 1999 film The World Is Not Enough
opens with an extended boat chase from the MI6 building down the river to the Millennium Dome
, while in Die Another Day
(2002) Bond visits a secret base in a disused Underground station, and makes a rare trip to his club Blades. The 1967 version of Casino Royale
makes extensive use of London locations, including 10 Downing Street
, Whitehall
, Trafalgar Square
(with Nelson's Column
replaced by a flying saucer
) as well as the Changing of the Guard
outside Buckingham Palace
.
, known as the Tube, has featured in several films. The plot of the 1998
film Sliding Doors
hinges on whether Gwyneth Paltrow's
character catches a particular Tube train or not. Bulldog Jack
(1934), Manhunt (1941), The Good Die Young (1954), and 28 Weeks Later (2007) all include chase sequences across underground tracks.
A number of horror films have also used the subterranean network of tunnels as an atmospheric location, most notably the John Landis
hit An American Werewolf in London
(1981), which contains a famous scene set in Tottenham Court Road tube station
, and the 2004 film Creep
. The eerie 1973
horror Death Line
stars Donald Pleasence
as a Scotland Yard detective who traces a series of murders to cannibals living in the network's tunnels.
Excavations on the Underground unearthed an ancient alien spacecraft in Quatermass and the Pit
(1967), and dormant dragons in Reign of Fire (2002).
The 2002
James Bond
film Die Another Day
features a secret MI6 facility in a fictional disused Underground Station called Vauxhall Cross. Another fictional station, Hobbs End
features in the 1967 science fiction
film Quatermass and the Pit
. Shaun of the Dead
features the fictional Crouch End
station.
Other films to have featured the Underground include Passport to Pimlico
(1949), The Yellow Balloon
(1953), Georgy Girl
(1966), The Fourth Protocol
(1987), Hidden City
(1988) and Tube Tales
(1999). The makers of the children's film The Boy Who Turned Yellow
(1972) managed to persuade London Underground to paint a tube train and large parts of Highgate Station a lovely shade of yellow!
A rare recreation of the network in the Edwardian era featured in the adaptation of Henry James
's The Wings of the Dove in 1997
. The London underground of the 1920s is also recorded in Anthony Asquith
's silent classic Underground
(1928), while the 1969 film Battle of Britain
shows the tunnel network converted to provide shelter for Londoners during the Blitz.
Aldwych tube station
, formerly on a branch of the Piccadilly Line
, has been used as the location for many films and television productions, especially since the branch and station closed in 1994 and the platforms have been left intact making it suitable for filming and photography purposes, due to the absence of a regular train service. A 1970s tube train permanently is based at the station and heritage rolling stock can be brought in for filming - London Underground have retained one of their 1938 trains which can be used for historic appearances. In more recent years filming has also taken place at the former Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross station, which were withdrawn from regular use when the line was extended in 1999 avoiding the station.
's Quatermass
films and television series helped to popularise London as the setting for science fiction stories. The Quatermass Xperiment
(1955) ends with Professor Quatermass cornering an alien monster in Westminster Abbey
, while Quatermass and the Pit
(1967) begins with an alien space craft being discovered during the construction of a new London Underground
station. The John Wyndham
novel The Day of the Triffids
was made into a film
in 1962 which also features scenes in London, while the much-derided 1985 film Lifeforce
involved vampires from space taking over the city.
The 1950
thriller Seven Days to Noon
featured a scientist who threatens to destroy London with a nuclear bomb, and was notable for its scenes of the city's evacuated and deserted streets. Despite the great difficulties involved in achieving this, the feat was repeated for the horror film 28 Days Later
in 2002, which begins with the hero waking from a coma and wandering across a deserted Westminster Bridge
.
Another nuclear threat was explored in The Day the Earth Caught Fire
(1961) which has many notable scenes in London, including the Thames running dry. It also includes a lot of scenes inside the old Express Building on Fleet Street
and Arthur Christiansen
, the recently retired editor of the Daily Express
, effectively plays himself.
Both Things to Come
(1936) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
(2005) begin with the city being destroyed, by war and alien attack respectively, while the 2004 horror comedy Shaun of the Dead
is set in the city during a zombie attack.
The 1966 film Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., based on the Doctor Who
story The Dalek Invasion of Earth
from 1964, is set in part in a future version of London, which has been nearly destroyed by alien invasion.
Futuristic London is terrorized in the 2006 film V for Vendetta
by a mysterious, masked anarchist who wishes to destroy the fascist government. The film was based on the graphic novel
V for Vendetta
. In Children of Men
(2006), the London of 2027 is a grim place, full of refugees, armed policemen and exploding bombs. Locations used include Tate Britain, Battersea Power Station, the Mall and Admiralty Arch.
In the Bollywood sci-fi Superhero adventure Ra.One
the plot begins in London, where the protagonist Dr. Shekhar Subramanium (played by Shahrukh Khan
) works at one fictional Barron Industries. Much of the film has been shot in various parts of the city.
(17th century), The First Great Train Robbery (Victorian era
), Chicago Joe and the Showgirl
(World War II) and The Krays
(the 1960s), while 10 Rillington Place (1971) recreated 1940s London, filming in the actual street where John Christie
carried out his infamous murders.
Other films have evoked London's underworld in the modern era, including Robbery (1967), Performance
(1970), Villain
(1971), Brannigan
(1975), The Long Good Friday
(1980), Mona Lisa
(1986), Face
(1997), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
(1998), G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time (1999), Snatch
(2000), Sexy Beast
(2000) and Layer Cake
(2004).
, Nil by Mouth
, Dirty Pretty Things
, and two out of every three films directed by Mike Leigh
. The East End meanwhile, was shown in The Man Who Knew Too Much
(1934), Waterloo Road
(1944), It Always Rains on Sunday
(1947) and A Kid for Two Farthings
(1955), among others.
The 1968 documentary The London Nobody Knows, presented by James Mason
, attempted to show some unfamiliar aspects of the city, as did Patrick Keiller's 1994
documentary London. This approach has since been emulated by the Saint Etienne
films Finisterre (2002) and What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day? (2005). The latter attempted to capture the state of the Lower Lea Valley
prior to its transformation ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.
Other films have tried to use less familiar locations in a new way. The 1995 version of Richard III
, starring Ian McKellen
, which is set in a fictional 1930s fascist version of England, makes imaginative use of London locations such as St Cuthbert's church, St Pancras chambers (the old Midland Grand Hotel), the University of London
's Senate House, and the two Gilbert Scott
power station
s — Bankside
serving for the Tower and the decrepit Battersea Power Station
as the setting for the final battle scenes. Terry Gilliam
's 1985
Orwellian
fantasy Brazil
also used the cooling towers of the same power station as a location, as did Michael Radford
's 1984 film version
of George Orwell
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
.
London Kills Me
(1991) portrays the city's immigrant and drug subcultures in the early Thatcher
years, in a similar vein as My Beautiful Laundrette
(1985). The 2007 film by Ken Loach It's a Free World...
considered the ethical dilemmas behind London's vast trade in illegal workers.
The acclaimed 1995 film Beautiful Thing
depicted the lives of two gay teenagers living on the South London housing estate of Thamesmead
. Similar themes, as well as race, were part of the 1970s set Young Soul Rebels
, the debut of Derek Jarman
protege Isaac Julien
(1991).
Breaking and Entering
, a 2006
romantic drama, by Academy Award-winning director
Anthony Minghella
, shot and set in King's Cross, a blighted, inner-city
neighbourhood of London, examines an affair which unfolds between a successful British
landscape architect
and a Bosnian
woman – the mother of a troubled teen son – who was widowed by the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
) films over the last 40 years. The animated features Peter Pan
(1953), One Hundred and One Dalmatians
(1961) and Basil, the Great Mouse Detective (known in North America as The Great Mouse Detective
) (1986) were all set in the city, as were Mary Poppins
(1964) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks
(1971). These, however, were all filmed in the U.S..
In more recent years The Parent Trap
(1998 version), Winning London
, The Great Muppet Caper
and the 1996
live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians all used actual locations in the city, as did the 1975 Disney comedy One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing
, which was largely set around the Natural History Museum
in the early 20th Century. The Muppet Christmas Carol
(1992) was set in Victorian London, but largely used Shepperton Studios
. The film Melody
(1970) (also known as SWALK) was filmed in and around Lambeth and Vauxhall and reunited Mark Lester
and Jack Wild
after their appearance in Oliver!
.
The Harry Potter
films also feature some London locations. The London Zoo
, King's Cross station, and Leadenhall Market
(Diagon Alley) are among those used.
Stormbreaker
, the first novel in the bestselling Alex Rider
series by Anthony Horowitz
, was turned into a film in 2006. It features locations in London such as Hyde Park
, Piccadilly Circus
, and the Science Museum
. The film also features several action sequences in the city, including a horse chase through central London and the main characters fighting on the rooftop of a skyscraper.
was, briefly, a genuine film star with three successful musical comedies in the early 1960s. The first of these, The Young Ones
(1961), was set in London. Cliff, The Shadows
, and his other chums need money to save their youth club, so they set up a pirate radio
station to generate publicity and put on a show. They sing! They dance! They wear brightly-coloured tapered slacks! Robert Morley
does martial arts! Cliff's second hit, Summer Holiday (1963) also deserves a mention, because although most of the action takes place driving across Europe, it has a starring role for a red London Routemaster
bus.
The success of some of these 1960s films helped to make up for London Town, Britain's first Technicolor
musical, which was an embarrassingly high-profile flop in 1946.
Mary Poppins
(1964) is memorable for its famous songs, (A Spoonful of Sugar, Chim-Chim-Cheree, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
), technical excellence (notably the scene combining live action and animation) and one of the worst accents in the history of cinema. Dick Van Dyke
's mangling of a cockney accent is painful to hear.
Also in 1964, Audrey Hepburn
starred in My Fair Lady
, the film of the musical of the George Bernard Shaw
play Pygmalion
. George Cukor
's decision to award the role of Eliza Doolittle to Hepburn was perceived by many as a snub to Julie Andrews, who had played the part to great acclaim on Broadway
. In the event, Andrews won an Oscar
for Mary Poppins while Hepburn was not nominated. This is another film with some famous songs, including Wouldn't it be Loverly, I Could have Danced all Night and Get Me to the Church on Time. Marni Nixon
's voice was used in place of Audrey Hepburn's for the songs.
In Half a Sixpence
(1967), professional cheery cockney Tommy Steele
plays Arthur Kipps, a cockney who unexpectedly comes into some money, in a musical version of H. G. Wells
's novel Kipps
.
Oliver!
(1968), the musical based on Oliver Twist
, includes the songs Food, Glorious Food, Consider Yourself and You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two. Two more Dickens stories turned into musicals were A Christmas Carol
(filmed as Scrooge in 1970) and The Old Curiosity Shop
, which became Mr Quilp in 1975.
The musical adaptation of Goodbye, Mr. Chips
with Peter O'Toole
and Petula Clark
made use of several London locations, including the dining room at the Savoy Hotel
and the Salisbury pub in the heart of the West End
.
Quadrophenia
(1979) draws its soundtrack from the album
of the same name, a rock opera
by The Who
. It tells the story of Jimmy, a disaffected teenager, taking his scooter to Brighton
for the August bank holiday
with a group of Mods, and taking part in one of the notorious 'battles' between Mods and Rockers
.
Punk
, one of London's notable contributions to pop music
, is the subject of Sid and Nancy
(1986), a biopic of Sid Vicious
, bassist with the Sex Pistols
. Gary Oldman
stars as Vicious. Also see the punk-rockumentaries directed by Julien Temple
, the first being band manager Malcolm McLaren
's take on 'his' invention of punk in his The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
and the more recent return volley by the estranged band members in The Filth and the Fury
.
The South London reggae
scene is notably represented in Babylon
(1980).
SpiceWorld (1997) is a Spice Girls
vehicle rushed out to cash in on their success. It failed to gain critical acclaim.
Early Victorian London was the setting for 2007's musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which takes place largely in Fleet Street.
Filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
and as a film setting
Setting (fiction)
In fiction, setting includes the time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, and initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has been referred to as story world or milieu to include a context beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may...
. These have ranged from historical recreations of the Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
London of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
, to the romantic comedies of Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones is a franchise based on the fictional character with the same name. English writer Helen Fielding started her Bridget Jones's Diary column in The Independent in 1995, chronicling the life of Bridget Jones as a thirtysomething single woman in London as she tries to make sense of life...
and Notting Hill
Notting Hill (film)
Notting Hill is a 1999 British romantic comedy film set in Notting Hill, London, released on 21 May 1999. The screenplay was by Richard Curtis, who had written Four Weddings and a Funeral. It was produced by Duncan Kenworthy and directed by Roger Michell...
, by way of crime films, spy thrillers, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and the "swinging London
Swinging London
Swinging London is a catch-all term applied to the fashion and cultural scene that flourished in London, in the 1960s.It was a youth-oriented phenomenon that emphasised the new and modern. It was a period of optimism and hedonism, and a cultural revolution. One catalyst was the recovery of the...
" films of the 1960s.
Because of the dominant role played by the city in the British media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, the number of British films set in London is huge. It has also been used many times in American films, and often recreated on a Hollywood studio backlot
Backlot
A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio, containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction....
.
Historical London
Historical recreations of London on screen have been relatively frequent. The TudorTudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
, Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, Edwardian and Second World War periods in the city's history have all been regularly depicted.
Pre-Victorian London
London in the Elizabethan EraElizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
has often been portrayed in films, including Fire Over England
Fire Over England
Fire Over England is a 1937 London Film Productions film drama, notable for providing the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It was directed by William K. Howard and written by Clemence Dane from the novel Fire Over England by A. E. W. Mason. Leigh's performance in the movie...
(1937), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex is a 1939 historical romantic drama film. It is based on the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I, portrayed by Bette Davis, and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, played by Errol Flynn...
(1939), and Elizabeth
Elizabeth (film)
Elizabeth is a 1998 biographical film written by Michael Hirst, directed by Shekhar Kapur, and starring Cate Blanchett in the title role of Queen Elizabeth I of England, alongside Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes, Sir John Gielgud, Fanny Ardant and Richard Attenborough...
(1998). Much of Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard....
(1998), a comedy involving Shakespeare in a fictionalised romance, was set around the original Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
, as was Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
's 1944 Henry V
Henry V (1944 film)
Henry V is a 1944 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. The on-screen title is The Cronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France . It stars Laurence Olivier, who also directed. The play was adapted for the screen by Olivier, Dallas...
.
The Tudor period
Tudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
has also been shown in other films, including the 1966 film of Robert Bolt
Robert Bolt
Robert Oxton Bolt, CBE was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar winning screenwriter.-Career:He was born in Sale, Cheshire. At Manchester Grammar School his affinity for Sir Thomas More first developed. He attended the University of Manchester, and, after war service, the University of...
's play A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons (1966 film)
A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons about Sir Thomas More. It was released on December 12, 1966. Paul Scofield, who had played More in the West End stage premiere, also took the role in the film. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann, who had...
, the 1990s adaptation of Orlando
Orlando (film)
Orlando is a 1992 film based on Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando: A Biography, starring Tilda Swinton as Orlando, Billy Zane as Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine, and Quentin Crisp as Queen Elizabeth. It was directed by Sally Potter....
and various versions of Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction...
.
Cromwell
Cromwell (film)
Cromwell is a 1970 film, based on the life of Oliver Cromwell who led the Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War and, as Lord Protector, ruled Great Britain and Ireland in the 1650s. It features an all-star cast led by Richard Harris as Cromwell and Alec Guinness as King Charles I...
(1970) is one of the few films to show the city during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, but several have been set during the subsequent restoration of the monarchy under Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. These include Nell Gwyn
Nell Gwyn
Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England. Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Samuel Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of...
(1937), Forever Amber
Forever Amber (film)
Forever Amber is a 1947 film directed by Otto Preminger and starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde. It was based on the book of the same name. It also starred Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Dolores Hart, and Jessica Tandy...
(1947) and Stage Beauty
Stage Beauty
Stage Beauty is a 2004 British-American-German romantic period drama directed by Richard Eyre. The screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher is based on his play Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which was inspired by references to 17th century actor Edward Kynaston made in the detailed private diary kept by...
(2003). The 1995 film Restoration incorporates both the Great Plague
Great Plague of London
The Great Plague was a massive outbreak of disease in the Kingdom of England that killed an estimated 100,000 people, 20% of London's population. The disease is identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted through a flea vector...
and the Great Fire of 1665-66
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
.
Late 18th and early 19th century London has been seen in a number of films, including Lady Hamilton (1941), Lady Caroline Lamb
Lady Caroline Lamb (film)
Lady Caroline Lamb is a 1972 film based on the life of the notorious Lady Caroline Lamb, lover of Lord Byron and wife of Prime MinisterViscount Melbourne...
(1972), A Bequest to the Nation
A Bequest to the Nation
A Bequest to the Nation is a 1970 play by Terence Rattigan, based on his 1966 television play Nelson . It recounts the events surrounding Horatio Nelson, his mistress Emma Hamilton, and his wife Frances Nisbet in the events immediately before, during and after the Battle of Trafalgar...
(1973), Princess Caraboo
Princess Caraboo (film)
Princess Caraboo is a 1994 British-American historical comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Michael Austin, based on the real-life 19th-century character Princess Caraboo, who passed herself off in British society as an exotic princess who spoke a strange foreign language; she is portrayed...
(1994), Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility (1995 film)
Sense and Sensibility is a 1995 British drama film directed by Ang Lee. The screenplay by Emma Thompson is based on the 1811 novel of the same name by English author Jane Austen...
(1995), and the various versions of The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the "disguised superhero" tales such as Zorro and Batman....
.
Several 1960s films showed a grimier, more realistic depiction of 18th century London, including Where's Jack?
Where's Jack?
Where's Jack? is a 1969 film based around the exploits of notorious 18th century criminal Jack Sheppard and London "thieftaker" Jonathan Wild....
(1968), based on the true story of highwayman Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard was a notorious English robber, burglar and thief of early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but took to theft and burglary in 1723, with little more than a year of his training to complete...
and crime boss Jonathan Wild
Jonathan Wild
Jonathan Wild was perhaps the most infamous criminal of London — and possibly Great Britain — during the 18th century, both because of his own actions and the uses novelists, playwrights, and political satirists made of them...
.
Victorian London
One of the most popular images of the city is the Victorian era of Charles DickensCharles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
and Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
. There have been almost 200 films based on the novels of Charles Dickens alone, beginning with the silent short film Death of Nancy Sykes in 1897. The most memorable of these are probably the musical Oliver!
Oliver! (film)
Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
and the two David Lean
David Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
films of Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist (1948 film)
Oliver Twist is the second of David Lean's two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. Following the success of his 1946 version of Great Expectations, Lean re-assembled much of the same team for his adaptation of Dicken's 1838 novel, including producers Ronald Neame and Anthony...
(1948) and Great Expectations
Great Expectations (1946 film)
Great Expectations is a 1946 British film which won two Academy Awards and was nominated for three others...
(1946). Other film adaptations include David Copperfield
David Copperfield (novel)
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery , commonly referred to as David Copperfield, is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial...
in 1935
Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger is a 1935 American film based upon the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield...
and 1969
David Copperfield (1969 film)
David Copperfield is a 1969 American television film directed by Delbert Mann based on the novel of the same name by Charles Dickens adapted by Jack Pulman, who later went on to adapt the Roman saga I, Claudius for BBC Television. The film was made in the UK for 20th Century Fox Television.The film...
, Nicholas Nickleby in 1947
Nicholas Nickleby (1947 film)
Nicholas Nickleby is a 1947 British drama film directed by Cavalcanti. The screenplay by John Dighton is based on the 1839 novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens...
and 2002
Nicholas Nickleby (2002 film)
Nicholas Nickleby is a 2002 comedy-drama film written and directed by Douglas McGrath. The screenplay is based on The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, which originally was published in serial form between March 1838 and September 1839.-Plot:In a prologue we are...
, The Pickwick Papers
The Pickwick Papers (film)
The Pickwick Papers is a 1952 British film from George Minter of the Charles Dickens classic. Both screenplay and direction were by Noel Langley. It was awarded a Golden Bear in Russia where the rights were sold for £10,000.-Cast:...
in 1952 and Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit (film)
Little Dorrit is a 1988 film adaptation of the novel Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. It was written and directed by Christine Edzard, and produced by John Brabourne and Richard B. Goodwin. The music, by Giuseppe Verdi, was arranged by Michael Sanvoisin.The film stars Derek Jacobi as Arthur...
in 1987. There have also been many versions of Dickens' A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
, the best known of which is probably the 1951 Alastair Sim film Scrooge
Scrooge (1951 film)
Scrooge, released as A Christmas Carol in the United States, is a 1951 film adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. It starred Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge and was directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, with a screenplay by Noel Langley.The film also features Kathleen Harrison in an...
.
Many films have also been made of the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
. Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
played Holmes in a series of American films from 1939 to 1946, with London recreated in Hollywood at 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and later Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. Other notable Holmes films which have strongly featured London backgrounds and locations are Young Sherlock Holmes
Young Sherlock Holmes
Young Sherlock Holmes is a 1985 mystery/adventure film directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Chris Columbus, based on characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
(1985), Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a 1970 film directed and produced by Billy Wilder; he also shared writing credit with his longtime collaborator I. A. L. Diamond. It starred Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes and Colin Blakely as Dr. Watson...
(1970), and the comedies The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut....
(1975) and Without a Clue
Without a Clue
Without a Clue is a 1988 British comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley and Lysette Anthony.-Plot:...
(1988), as well as innumerable television films.
Holmes also dealt with the notorious Whitechapel
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
serial killer Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
in A Study in Terror
A Study in Terror
A Study in Terror is a 1965 British thriller film directed by James Hill and starring John Neville as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Houston as Dr. Watson...
in 1965 and Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper...
in 1978. The Ripper was also featured in Pandora's Box
Pandora's Box (film)
Pandora's Box is a 1929 German silent melodrama film based on Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora . Directed by Austrian filmmaker Georg Wilhelm Pabst, the film stars Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, and Francis Lederer...
(1929]), Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
(1958), Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde is a 1971 British film directed by Roy Ward Baker based on the short story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and was their second adaptation of the story after their 1960 film The...
(1971), Hands of the Ripper
Hands of the Ripper
Hands of the Ripper is a 1971 British horror film directed by Peter Sasdy for Hammer Film Productions.-Plot:It is set in London in Edwardian times, and stars Angharad Rees as Anna, a vulnerable young woman who is exploited by her guardian , a medium, and haunted by the subconscious memory of her...
(1971), From Hell
From Hell
From Hell is a comic book series by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell, originally published from 1991 to 1996, speculating upon the identity and motives of Jack the Ripper. The title is taken from the first words of the "From Hell" letter, which some authorities believe was an authentic...
(2001) and several versions of The Lodger, including Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's silent film of 1926.
Much of the action in the Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
novel Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
takes place in London, although several film adaptations have set it elsewhere. One notable exception is Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
.
Other films set in Victorian London include the 1945 version of The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only published novel by Oscar Wilde, appearing as the lead story in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890, printed as the July 1890 issue of this magazine...
, Victoria the Great
Victoria the Great
Victoria the Great is a 1937 British historical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Anton Walbrook and Walter Rilla. The film biography of Queen Victoria concentrating initially on the early years of her reign with her marriage to Prince Albert and her subsequent rule after...
(1937), Sixty Glorious Years
Sixty Glorious Years
Sixty Glorious Years is a 1938 British film directed by Herbert Wilcox. The film is a sequel to the 1937 film Victoria the Great.The film is also known as Queen of Destiny in the US.- Cast :*Anna Neagle as Queen Victoria...
(1938), The Mudlark
The Mudlark
The Mudlark is a 1950 film made in Britain by 20th Century Fox, is a fictionalized account of how Queen Victoria was eventually brought out of her mourning for her dead husband, Prince Albert...
(1950), The Wrong Box
The Wrong Box
The Wrong Box is a British comedy film made by Salamander Film Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was produced and directed by Bryan Forbes from a screenplay by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne.The cast includes a...
(1966), The Assassination Bureau
The Assassination Bureau
The Assassination Bureau Limited is a black comedy film made in 1969 based on an unfinished novel, The Assassination Bureau, Ltd by Jack London...
(1968), The First Great Train Robbery (1978), Topsy-Turvy
Topsy-Turvy
Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 musical drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and stars Allan Corduner as Arthur Sullivan and Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert, along with Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville. The story concerns the 15-month period in 1884 and 1885 leading up to the premiere of Gilbert...
(1999), An Ideal Husband (1999), Shanghai Knights
Shanghai Knights
Shanghai Knights is a 2003 action-comedy film. It is the sequel to Shanghai Noon. It was directed by David Dobkin and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.-Plot:...
(2003), the 1956 version and 2004 version
Around the World in 80 Days (2004 film)
Around the World in 80 Days is a 2004 American comedy adventure film based on Jules Verne's novel of the same name. It stars Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Cécile de France. The film is set in 19th-century Britain and centers on Phileas Fogg , here reimagined as an eccentric inventor, and his...
of Around the World in Eighty Days, and the black-and-white film The Elephant Man
The Elephant Man (film)
The Elephant Man is a 1980 American drama film based on the true story of Joseph Merrick , a severely deformed man in 19th century London...
(1980), based on the life of Joseph Merrick
Joseph Merrick
Joseph Carey Merrick , sometimes incorrectly referred to as John Merrick, was an English man with severe deformities who was exhibited as a human curiosity named the Elephant Man. He became well known in London society after he went to live at the London Hospital...
.
Other British cities, such as Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, or locations in other countries, are now often used for period films instead of filming in London itself. From Hell
From Hell
From Hell is a comic book series by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell, originally published from 1991 to 1996, speculating upon the identity and motives of Jack the Ripper. The title is taken from the first words of the "From Hell" letter, which some authorities believe was an authentic...
(2001), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, publication of which began in 1999. The series spans two six-issue limited series and a graphic novel from the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm/DC, and a third miniseries...
(2003) and Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's 2005 film of Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist (2005 film)
Oliver Twist is a 2005 British drama film directed by Roman Polanski. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood is based on the 1838 novel of the same title by Charles Dickens....
all recreated Victorian London in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
in the Czech Republic.
Twentieth century
Edwardian London has been depicted in several films, notably 2010 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture The King's Speech, EalingEaling Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Kind Hearts and Coronets is a 1949 British black comedy feature film. The plot is loosely based on the 1907 novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman, with the screenplay written by Robert Hamer and John Dighton and the film directed by Hamer...
in 1949, the Merchant Ivory E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
adaptation Howards End
Howards End (film)
Howards End is a 1992 film based upon the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster , a story of class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England...
(1992) and the biopic Young Winston
Young Winston
Young Winston is a 1972 British film based on the early years of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.The film was based on the book My Early Life: A Roving Commission by Winston Churchill. The first part of the film covers Churchill's unhappy schooldays, up to the death of his father...
(1972).
Wartime London has featured in many films, with The Man Who Loved Redheads
The Man Who Loved Redheads
The Man Who Loved Redheads is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Harold French and starring Moira Shearer, John Justin and Roland Culver. The film is based on the play Who is Sylvia? by Terence Rattigan.-Cast:...
and Zeppelin
Zeppelin (film)
Zeppelin is a 1971 British World War I action/drama film of a fictitious German attempt to raid Great Britain in a giant Zeppelin and steal the Magna Carta from its hiding place in one of Scotland's castles...
(1971) among those set during the First World War. The 1943 film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a 1943 film by the British film making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger under the production banner of The Archers. It stars Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and Anton Walbrook. The title derives from the satirical Colonel Blimp comic strip by David...
covered 40 years in the city, including the Edwardian era, the First World War and the Second World War. Several others made during the Second World War itself, featured London locations, including Millions Like Us
Millions Like Us
Millions Like Us is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It stars Patricia Roc, Eric Portman, Megs Jenkins, and Anne Crawford, was written by Sidney Gilliat, and directed by Gilliat and Frank Launder...
(1943) and Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road (film)
Waterloo Road is a 1945 British film based on the Waterloo area of South London. It was directed by Sidney Gilliat.-Plot:John Mills plays an AWOL squaddie who returns to south London to save his wife from the advances of a philandering draft-dodger played by Stewart Granger.-Cast:* John Mills as...
(1944). The Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
featured prominently in the Ealing
Ealing Studios
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since...
drama The Bells Go Down
The Bells Go Down
The Bells Go down is a black-and-white wartime film made by Ealing Studios in 1943. The reference in the title is to the alarm bells in the fire station that "go down" when a call to respond is made...
(1943), and in Humphrey Jennings
Humphrey Jennings
Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organization...
' drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
-documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Fires Were Started
Fires Were Started
Fires Were Started is a British film written and directed by Humphrey Jennings, filmed in documentary style showing the lives of firefighters through the Blitz in World War II...
(1943). The latter featured real firemen
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
recreating scenes from the bombings. At the same time, a number of London-set films were being made in Hollywood, like Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The name of the bridge is in memory of the British victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815...
(1940), Mrs. Miniver
Mrs. Miniver (film)
Mrs. Miniver is a 1942 American drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, and Teresa Wright. Based on the fictional English housewife created by Jan Struther in 1937 for a series of newspaper columns, the film won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture,...
(1942) and Forever and a Day (1943). The latter followed several generations of owners of a London house until 1943. Later films set in the city during World War II include The Man Who Never Was
The Man Who Never Was
The Man Who Never Was is a nonfiction 1953 book by Ewen Montagu and a 1956 Second World War war film, based on the book and dramatising actual events...
(1955), I Was Monty's Double
I Was Monty's Double
I Was Monty's Double is a book by M. E. Clifton James, first published in London in 1954. It was made into a film in 1958, directed by John Guillermin, from a screenplay adapted by Bryan Forbes...
(1958), Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain (film)
Battle of Britain is a 1969 Technicolor film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain...
(1969), Hanover Street (1979), Hope and Glory (1987), Shining Through
Shining Through
Shining Through is a 1992 British-American World War II film drama, directed and written by David Seltzer and starring Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith, with Liam Neeson, Joely Richardson and John Gielgud in supporting roles. Although based on the novel of the same name by Susan Isaacs, the...
(1992) and The End of the Affair
The End of the Affair (1999 film)
Michael Nyman would later use "Diary of Love" to open and close his solo album, The Piano Sings . As with many of Nyman's 1990s scores, he incorporates material from his String Quartet No.3, which was in turn based on a choral piece titled Out of the Ruins.-Track listing:#Diary of Hate 2:38#Henry...
(1999), as well as some low-budget Italian-made war films like Stukas Over London (1970) and From Hell to Victory (1979).
The 1950s has been recreated in several films including 84 Charing Cross Road
84 Charing Cross Road (film)
84 Charing Cross Road is a 1987 British/American drama film directed by David Hugh Jones. The screenplay by Hugh Whitemore is based on a play by James Roose-Evans, which itself was an adaptation of the 1970 epistolary memoir of the same name by Helene Hanff, a compilation of letters between herself...
(1987) and Shadowlands
Shadowlands (film)
Shadowlands is a 1993 British biographical film directed by Richard Attenborough. The screenplay by William Nicholson is based on his 1985 television production and 1989 stage adaptation of the same name. The original television film began life as a script entitled I Call it Joy written for Thames...
(1993). The 1960s has proved particularly popular with film makers in recent years, especially for crime films like Buster
Buster (film)
Buster is a 1988 comedy-drama film starring musician Phil Collins, Julie Walters, Larry Lamb and Sheila Hancock. The soundtrack featured two Phil Collins singles which eventually topped the Billboard 100 singles chart.-Plot:...
(1988), Scandal (1989), The Krays
The Krays (film)
The Krays is a 1990 film based on the lives and crimes of the British gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray, twins who are often referred to as The Krays...
(1990), Honest (2000) and Gangster No. 1
Gangster No. 1
Gangster No. 1 is a 2000 British crime film. It stars Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis and Paul Bettany and was directed by Paul McGuigan.- Cast :*Malcolm McDowell as Gangster 55*David Thewlis as Freddie Mays*Paul Bettany as Young Gangster...
(2000). Withnail and I
Withnail and I
Withnail and I is a British black comedy made in 1986 by HandMade Films. It was written and directed by Bruce Robinson and is based on his life in London in the late 1960s. The main plot follows two unemployed young actors, Withnail and “I” who live in a squalid flat in Camden in 1969 while...
(1987) economically recreated the Camden Town
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
area in the 1960s.
Postwar London
The EalingEaling
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
comedies of the 1940s and 1950s made repeated use of locations in the city. Hue and Cry
Hue and Cry (film)
Hue and Cry is a British film directed by Charles Crichton and starring Alastair Sim, Harry Fowler and Joan Dowling.It is generally considered to be the first of the "Ealing comedies", although it is better characterised as a thriller for children...
(1947) and Passport to Pimlico
Passport to Pimlico
Passport to Pimlico is a 1949 British comedy film made by Ealing Studios and starred Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford, and Hermione Baddeley. It was directed by Henry Cornelius....
(1949) were memorably set in the ruins and bombsites of post-war London. In the 1950s The Lavender Hill Mob
The Lavender Hill Mob
The Lavender Hill Mob is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T.E.B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass...
made extensive use of London locations, as did the dramas The Blue Lamp
The Blue Lamp
The Blue Lamp is a British crime film released in early 1950 by Ealing Studios, directed by Basil Dearden and produced by Michael Balcon. It stars Jack Warner as police constable George Dixon, Jimmy Hanley and Dirk Bogarde in an early role...
and Pool of London
Pool of London
The Pool of London is a part of the Tideway of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Tower Bridge. It was the original part of the Port of London. The Pool of London is divided into two parts, the Upper Pool and Lower Pool...
, while The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy film made by Ealing Studios. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, it stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner and Katie Johnson...
used King's Cross Station and its surrounding marshalling yards as the backdrop to its story. The 1952 film The Happy Family
The Happy Family (1952 film)
The Happy Family is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Muriel Box and starring Stanley Holloway, Kathleen Harrison and Naunton Wayne. The plot of the film centres on resistance by a family to the disruption caused by the construction of the Festival of Britain. It is also known by the...
is set on the South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
during the lead up to the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
.
Many other comedies have used locations in the city, some of the best known being The Ghosts of Berkeley Square
The Ghosts of Berkeley Square
The Ghosts of Berkeley Square is a 1947 British comedy film, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Robert Morley and Felix Aylmer. The film is an adaptation of the novel No Nightingales by Caryl Brahms and S. J. Simon, inspired by the enduring reputation of the property at 50 Berkeley Square as...
(1947), Doctor in the House
Doctor in the House
Doctor in the House is a 1954 British comedy film, directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box. The screenplay, by Nicholas Phipps, Richard Gordon and Ronald Wilkinson, is based on the novel by Gordon, and follows a group of students through medical school.It was the most popular box office...
(1954), The Horse's Mouth
The Horse's Mouth (film)
The Horse's Mouth is a 1958 film directed by Ronald Neame and filmed in Technicolor. Alec Guinness wrote the screenplay from the 1944 novel The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary, and also played the lead role of Gulley Jimson, a London artist.-Synopsis:...
(1958), Bedazzled
Bedazzled (1967 film)
Bedazzled is a 1967 British comedy film directed and produced by Stanley Donen. It was written by and stars Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. It is a comic retelling of the Faust legend, set in the Swinging London of the 1960s...
(1967), Brassed Off
Brassed Off
Brassed Off is a 1996 British film written and directed by Mark Herman. The film, a British-American co-production made between Channel Four Films, Miramax Films and Prominent Films, is about the troubles faced by a colliery brass band, following the closure of their pit...
(1996), Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot is a 2000 British drama film written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry. Set in the fictional town of "Everington" in the real County Durham, UK, it stars Jamie Bell as 11-year-old Billy, an aspiring dancer, Gary Lewis as his coal miner father, Jamie Draven as Billy's older...
t (2000) and Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
(2002).
Swinging London
With new developments in music, cinema and fashion, London found itself the centre of youth culture in the 1960s. The image of "swinging LondonSwinging London
Swinging London is a catch-all term applied to the fashion and cultural scene that flourished in London, in the 1960s.It was a youth-oriented phenomenon that emphasised the new and modern. It was a period of optimism and hedonism, and a cultural revolution. One catalyst was the recovery of the...
", partly a creation of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, helped to fuel a production boom in the British film industry throughout the decade. The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
made memorable use of locations in the city in A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
(1964), and a huge number of other London-set films followed. These included The Pumpkin Eater
The Pumpkin Eater
The Pumpkin Eater is a 1964 British drama film starring Anne Bancroft as an unusually fertile woman and Peter Finch as her philandering husband....
, The Knack ...and How to Get It, Darling
Darling (film)
Darling is a 1965 British comedy/drama film written by Frederic Raphael, directed by John Schlesinger, and starring Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, and Laurence Harvey. It is considered one of Schlesinger's best films and an insightful satire of mid-sixties British culture...
, Arabesque
Arabesque (film)
Arabesque is a 1966 thriller starring Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren. The movie is based on Gordon Cotler's novel The Cypher and directed by Stanley Donen.-Plot:Professor David Pollock is an expert in ancient hieroglyphics at Oxford University...
, Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope (film)
Kaleidoscope is a 1966 British crime film starring Warren Beatty and Susannah York. Though not credited as such, the film is an adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel Casino Royale, albeit with the James Bond character removed.-Plot:...
, Georgy Girl
Georgy Girl
Georgy Girl is a 1966 British film based on a novel by Margaret Forster. The film was directed by Silvio Narizzano and starred Lynn Redgrave as Georgy, Alan Bates, James Mason, Charlotte Rampling and Bill Owen....
, Morgan!
Morgan!
Morgan! is a 1966 comedy film made by the British Lion Films Corporation...
, Alfie, Blowup
Blowup
Blowup is a 1966 film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, his first English-language film.It tells of a British photographer's accidental involvement with a murder, inspired by Julio Cortázar's short story, "Las babas del diablo" or "The Devil's Drool" , translated also as Blow-Up, and by the life...
, I'll Never Forget What's'isname, Casino Royale
Casino Royale (1967 film)
Casino Royale is a 1967 comedy spy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is set as a satire of the James Bond film series and the spy genre, and is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel.The film stars David Niven as the...
, Poor Cow
Poor Cow
Poor Cow is a 1967 British drama film directed by Ken Loach, based on Nell Dunn's novel of the same name.Although Malcolm McDowell is listed in the credits on the commercial release of the film, the scenes in which he appeared were deleted....
, Up the Junction
Up the Junction
Up the Junction is a 1963 novel by Nell Dunn that depicts contemporary life in the industrial slums of Battersea near Clapham Junction.The book uses colloquial speech, and its portrayal of petty thieving, sexual encounters, births, deaths and back-street abortion provided a view of life that was...
, Bedazzled
Bedazzled (1967 film)
Bedazzled is a 1967 British comedy film directed and produced by Stanley Donen. It was written by and stars Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. It is a comic retelling of the Faust legend, set in the Swinging London of the 1960s...
, To Sir, with Love
To Sir, with Love
To Sir, With Love is a 1967 British drama film starring Sidney Poitier that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. James Clavell both directed and wrote the film's screenplay, based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by E. R. Braithwaite.The film's title song...
, The Jokers
The Jokers
The Jokers is a 1967 comedy film written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and directed by Michael Winner. The film stars Michael Crawford and Oliver Reed as brothers who hatch a plot to steal the Crown Jewels....
, Otley
Otley (film)
Otley is a 1968 British comedy thriller film.-Outline:Gerald Arthur Otley , a hapless and light-fingered antiques dealer, is mistaken for a spy and grows into the part - to such an extent that the real spy falls in love with him...
, Wonderwall
Wonderwall (film)
Wonderwall is the title of a 1968 film by first-time director Joe Massot that starred Jack MacGowran, Jane Birkin, Richard Wattis, Irene Handl, and Iain Quarrier, and featured cameos by Anita Pallenberg and Dutch designers The Fool...
, Smashing Time, Salt and Pepper and The Italian Job
The Italian Job
The Italian Job is a 1969 British caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. Subsequent television showings and releases on video have established it as an institution in the United Kingdom....
, all in 1964-1969.
Romantic London
The city has often been used as the backdrop for romances like Indiscreet (1958) with Cary GrantCary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
and Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
and A Touch of Class (1973), and has become popular for romantic comedies in recent years. This is at least partly due to the television and film writer Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
, who has written some of the most successful British films of recent years — The Tall Guy
The Tall Guy
The Tall Guy is a 1989 romantic comedy and the feature film debut of screenwriter Richard Curtis and director Mel Smith. It was produced by London Weekend Television for theatrical release and stars Jeff Goldblum, Emma Thompson, and Rowan Atkinson...
(1989), Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
(1994), Notting Hill
Notting Hill (film)
Notting Hill is a 1999 British romantic comedy film set in Notting Hill, London, released on 21 May 1999. The screenplay was by Richard Curtis, who had written Four Weddings and a Funeral. It was produced by Duncan Kenworthy and directed by Roger Michell...
(1999) and Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
(2003), all set or partly set in the city. The films follow the awkward love lives of largely upper-middle class characters (aside from The Tall Guy, always including one played by Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
).
Curtis has been criticised for pandering to the American market by playing to the stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
of the English as posh, socially awkward eccentrics. This hasn't stopped the films generally being a huge success in the American and British cinema box office charts. Other films which have followed in Curtis's footsteps include Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors is a 1998 British-American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Howitt and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah, and featured John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Virginia McKenna. The music was composed by David Hirschfelder...
(1998), Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence is a 1998 British romantic comedy directed by Nick Hamm...
(1998), About a Boy
About a Boy (film)
About a Boy is a 2002 comedy-drama film directed by brothers Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, based on the novel of the same name by Nick Hornby. The film stars Golden Globe winner Hugh Grant as Will, Nicholas Hoult as Marcus, Academy Award nominee Toni Collette as Fiona, and Academy Award winner Rachel...
(2002), Wimbledon
Wimbledon (film)
Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury during the Wimbledon Championships.The film was dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after...
, and the American film What a Girl Wants
What a Girl Wants (film)
What a Girl Wants is a 2003 film starring Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston and Oliver James. Directed by Dennie Gordon, the film is a remake of the 1958 film, The Reluctant Debutante which had a screenplay by William Douglas-Home, based on his play of the same name.The title, "What a Girl...
(2002). Londinium (2001) used locations in Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square is a town square in the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It was originally laid out in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent...
, Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
, Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
, Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill is a hill of located on the north side of Regent's Park in London, England, and also the name for the surrounding district. The hill has a clear view of central London to the south-east, as well as Belsize Park and Hampstead to the north...
Park and at Waterloo Station
Waterloo station
Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is owned and operated by Network Rail and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1....
.
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
, Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
, Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
and Clive Owen
Clive Owen
Clive Owen is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991...
conducted their affairs around various parts of London in Closer
Closer (film)
Closer is a 2004 romantic drama film written by Patrick Marber, based on his award-winning 1997 play of the same name. It was produced and directed by Mike Nichols and stars Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen...
(2004), which uses locations such as Clerkenwell, the London Aquarium. Bloomsbury, the River Thames and the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.
Woody Allen's Match Point
Match Point
Match Point is a 2005 dramatic thriller film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox and Penelope Wilton....
(2005), uses a very up-market view of the city to reflect the upper class lives of the protagonists, including locations in Notting Hill, Belgravia
Belgravia
Belgravia is a district of central London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Noted for its immensely expensive residential properties, it is one of the wealthiest districts in the world...
, Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, St. James's Park
St. James's Park
St. James's Park is a 23 hectare park in the City of Westminster, central London - the oldest of the Royal Parks of London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St. James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less.- Geographical location :St. James's...
and Tate Modern
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
.
Thrillers
Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
probably started the fashion for using London landmarks for spy films, starting with Blackmail
Blackmail (1929 film)
Blackmail is a 1929 British thriller drama film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard, and featuring Donald Calthrop, Sara Allgood and Charles Paton. The film is based on the play Blackmail by Charles Bennett, as adapted by Hitchcock, with dialogue by...
in 1929, which was set entirely in the city and finished on the dome of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. Many of his other thrillers followed a similar pattern, including The Man Who Knew Too Much (both the 1934
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)
The Man Who Knew Too Much is a British suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Peter Lorre, and released by Gaumont British. It was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period....
and 1956
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film)
The Man Who Knew Too Much is a suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. The film is a remake in widescreen VistaVision and Technicolor of Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name....
versions), The 39 Steps
The 39 Steps (1935 film)
The 39 Steps is a British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll....
(1935), Sabotage
Sabotage (film)
Sabotage, also released as The Woman Alone, is a 1936 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is based on Joseph Conrad's novel The Secret Agent...
(1937), Foreign Correspondent
Foreign Correspondent (film)
Foreign Correspondent is a 1940 American spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock which tells the story of an American reporter who tries to expose enemy spies in Britain, a series of events involving a continent-wide conspiracy that eventually leads to the events of a fictionalized World War...
(1940), Stage Fright
Stage Fright (film)
Stage Fright is a 1950 British crime film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock starring Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding and Richard Todd...
(1950) and Frenzy
Frenzy
Frenzy is a 1972 British thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The film is based upon the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern, and was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. La Bern...
(1972). London has since featured in many other thrillers, including Hunted
Hunted (film)
Hunted is a black-and-white British film directed by Charles Crichton and released in 1952. Hunted is a crime drama in the form of a chase film, starring Dirk Bogarde, and written by Jack Whittingham and Michael McCarthy...
(1952) The Yellow Balloon
The Yellow Balloon (film)
The Yellow Balloon is a 1953 British drama film starring Kenneth More, Bernard Lee, Andrew Ray, Kathleen Ryan and Sid James.-Plot:Playing around the ruins of a devastated bombed-out neighbourhood of London, 12 year old Frankie accidentally leads a boy into his death when he falls from a second...
(1953) Sapphire
Sapphire (film)
Sapphire is a 1959 British crime drama. It focused on racism in London toward immigrants from the West Indies. The film was directed by Basil Dearden, and stars Nigel Patrick, Earl Cameron and Yvonne Mitchell. It received the BAFTA Award for Best Film and screenwriter Janet Green won a 1960 Edgar...
(1959), Bunny Lake Is Missing
Bunny Lake Is Missing
Bunny Lake Is Missing is a 1965 British psychological thriller film directed and produced by Otto Preminger, who filmed it in black and white widescreen format in London. It was based on the novel of the same name by Merriam Modell. The score is by Paul Glass and the opening theme is often heard as...
(1965), The IPCRESS File
The Ipcress File (film)
The Ipcress File is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, Guy Doleman, and Nigel Green. The screenplay by Bill Canaway and James Doran was based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel, The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best...
(1965), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (film)
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a 1965 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by John le Carré. It was adapted by Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper. The film stars Richard Burton as Alec Leamas, along with Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Peter van Eyck, Sam Wanamaker, Rupert Davies and Cyril Cusack...
(1965), The Deadly Affair
The Deadly Affair
The Deadly Affair is a 1966 British espionage–thriller film, based on John le Carré's first novel Call for the Dead. The film stars James Mason, Harry Andrews, Simone Signoret and Maximilian Schell and was directed by Sidney Lumet from a script by Paul Dehn. In it George Smiley, the central...
(1966), Arabesque
Arabesque (film)
Arabesque is a 1966 thriller starring Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren. The movie is based on Gordon Cotler's novel The Cypher and directed by Stanley Donen.-Plot:Professor David Pollock is an expert in ancient hieroglyphics at Oxford University...
(1966), The Black Windmill
The Black Windmill
The Black Windmill is a 1974 British spy thriller directed by Don Siegel and starring Michael Caine, John Vernon, Janet Suzman and Donald Pleasence The screenplay by Leigh Vance is based on Clive Egleton's novel Seven Days to a Killing. The story involves a British secret service agent, John...
(1974), The Whistle Blower
The Whistle Blower
The Whistle Blower is a 1986 British spy thriller film, starring Michael Caine, based on the novel of the same name by John Hale.-Plot:Frank Jones is a retired British naval officer, who is now a businessman...
(1987), The Fourth Protocol
The Fourth Protocol (film)
The Fourth Protocol is a 1987 Cold War spy film starring Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan, based on the novel The Fourth Protocol by Frederick Forsyth.- Plot :The plot centres on a secret 1968 East-West agreement to halt nuclear proliferation...
(1987), Blue Ice
Blue Ice (film)
Blue Ice is a 1992 film directed by Russell Mulcahy and stars Michael Caine and Sean Young. It is a crime thriller involving a former spy , who is presently a jazz-club owner, who becomes immersed again in the world of espionage and counter-intelligence.Caine plays Harry Anders, who according to...
(1992), The Innocent Sleep
The Innocent Sleep
The Innocent Sleep is a 1996 British thriller film directed by Scott Michell and starring Rupert Graves, Michael Gambon and Franco Nero. A tramp witnesses a gangland killing and becomes a target himself.-Cast:* Oliver Cotton ... Lusano...
(1995) and briefly in Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible (film)
Mission: Impossible is a 1996 action thriller directed by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Cruise. Following on from the television series of the same name, the plot follows a new agent, Ethan Hunt and his mission to uncover the mole within the CIA who has framed him for the murders of his entire...
(1996). This trend was spoofed in the films Otley
Otley (film)
Otley is a 1968 British comedy thriller film.-Outline:Gerald Arthur Otley , a hapless and light-fingered antiques dealer, is mistaken for a spy and grows into the part - to such an extent that the real spy falls in love with him...
(1968) with Tom Courtenay
Tom Courtenay
Sir Thomas Daniel "Tom" Courtenay is an English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner , Billy Liar , and Dr. Zhivago . Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre...
, and more recently in The Man Who Knew Too Little
The Man Who Knew Too Little
The Man Who Knew Too Little is a 1997 American comedy espionage film starring Bill Murray, directed by Jon Amiel, and written by Robert Farrar and Howard Franklin...
(1997) with Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
and the Austin Powers
Austin Powers (film series)
The Austin Powers series is a series of action-comedy films written by and starring Mike Myers as the title character, directed by Jay Roach and distributed by New Line Cinema...
films. Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
's film Breaking and Entering
Breaking and Entering (film)
Gabriel Yared and Underworld collaborated on the film's original music score.-External links:* at TIFF, by Andrea Miller /CANOE Live...
(2006) with Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
is named also a Romantic drama.
Landmarks featured in some of these films include the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
and Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
. Both Night of the Demon
Night of the Demon
Night of the Demon is a 1957 British horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. An adaptation of the M. R...
(1957) and The IPCRESS File
The Ipcress File (film)
The Ipcress File is a 1965 British espionage film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Michael Caine, Guy Doleman, and Nigel Green. The screenplay by Bill Canaway and James Doran was based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel, The IPCRESS File. It has won critical acclaim and a BAFTA award for best...
(1965) feature scenes filmed in the famous reading room at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. The 1978 version of The Thirty Nine Steps features a climax on the clock face of Big Ben, an idea borrowed from the 1943 Will Hay
Will Hay
William Thomson "Will" Hay was an English comedian, actor, film director and amateur astronomer.-Early life:He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, in north east England, to William R...
comedy My Learned Friend
My Learned Friend
My Learned Friend is a 1943 British, black-and-white, comedy, farce, directed by Basil Dearden, co-directed with regular collaborator Will Hay and starring Ronald Shiner as the Man in Wilson's café, Will Hay as William Fitch and Charles Victor as "Safety" Wilson. It was produced by Michael Balcon,...
. A similar scene features in the 2003 Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
film Shanghai Knights
Shanghai Knights
Shanghai Knights is a 2003 action-comedy film. It is the sequel to Shanghai Noon. It was directed by David Dobkin and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.-Plot:...
.
Several American thrillers have also produced mangled versions of London's geography, including Twenty-Three Paces to Baker Street (1956), Midnight Lace
Midnight Lace
Midnight Lace is a 1960 American mystery-thriller film starring Doris Day and Rex Harrison, directed by David Miller. The screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts is based on the play Matilda Shouted Fire by Janet Green....
(1960) and The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns is a 2001 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez and Freddie Boath. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy...
(2001), which features a chase across Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name...
on a double-decker bus
Double-decker bus
A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...
and several scenes inside the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. The 1944 version of The Lodger
The Lodger (1944 film)
The Lodger is a 1944 horror film about Jack the Ripper, based on the novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes. It stars Merle Oberon, George Sanders and Laird Cregar, features Sir Cedric Hardwicke and was directed by John Brahm from a screenplay by Barré Lyndon.Lowndes' story had previously...
also features a scene by Tower Bridge, although the film was set several years before it was built.
Britain's most famous spy, James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
, generally spends little time in London, other than to receive his orders from his boss 'M'. However, some of the films do feature locations in the city. These include On Her Majesty's Secret Service
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
(1969) in which George Lazenby
George Lazenby
George Robert Lazenby is an Australian actor and former model, best known for portraying James Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.-Early life:...
as Bond visits the College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
and For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only (film)
For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...
(1981), in which Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
experiences a hair-raising helicopter flight over the Docklands area. In the more recent Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
films, the Secret Service's headquarters are identified as being the new MI6 building on the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
at Vauxhall
Vauxhall
-Demography:Many Vauxhall residents live in social housing. There are several gentrified areas, and areas of terraced townhouses on streets such as Fentiman Road and Heyford Avenue have higher property values in the private market, however by far the most common type of housing stock within...
. The 1999 film The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
opens with an extended boat chase from the MI6 building down the river to the Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
, while in Die Another Day
Die Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
(2002) Bond visits a secret base in a disused Underground station, and makes a rare trip to his club Blades. The 1967 version of Casino Royale
Casino Royale (1967 film)
Casino Royale is a 1967 comedy spy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is set as a satire of the James Bond film series and the spy genre, and is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel.The film stars David Niven as the...
makes extensive use of London locations, including 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
, Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
, Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
(with Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in central London built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton at a cost of £47,000. It is a column of the Corinthian...
replaced by a flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
) as well as the Changing of the Guard
Guard Mounting
Guard Mounting, or Changing the Guard , refers to a formal ceremony in which sentries providing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries...
outside Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
.
London Underground
London's underground railway systemLondon Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
, known as the Tube, has featured in several films. The plot of the 1998
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
film Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors is a 1998 British-American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Howitt and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah, and featured John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Virginia McKenna. The music was composed by David Hirschfelder...
hinges on whether Gwyneth Paltrow's
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
character catches a particular Tube train or not. Bulldog Jack
Bulldog Jack
Bulldog Jack is a 1935 film produced by Gaumont International, directed by Walter Forde, and starring Jack Hulbert, Fay Wray, Ralph Richardson; it also starred Atholl Fleming as Bulldog Drummond....
(1934), Manhunt (1941), The Good Die Young (1954), and 28 Weeks Later (2007) all include chase sequences across underground tracks.
A number of horror films have also used the subterranean network of tunnels as an atmospheric location, most notably the John Landis
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
hit An American Werewolf in London
An American Werewolf in London
An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 British-American horror film, written and directed by John Landis. It stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne....
(1981), which contains a famous scene set in Tottenham Court Road tube station
Tottenham Court Road tube station
Tottenham Court Road is a London Underground station in central London. It is an interchange between the Central line and the branch of the Northern line.On the Central line it is between and , and on the Northern line it is between and...
, and the 2004 film Creep
Creep (film)
Creep is a 2004 British horror film about a woman locked in overnight on the London Underground who finds herself being stalked by a hideously deformed killer living in the sewers below...
. The eerie 1973
1973 in film
The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....
horror Death Line
Death Line
Death Line is a 1972 British horror film, distributed as Raw Meat in the United States. The film stars Donald Pleasence as Inspector Calhoun, and was directed by the American filmmaker Gary Sherman.-Plot:...
stars Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
as a Scotland Yard detective who traces a series of murders to cannibals living in the network's tunnels.
Excavations on the Underground unearthed an ancient alien spacecraft in Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit (film)
Quatermass and the Pit is a 1967 British science fiction horror film. Made by Hammer Film Productions it is a sequel to the earlier Hammer films The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2. Like its predecessors it is based on a BBC Television serial – Quatermass and the Pit – written by Nigel Kneale...
(1967), and dormant dragons in Reign of Fire (2002).
The 2002
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film Die Another Day
Die Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
features a secret MI6 facility in a fictional disused Underground Station called Vauxhall Cross. Another fictional station, Hobbs End
Hobbs End
Hobbs End, sometimes Hobbs Lane, is the name of a fictional location used in several works of speculative fiction. Its name is possibly intended to convey a sense of unease, evil, or "wrongness", since "Hob" is an old nickname for the devil....
features in the 1967 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit is a British television science-fiction serial, originally transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third and last of the BBC's Quatermass serials, although the character would reappear in a 1979 ITV production simply entitled Quatermass...
. Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather...
features the fictional Crouch End
Crouch End
Crouch End is an area of north London, in the London Borough of Haringey.- Location :Crouch End is in a valley between Harringay to the east, Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green to the north, Finsbury Park and Archway to the south and Highgate to the west...
station.
Other films to have featured the Underground include Passport to Pimlico
Passport to Pimlico
Passport to Pimlico is a 1949 British comedy film made by Ealing Studios and starred Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford, and Hermione Baddeley. It was directed by Henry Cornelius....
(1949), The Yellow Balloon
The Yellow Balloon (film)
The Yellow Balloon is a 1953 British drama film starring Kenneth More, Bernard Lee, Andrew Ray, Kathleen Ryan and Sid James.-Plot:Playing around the ruins of a devastated bombed-out neighbourhood of London, 12 year old Frankie accidentally leads a boy into his death when he falls from a second...
(1953), Georgy Girl
Georgy Girl
Georgy Girl is a 1966 British film based on a novel by Margaret Forster. The film was directed by Silvio Narizzano and starred Lynn Redgrave as Georgy, Alan Bates, James Mason, Charlotte Rampling and Bill Owen....
(1966), The Fourth Protocol
The Fourth Protocol
The Fourth Protocol is a novel written by Frederick Forsyth and published in August 1984.-Explanation of the novel's title:The title refers to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which contained four secret protocols. The fourth, of the protocols, was meant to prohibit the non-conventional...
(1987), Hidden City
Hidden City
Hidden City is a film written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff for Film4 Productions in 1987. It starred Charles Dance, Cassie Stuart, Richard E. Grant and Bill Paterson.-External links:*...
(1988) and Tube Tales
Tube Tales
Tube Tales is a collection of nine short films based on the true-life experiences of London Underground passengers as submitted to Time Out magazine. The stories were scripted and filmed independently of each other...
(1999). The makers of the children's film The Boy Who Turned Yellow
The Boy Who Turned Yellow
The Boy Who Turned Yellow is the last film collaboration by the British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and the last film directed by Michael Powell. The film was made for the Children's Film Foundation.-Plot:...
(1972) managed to persuade London Underground to paint a tube train and large parts of Highgate Station a lovely shade of yellow!
A rare recreation of the network in the Edwardian era featured in the adaptation of Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
's The Wings of the Dove in 1997
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
. The London underground of the 1920s is also recorded in Anthony Asquith
Anthony Asquith
Anthony Asquith was a leading English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on The Winslow Boy and The Browning Version , among other adaptations...
's silent classic Underground
Underground (1928 film)
Underground is a British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Brian Aherne, Elissa Landi, Cyril McLaglen, and Norah Baring. An electrician and a porter both fall in love with a shop girl they meet on the London Underground....
(1928), while the 1969 film Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain (film)
Battle of Britain is a 1969 Technicolor film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain...
shows the tunnel network converted to provide shelter for Londoners during the Blitz.
Aldwych tube station
Aldwych tube station
Aldwych is a closed London Underground station in the City of Westminster, originally opened as Strand in 1907. It was the terminus and only station on the short Piccadilly line branch from Holborn that was a relic of the merger of two railway schemes. The disused station building is close to the...
, formerly on a branch of the Piccadilly Line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
, has been used as the location for many films and television productions, especially since the branch and station closed in 1994 and the platforms have been left intact making it suitable for filming and photography purposes, due to the absence of a regular train service. A 1970s tube train permanently is based at the station and heritage rolling stock can be brought in for filming - London Underground have retained one of their 1938 trains which can be used for historic appearances. In more recent years filming has also taken place at the former Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross station, which were withdrawn from regular use when the line was extended in 1999 avoiding the station.
Science fiction
Nigel KnealeNigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
's Quatermass
Quatermass
Quatermass may best be known as the surname of the title character of a British science fiction franchise of several television serials and films, and a radio production...
films and television series helped to popularise London as the setting for science fiction stories. The Quatermass Xperiment
The Quatermass Xperiment
The Quatermass Xperiment is a 1955 British science fiction horror film. Made by Hammer Film Productions, it was based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. It was directed by Val Guest and stars Brian Donlevy as the eponymous Professor Bernard...
(1955) ends with Professor Quatermass cornering an alien monster in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, while Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit is a British television science-fiction serial, originally transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third and last of the BBC's Quatermass serials, although the character would reappear in a 1979 ITV production simply entitled Quatermass...
(1967) begins with an alien space craft being discovered during the construction of a new London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
station. The John Wyndham
John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer who usually used the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes...
novel The Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic novel published in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, under the pen-name John Wyndham. Although Wyndham had already published other novels using other pen-name combinations drawn from his lengthy real...
was made into a film
The Day of the Triffids (1962 film)
The Day of the Triffids is a 1962 British film adaptation of the science fiction novel of the same name by John Wyndham. It was directed by Steve Sekely, and Howard Keel played the central character, Bill Masen. The movie was filmed in colour with monaural sound and ran for 93...
in 1962 which also features scenes in London, while the much-derided 1985 film Lifeforce
Lifeforce (film)
Lifeforce is a 1985 science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, from the novel The Space Vampires, published in 1976, by Colin Wilson.-Plot:...
involved vampires from space taking over the city.
The 1950
1950 in film
The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
thriller Seven Days to Noon
Seven Days to Noon
Seven Days to Noon is a 1950 British drama / thriller film directed by John Boulting and Roy Boulting. Paul Dehn and James Bernard won the Academy Award for Best Story for this film.-Plot:The film is set in the early 1950s...
featured a scientist who threatens to destroy London with a nuclear bomb, and was notable for its scenes of the city's evacuated and deserted streets. Despite the great difficulties involved in achieving this, the feat was repeated for the horror film 28 Days Later
28 Days Later
28 Days Later is an acclaimed 2002 British horror film directed by Danny Boyle. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland, and the film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston...
in 2002, which begins with the hero waking from a coma and wandering across a deserted Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames between Westminster on the north side and Lambeth on the south side, in London, England....
.
Another nuclear threat was explored in The Day the Earth Caught Fire
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
The Day the Earth Caught Fire is a British science fiction disaster film starring Edward Judd, Leo McKern and Janet Munro. It was directed by Val Guest and released in 1961....
(1961) which has many notable scenes in London, including the Thames running dry. It also includes a lot of scenes inside the old Express Building on Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
and Arthur Christiansen
Arthur Christiansen
Arthur Christiansen was a journalist, and editor of Lord Beaverbrook's newspaper the Daily Express from 1933 to 1957....
, the recently retired editor of the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
, effectively plays himself.
Both Things to Come
Things to Come
Things to Come is a British science fiction film produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies. The screenplay was written by H. G. Wells and is a loose adaptation of his own 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come and his 1931 non-fiction work, The Work, Wealth and Happiness...
(1936) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a 2005 comic science fiction film based on the book of the same name by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28, 2005 in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and on the following day in Canada and the United...
(2005) begin with the city being destroyed, by war and alien attack respectively, while the 2004 horror comedy Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather...
is set in the city during a zombie attack.
The 1966 film Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., based on the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from November 21 to December 26, 1964....
from 1964, is set in part in a future version of London, which has been nearly destroyed by alien invasion.
Futuristic London is terrorized in the 2006 film V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta (film)
V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd...
by a mysterious, masked anarchist who wishes to destroy the fascist government. The film was based on the graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta is a ten-issue comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s. A mysterious masked revolutionary who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government,...
. In Children of Men
Children of Men
Children of Men is a 2006 science fiction film loosely adapted from P. D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In 2027, two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Illegal immigrants seek sanctuary in England, where the last...
(2006), the London of 2027 is a grim place, full of refugees, armed policemen and exploding bombs. Locations used include Tate Britain, Battersea Power Station, the Mall and Admiralty Arch.
In the Bollywood sci-fi Superhero adventure Ra.One
Ra.One
Ra.One is a 2011 Indian science fiction superhero film written and directed by Anubhav Sinha. The film features Shahrukh Khan in dual roles, and also stars Kareena Kapoor, Armaan Verma and Arjun Rampal in the lead...
the plot begins in London, where the protagonist Dr. Shekhar Subramanium (played by Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....
) works at one fictional Barron Industries. Much of the film has been shot in various parts of the city.
Criminals
Historic periods in the city's underworld have been portrayed in a small number of films. Examples include Where's Jack?Where's Jack?
Where's Jack? is a 1969 film based around the exploits of notorious 18th century criminal Jack Sheppard and London "thieftaker" Jonathan Wild....
(17th century), The First Great Train Robbery (Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
), Chicago Joe and the Showgirl
Chicago Joe and the Showgirl
Chicago Joe and the Showgirl is a 1990 British crime drama film directed by Bernard Rose and written by David Yallop. The film was inspired by the real-life Hulten/Jones murder case of 1944, famously known as the Cleft Chin Murder.-Plot:...
(World War II) and The Krays
The Krays (film)
The Krays is a 1990 film based on the lives and crimes of the British gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray, twins who are often referred to as The Krays...
(the 1960s), while 10 Rillington Place (1971) recreated 1940s London, filming in the actual street where John Christie
John Christie (murderer)
John Reginald Halliday Christie , born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, was a notorious English serial killer active in the 1940s and '50s. He murdered at least eight females – including his wife Ethel – by strangling them in his flat at 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, London...
carried out his infamous murders.
Other films have evoked London's underworld in the modern era, including Robbery (1967), Performance
Performance (film)
Performance is a 1968 British crime drama film; the film was produced in 1968 but not released until 1970. Directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, Performance stars James Fox and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones in his film acting debut.-Plot:...
(1970), Villain
Villain (1971 film)
Villain is a 1971 gangster film directed by Michael Tuchner and starring Richard Burton, Ian McShane, T. P. McKenna and Donald Sinden.-Plot:...
(1971), Brannigan
Brannigan (film)
Brannigan is a British action film set principally in London, directed by Douglas Hickox, and starring John Wayne and Richard Attenborough...
(1975), The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday is a British gangster film starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. It was completed in 1979 but, because of release delays, it is generally credited as a 1980 film...
(1980), Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa (film)
Mona Lisa is a 1986 British film about a petty criminal who becomes entangled in the dangerous life of a high-class call girl. The movie was written by Neil Jordan and David Leland, and directed by Jordan. It was produced by George Harrison's HandMade Films...
(1986), Face
Face
The face is a central sense organ complex, for those animals that have one, normally on the ventral surface of the head, and can, depending on the definition in the human case, include the hair, forehead, eyebrow, eyelashes, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, mouth, lips, philtrum, temple, teeth, skin, and...
(1997), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 British crime film directed and written by Guy Ritchie. The story is a heist film involving a self-confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three card brag...
(1998), G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time (1999), Snatch
Snatch (film)
Snatch is a 2000 crime film written and directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish ...
(2000), Sexy Beast
Sexy Beast
Sexy Beast is a 2000 British-Spanish crime drama film directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, and Ian McShane. Produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was Glazer's debut feature film, who had previously been a music video director for videos such as Rabbit in Your Headlights for...
(2000) and Layer Cake
Layer Cake (film)
Layer Cake is a 2004 British crime thriller produced and directed by Matthew Vaughn, in his directorial debut. It is based on the novel Layer Cake by J. J...
(2004).
The other side of London
A number of films have depicted the underbelly of the city away from the familiar tourist sites. Examples of these include Up the JunctionUp the Junction
Up the Junction is a 1963 novel by Nell Dunn that depicts contemporary life in the industrial slums of Battersea near Clapham Junction.The book uses colloquial speech, and its portrayal of petty thieving, sexual encounters, births, deaths and back-street abortion provided a view of life that was...
, Nil by Mouth
Nil by Mouth (film)
Nil by Mouth is a 1997 British drama film portraying a family of characters living in South East London. It was Gary Oldman's debut as a writer and director; the film was produced by Douglas Urbanski and Luc Besson. It stars Ray Winstone as Raymond, the abusive husband of Valerie...
, Dirty Pretty Things
Dirty Pretty Things (film)
Dirty Pretty Things is a 2002 film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Steven Knight, a drama about two illegal immigrants in London...
, and two out of every three films directed by Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
. The East End meanwhile, was shown in The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)
The Man Who Knew Too Much is a British suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring Peter Lorre, and released by Gaumont British. It was one of the most successful and critically acclaimed films of Hitchcock's British period....
(1934), Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road (film)
Waterloo Road is a 1945 British film based on the Waterloo area of South London. It was directed by Sidney Gilliat.-Plot:John Mills plays an AWOL squaddie who returns to south London to save his wife from the advances of a philandering draft-dodger played by Stewart Granger.-Cast:* John Mills as...
(1944), It Always Rains on Sunday
It Always Rains on Sunday
It Always Rains on Sunday is a film adaptation of the novel by Arthur La Bern, adapted and directed by Robert Hamer. In its gritty, unsentimental depiction of everyday life in post-war Britain, and in its exploration of the tedium, frustration and desperation wrought by grinding poverty, the film...
(1947) and A Kid for Two Farthings
A Kid for Two Farthings (film)
A Kid For Two Farthings is a 1955 film, directed by Carol Reed. The screenplay was adapted by Wolf Mankowitz from his own novel of the same name.-Plot:...
(1955), among others.
The 1968 documentary The London Nobody Knows, presented by James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
, attempted to show some unfamiliar aspects of the city, as did Patrick Keiller's 1994
1994 in film
1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...
documentary London. This approach has since been emulated by the Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
films Finisterre (2002) and What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day? (2005). The latter attempted to capture the state of the Lower Lea Valley
Lower Lea Valley
The Lower Lea Valley is the southern end of the Lea Valley, surrounding the River Lea , which runs along the boundary of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on its western bank and the London Boroughs of Waltham Forest and Newham on its eastern bank, into the River Thames. The river forms the...
prior to its transformation ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.
Other films have tried to use less familiar locations in a new way. The 1995 version of Richard III
Richard III (1995 film)
Richard III is a 1995 drama film adapted from William Shakespeare's play of the same name, starring Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, John Wood and Dominic West....
, starring Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
, which is set in a fictional 1930s fascist version of England, makes imaginative use of London locations such as St Cuthbert's church, St Pancras chambers (the old Midland Grand Hotel), the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
's Senate House, and the two Gilbert Scott
Giles Gilbert Scott
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, OM, FRIBA was an English architect known for his work on such buildings as Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station and designing the iconic red telephone box....
power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
s — Bankside
Bankside Power Station
Bankside Power Station is a former oil-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the Bankside district of London. It generated electricity from 1952 to 1981. Since 2000 the station's building has been used to house the Tate Modern art museum.-History:The station was...
serving for the Tower and the decrepit Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Battersea, South London. The station comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built first in the...
as the setting for the final battle scenes. Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
's 1985
1985 in film
-Events:* 3 December - Roger Moore steps down from the role of James Bond after twelve years and seven films. He is replaced by Timothy Dalton.* The Academy Award for Best Picture was won by Out Of Africa, while the highest grossing film was Back to the Future.* Bliss wins AFI Award for best Movie...
Orwellian
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
fantasy Brazil
Brazil (film)
Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...
also used the cooling towers of the same power station as a location, as did Michael Radford
Michael Radford
Michael Radford is an English film director and screenwriter.-Early life and career:Radford was born on 24 February 1946, in New Delhi, India, to a British father and an Austrian Jewish mother. He was educated at Bedford School before attending Worcester College, Oxford...
's 1984 film version
Nineteen Eighty-Four (film)
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a 1984 British science fiction film, based upon George Orwell's novel of the same name, following the life of Winston Smith in Oceania, a country run by a totalitarian government...
of George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
.
London Kills Me
London Kills Me
London Kills Me is a 1991 film written and directed by Hanif Kureshi and starred Justin Chadwick and Steven Mackintosh. Set in West London it tells the tale of a group of homeless drugtakers and general losers with black humour. Even so, the portrayal of life on London's streets was sympathetic if...
(1991) portrays the city's immigrant and drug subcultures in the early Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
years, in a similar vein as My Beautiful Laundrette
My Beautiful Laundrette
My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 British comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. The story is set in London during the period when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as shown through the complex—and often comical—relationships...
(1985). The 2007 film by Ken Loach It's a Free World...
It's a Free World...
It's a Free World... is a 2007 drama film directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty. Laverty won the Golden Osella at the 2007 Venice Film Festival...
considered the ethical dilemmas behind London's vast trade in illegal workers.
The acclaimed 1995 film Beautiful Thing
Beautiful Thing
Originally Beautiful Thing is a play written by Jonathan Harvey and first performed in 1993. A screen adaptation of the play was released in 1996 by Channel 4 Films, with a revised screenplay also by Harvey. Initially, the film was only intended for television broadcast but it was so well-received...
depicted the lives of two gay teenagers living on the South London housing estate of Thamesmead
Thamesmead
Thamesmead is a district of south-east London, England, located in the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley. It is situated east of Charing Cross....
. Similar themes, as well as race, were part of the 1970s set Young Soul Rebels
Young Soul Rebels
Young Soul Rebels is a 1991 critically acclaimed coming-of-age/drama British film written by Isaac Julien and Paul Hallam, and directed by Juilen. The film examines the interaction between youth cultural movements during the late 1970s in the UK. Namely skinheads, punks and soulboys along with the...
, the debut of Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...
protege Isaac Julien
Isaac Julien
Isaac Julien is an installation artist and filmmaker.-Biography:Julien graduated from St Martin's School of Art in 1985, where he studied painting and fine art film...
(1991).
Breaking and Entering
Breaking and Entering (film)
Gabriel Yared and Underworld collaborated on the film's original music score.-External links:* at TIFF, by Andrea Miller /CANOE Live...
, a 2006
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
romantic drama, by Academy Award-winning director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
, shot and set in King's Cross, a blighted, inner-city
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
neighbourhood of London, examines an affair which unfolds between a successful British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
and a Bosnian
Bosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
woman – the mother of a troubled teen son – who was widowed by the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Kids' London
London has been a popular location for children's (and especially DisneyWalt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
) films over the last 40 years. The animated features Peter Pan
Peter Pan (1953 film)
Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie. It is the fourteenth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was originally released on February 5, 1953 by RKO Pictures...
(1953), One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians, often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians, is a 1961 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith...
(1961) and Basil, the Great Mouse Detective (known in North America as The Great Mouse Detective
The Great Mouse Detective
The Great Mouse Detective is a 1986 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, originally released to movie theaters on July 2, 1986 by Walt Disney Pictures...
) (1986) were all set in the city, as were Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
(1964) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 musical film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company which combines live action and animation and was released in North America on December 13, 1971...
(1971). These, however, were all filmed in the U.S..
In more recent years The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap (1998 film)
The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 family film of the same name. It was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as a couple who divorce soon after marrying, and Lindsay Lohan in a dual role as their...
(1998 version), Winning London
Winning London
-Plot:Chloe Lawrence is a very driven teenager and leader of her high school's Model United Nations team. After performing particularly well in a competition, the team is selected to attend the international Model UN competition in London, United Kingdom. One of the team members, Randall, is...
, The Great Muppet Caper
The Great Muppet Caper
The Great Muppet Caper is a 1981 mystery comedy film directed by Jim Henson. It is the second of a series of live-action musical feature films, starring Jim Henson's Muppets. This film was produced by Henson Associates, ITC Entertainment and Universal Pictures, and premiered on 26 July 1981. The...
and the 1996
1996 in film
Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians all used actual locations in the city, as did the 1975 Disney comedy One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing
One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing
One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing is a 1975 British comedy film, which is set in the early 1920s, about the theft of a dinosaur skeleton from the Natural History Museum. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company. The title is a parody of the...
, which was largely set around the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in the early 20th Century. The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet Christmas Carol is a 1992 musical comedy film adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, starring Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, directed by Brian Henson, produced by The Jim Henson Company, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
(1992) was set in Victorian London, but largely used Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
. The film Melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
(1970) (also known as SWALK) was filmed in and around Lambeth and Vauxhall and reunited Mark Lester
Mark Lester
Mark Lester is an English former child actor known for playing the title role in the 1968 musical film version of Oliver! and starring in a number of other British and European films of the 1960s and 70s and in a number of television series.-Early life and film career:Lester was born in Oxford,...
and Jack Wild
Jack Wild
Jack Wild was a British actor who is best remembered for his performances in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, and Oliver Reed. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16 for the role of the...
after their appearance in Oliver!
Oliver! (film)
Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
.
The Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
films also feature some London locations. The London Zoo
London Zoo
London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847...
, King's Cross station, and Leadenhall Market
Leadenhall Market
Leadenhall Market is a covered market in the City of London, located at Gracechurch Street but with vehicular access also available via Whittington Avenue to the north and Lime Street to the south and east and additional pedestrian access via a number of narrow passageways.-History:The market dates...
(Diagon Alley) are among those used.
Stormbreaker
Stormbreaker (novel)
Stormbreaker is the first novel in the Alex Rider series by British author Anthony Horowitz. It was released in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2000 and in the United States on 21 May 2001...
, the first novel in the bestselling Alex Rider
Alex Rider
Alex Rider is a series of spy novels by British author Anthony Horowitz about a 14-15 year old spy named Alex Rider. The series is aimed primarily at young adults. Nine novels have been published to date, as well as three graphic novels, three short stories and a supplementary book...
series by Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Craig Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter. He has written many children's novels, including The Power of Five, Alex Rider and The Diamond Brothers series and has written over fifty books. He has also written extensively for television, adapting many of Agatha Christie's...
, was turned into a film in 2006. It features locations in London such as Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
, Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
, and the Science Museum
Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is one of the three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....
. The film also features several action sequences in the city, including a horse chase through central London and the main characters fighting on the rooftop of a skyscraper.
Musical London
"Hey kids, let's put on a show!" The immortal (or at least lastingly sprightly) Cliff RichardCliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
was, briefly, a genuine film star with three successful musical comedies in the early 1960s. The first of these, The Young Ones
The Young Ones (film)
The Young Ones is a British musical released in 1961, featuring singer Cliff Richard. The musical was directed by Sidney J. Furie and was produced by Kenneth Harper and Andrew Mitchell for the Associated British Studios at Elstree. The original screenplay was written by Peter Myers and Ronald...
(1961), was set in London. Cliff, The Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
, and his other chums need money to save their youth club, so they set up a pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
station to generate publicity and put on a show. They sing! They dance! They wear brightly-coloured tapered slacks! Robert Morley
Robert Morley
Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
does martial arts! Cliff's second hit, Summer Holiday (1963) also deserves a mention, because although most of the action takes place driving across Europe, it has a starring role for a red London Routemaster
Routemaster
The AEC Routemaster is a model of double-decker bus that was built by Associated Equipment Company in 1954 and produced until 1968. Primarily front-engined, rear open-platform buses, a small number of variants were produced with doors and/or front entrances...
bus.
The success of some of these 1960s films helped to make up for London Town, Britain's first Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
musical, which was an embarrassingly high-profile flop in 1946.
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
(1964) is memorable for its famous songs, (A Spoonful of Sugar, Chim-Chim-Cheree, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is an English word, with 34 letters, that was in the song with the same title in the 1964 Disney musical film Mary Poppins. The song was written by the Sherman Brothers, and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke...
), technical excellence (notably the scene combining live action and animation) and one of the worst accents in the history of cinema. Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
's mangling of a cockney accent is painful to hear.
Also in 1964, Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
starred in My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady (film)
My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
, the film of the musical of the George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
play Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
. George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
's decision to award the role of Eliza Doolittle to Hepburn was perceived by many as a snub to Julie Andrews, who had played the part to great acclaim on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. In the event, Andrews won an Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Mary Poppins while Hepburn was not nominated. This is another film with some famous songs, including Wouldn't it be Loverly, I Could have Danced all Night and Get Me to the Church on Time. Marni Nixon
Marni Nixon
Marni Nixon is an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She has also spent much of her career performing in concerts with major symphony orchestras around the world and in operas and musicals throughout the United States.-Biography:Born Margaret Nixon...
's voice was used in place of Audrey Hepburn's for the songs.
In Half a Sixpence
Half a Sixpence
Half a Sixpence is a musical comedy written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele.It is based on H.G. Wells's novel Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul...
(1967), professional cheery cockney Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele OBE , is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.-Singer:...
plays Arthur Kipps, a cockney who unexpectedly comes into some money, in a musical version of H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
's novel Kipps
Kipps
Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul is a novel by H. G. Wells, first published in 1905. Humorous yet sympathetic, this perceptive social novel is generally regarded as a masterpiece, and was the author's own favourite work.-Plot:...
.
Oliver!
Oliver! (film)
Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
(1968), the musical based on Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...
, includes the songs Food, Glorious Food, Consider Yourself and You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two. Two more Dickens stories turned into musicals were A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
(filmed as Scrooge in 1970) and The Old Curiosity Shop
The Old Curiosity Shop
The Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by Charles Dickens. The plot follows the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London....
, which became Mr Quilp in 1975.
The musical adaptation of Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969 film)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1969 American musical film directed by Herbert Ross. The screenplay by Terence Rattigan is based on James Hilton's 1934 novella of the same name, which originally was adapted for the screen in 1939.-Plot:...
with Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
and Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
made use of several London locations, including the dining room at the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
and the Salisbury pub in the heart of the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
.
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia (film)
Quadrophenia is a 1979 British film, loosely based around the 1973 rock opera of the same name by The Who. The film stars Phil Daniels as a Mod named Jimmy. It was directed by Franc Roddam in his feature directing debut...
(1979) draws its soundtrack from the album
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
of the same name, a rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
. It tells the story of Jimmy, a disaffected teenager, taking his scooter to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
for the August bank holiday
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
with a group of Mods, and taking part in one of the notorious 'battles' between Mods and Rockers
Mods and Rockers
The Mods and Rockers were two conflicting British youth subcultures of the early-mid 1960s. Mods and rockers fighting in 1964 sparked a moral panic about British youths, and the two groups were seen as folk devils. The rockers were motorcyclists, wearing clothes such as black leather jackets. The...
.
Punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, one of London's notable contributions to pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, is the subject of Sid and Nancy
Sid and Nancy
Sid and Nancy is a 1986 British biopic directed by Alex Cox. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious , bassist of the seminal punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and his relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen .-Plot:The film opens with several police officers dragging Sid Vicious out of the Hotel...
(1986), a biopic of Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
, bassist with the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
. Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
stars as Vicious. Also see the punk-rockumentaries directed by Julien Temple
Julien Temple
Julien Temple is an English film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, Absolute Beginners and a documentary film about Glastonbury.-Temple...
, the first being band manager Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
's take on 'his' invention of punk in his The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is a mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas about the British punk rock band Sex Pistols....
and the more recent return volley by the estranged band members in The Filth and the Fury
The Filth and the Fury
The Filth and the Fury is a 2000 rockumentary film about the Sex Pistols directed by Julien Temple.-About the film:The Filth and the Fury is the second movie Julien Temple made about The Sex Pistols. His first effort was The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, which was released in British cinemas on 15...
.
The South London reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
scene is notably represented in Babylon
Babylon (film)
Babylon is a 1980 film that depicts the struggles of a Black British working class musician. It stars Brinsley Forde of the reggae band, Aswad. It was co-written by Martin Stellman and Franco Rosso who also directed it. It also starred Karl Howman and Trevor Laird...
(1980).
SpiceWorld (1997) is a Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
vehicle rushed out to cash in on their success. It failed to gain critical acclaim.
Early Victorian London was the setting for 2007's musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which takes place largely in Fleet Street.
External links
- http://www.reelstreets.com/
- London Film Locations Tour