Hell Drivers

[Sturmvogel]

Anyone know the area they shot the road travel scenes for the amusing and somewhat cult movie Hell Drivers?I assume it was somewhere in Herts, but a large quarry is featured, similar to the one that the white Mk 1 Jaguar crashed into in various TV shows like The Saint. Films like Hell drivers are great social history guides, with 1960's scenes and attitudes.

[smudge]

There were loads of gravel pits round the area at the time, places like Thorpe (became Thorpe Park) and Frensham Ponds ; could be one of many...



There was one not far from Pinewood (where DRIVERS was made) which was used for the 'burning car' sequence in Goldfinger - the place esapes me for the moment.



SMUDGE

[PAULBATTERSON]

Originally posted by Sturmvogel@May 11 2005, 07:32 PM

Anyone know the area they shot the road travel scenes for the amusing and somewhat cult movie Hell Drivers?I assume it was somewhere in Herts, but a large quarry is featured, similar to the one that the white Mk 1 Jaguar crashed into in various TV shows like The Saint. Films like Hell drivers are great social history guides, with 1960's scenes and attitudes.

HELL DRIVERS <I BELIEVE> WAS SHOT IN AND AROUND WEST DRAYTON WITH THE GRAVEL PITS SEQUENCES NEAR TO WALTON ON THAMES...

[benchcluttocks]

Originally posted by Sturmvogel@May 11 2005, 07:32 PM

Anyone know the area they shot the road travel scenes for the amusing and somewhat cult movie Hell Drivers?I assume it was somewhere in Herts, but a large quarry is featured, similar to the one that the white Mk 1 Jaguar crashed into in various TV shows like The Saint. Films like Hell drivers are great social history guides, with 1960's scenes and attitudes.

i HEARD THAT SOME OF THE QUARRY SCENES WHERE FILMED WHERE THEY WERE DIGGING OUT FOR A NUCLEAR BUNKER, IT MAY HAVE BEEN THE KELVDON HATCH IN ESSEX.

[Ian Rhodes]

Does anyone know what the colour scheme was on the Dodge tippers used in Hell Drivers?

[SQUID]

Haven't a clue.



However, the '50s weren't noted for garish colour schemes on commercial

vehicles.



I would suggest that green ( grass to dark ' rifle' green), red ( medium to

maroon/burgundy) and brown would be the most likely colours.







All the Best





SQUID

[Hell_driver]

I've always imagined them to be red for some reason.

[Rennie]

If only this photo was in colour!!



PS: A few faces there I can't put a name to. Any guesses?



Believe it or not. I am positive I have seen a fascimile of one of the posters for the film showing a lorry coloured.....pink! (PPS: Just found some pics which are on later postings)

[Rennie]

Looks like it could be maroon, but photo looks to be 'after' coloured.

[Rennie]

This is the pinky one, although, let's face it' the lorry doesn't even resemble that used in the film.

[bobsterkent]

The opening titles feature a London Transport Country Area AEC Regal IV RF (Single decker bus), parked outside what is now the Gurkha public house on the old Langley Park Road junction with Wood Lane, Shreding Green, Iver, Buckinghamshire. The opening scenes where the camera is speeded up were filmed on the old B470 starting in Langley under the low railway bridge, then up and over the Grand Union canal via Trenchers and Hollybush Lanes to where the bus had stopped.

Baker's character visits his mother's shop in London and arrives by trolleybus.

The trolleybus is on route 657 and stops beside Brentford gas works.

[spinalman]

HELL DRIVERS <I BELIEVE> WAS SHOT IN AND AROUND WEST DRAYTON WITH THE GRAVEL PITS SEQUENCES NEAR TO WALTON ON THAMES...

On many occasions I have seen references to Hell Drivers being filmed in Sussex. I always believed the stunt driving sequences were filmed on the road to Upper Beeding from Truleigh Hill North of Shoreham sussex. I also understood that the final cliff scenes (truck going over edge) were at the back of the cement works at Beeding. The scenes certainly look consistent. The depot/gravel pit and general road scenes are not identifiable as sussex.

[Biffer]

"Hell Drivers" is one of my favourite British films, ever. Here's the results of many hours trawlling through the interblob, etc, in search of information. Can't verify any of it, so open to corrections, comments, etc. Hope this proves of interest:



LOCATIONS:



Much of the driving was done near Pinewood, around the villages of Iver, Iver Heath and Shredding Green. Look closely at the opening credits for views along the B470 through Iver. Roads used included Wood Lane, Hollybush Lane and Billet Lane, as well as Alderbourne Arches and Hawkswood Lane, near Fulmer. These 'back roads' would have been a lot quieter in those days, though much use was made of over-cranking to make the stunts look more dangerous (the film's major flaw - IMHO).



For the riskier quarry-driving scenes, the crew moved to Truleigh Hill and Beeding Hill, near Shoreham, Sussex. Look out, too, in the opening credits for views along the A27 in W.Sussex (note the sign pointing left to the hamlet of Warningcamp). Other locations are said to include the Colnbrook By-Pass to the west of Heathrow Airport, and a gravel pit near Gerrard's Cross (though some say one near Denham was used).



A major location was the transport yard belonging to the haulage company ('Hawletts'). In the film, this always struck me as somehow being in the middle of nowhere. The reason was because the 'yard' was built on the WWII airfield at Ford, W.Sussex, cobbled together from old MT sheds and various 'temporary' huts.



At the time of filming the airfield was still in use by the Fleet Air Arm, but much of the site today has been taken over by industrial units, though it might still be possible to locate the exact site of the 'yard'. In at least one scene, a large hanger/factory can be seen in the background which may act as a reference point for location hunters. A local chap (who rides his bike round the site every week for excercise) assures me that most of the large hangers/factory buildings are still there.



I've read a claim that the 'Pull In' cafe was a real location, though personally I doubt this. It's much more likely to have been a studio set, along with 'Ma' West's boarding house and other interiors. Still, if anyone knows for sure .... ???



THE VEHICLES:



The trucks used were Kew-built Dodge 123 tippers, powered by Perkins diesels and hauling a legal maximum of 6-cubic yards (remember those?). Although as many as ten wagons can be seen in one shot of the yard (there were ten named drivers), only seven are ever seen 'on the road'. These bore the registrations: 844 DMX; 845 DMX; 320 EMY; 321 EMY; 322 EMY; 323 EMY; and UMG 853.



The trucks were allegedly supplied by a firm called Janes Transport of Slough, though a check with Slough reference library could find no trace of a company of that name in contemporary trade directories. Neither could any mention of the film, nor Janes' involvement in it, be found in the local press of the time. This doesn't mean that the company didn't exist, and/or wasn't involved in the filming - it's just that I can't find any references to it.



Fleet numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19 and 22 are seen on the trucks, but these were swapped around in some scenes for ease of filming. The most noticeable example of this mix'n'match is in a scene at the quarry, where Red (Pat McGoohan) reverses his truck into Tom's (Stanley Baker's). Tom then moves his truck and reverses into Red's - but though different Fleet numbers are used, appropriate to each character's vehicle, the truck registration number is the same in both scenes. As a general rule, Truck #1 (845 DMX) was driven by McGoohan's character - identifiable by its broken offside headlight - while Truck #13 (321 EMY) was used by Baker's.



'Hawletts' also ran a battered looking pick-up truck - possibly an Austin - as their 'Service Unit' (ABH 700). Peggy Cummins, as 'Lucy', the company secretary, appears in several scenes driving a Willys Jeep (MLA 675), while William Hartnell as 'Cartley', the manager, is seen arriving at the yard in a Ford Poplar saloon (UPJ 308). The rear of a tow-truck can be seen in one shot of the yard, though I've no idea what make/model. Finally, very near the end of the film, what can only be described as some kind of vintage truck is seen parked outside the yard's main gate - what it is (was) is anyone's guess.



Since the theme of "Hell Drivers" is a rogue trucking firm, it has attracted interest from several vintage truck magazines and internet sites. Aside from purely technical aspects, there has been much debate as to which colour the trucks would have been painted. The consensus seems to be either scarlet or bottle-green bodywork, with black wings, and possibly gold sign-writing. Sadly, unless someone from the original cast or production crew can remember the details, or a colour photo of the trucks turns up, then this vital piece of filmic lore will have been lost to posterity.



PRODUCTION TRIVIA:



"Hell Drivers" was made in the winter/spring of 1957 at Pinewood Studios. Filming was threatened a number of times - not because of the driving, but due to fuel shortages (it was the time of the Suez oil crisis). Thankfully, enough was found to complete the movie, which was released in July of '57. It was reissued in 1961, with 24-mins cut from the original running time of 108-mins.



That's all I've been able to find, so far. As a bit of an 'anorak' when it comes to this film, I'd dearly love to hear any further details ... especially the colour of those trucks, ha!

[Nick Dando]

An excellent piece of work.



Nick

[Wee Sonny MacGregor]

Top stuff, Biffer. Great work



Sonny

[Biffer]

A big thank you to all my fans ... er ... well ... to all two of you. It was a labour of lurv, but your acknowledgement is appreciated (Sonny & Nick).



Some of the snippets I left out were, the uncredited cast members, as follows:



Anthony John ... Man at dance

Charles Lamb .... Pull Inn Cafe Owner

Hal Osmond .... Station Ticket Clerk

Jean St. Clair .... Spinster

Ian Wilson .... Gibson, Hawlett Paymaster



The film was titled "Hard Drivers" in the US, where it's running time was cut to a paltry 91-mins.



Finally, some European release dates:



Sweden: 26 August 1957

Denmark: 15 November 1957

Finland: 29 November 1957

West Germany: 29 November 1957

Austria: January 1958



If anyone out there has more location info' (or knows the colour of those chuffin' trucks), please, please, please post the info' on here. By the way - did I say 'please'?



Biffer

[David Brent]

I must join in the praise....well done Biffer.



Have you ever revisited the location sites?

I was wondering whether the country areas used in the film have now been redeveloped? Have any housing estates sprung up, making the same roads now much busier with traffic?



Dave.

[Wee Sonny MacGregor]

Biffer,



I can now some light on Janes. According to Kelly's 1939 Directory of Buckinghamshire they were "Janes Bros (Contractors) Ltd, Haulage Contractors, Buckingham Avenue Trading Estate, Slough." The telephone number was given as Slough 20631 and 20632. Couldn't find a later Kelly's in my library.



Buckingham Avenue runs from Burnham Station parallel to the railway line. One possible way to find out more about the company is the National Archives who have Board of Trade records for dissolved/defunct limited companies. But there is a possibility the company was taken over by another firm.



Sonny

[Biffer]

Thanks for your comments, Sonny & Dave.



Great bit of detective work there, Sonny (Slough reference library need people like you). I'll try and follow up on that and post anything that comes up.



Dave, I haven't visited any of the location sites. This is mainly because I live in the far, flung, frozen North (Lancashire). One day, however, I plan a major expidition to revisit these, plus loads of sites from all those wonderful ITC-produced TV series from the 60s ... one day. If you have GoogleEarth, though, it gives a good idea of what the locations look like now (assuming GE covers that area in sufficient detail - not all parts of the country can be 'zoomed in' far enough).



One area covered in detail is Ford airfield, which has hardly changed. I've tried to estimate where the 'Hawletts' yard set would have been, using the large hanger buildings seen as the trucks leave the compound ... still not sure, though. A local contact believes it to have been where the open prison is now situated, but I'm not convinced of that. As always, if anyone knows for sure .......



Cheers!



Biffer :)

[Moor Larkin]

I too was most impressed with the exposition by Biffer.......



Funnily enough I have lived in Sussex for over ten years now. I recently got the Hell Drivers DVD and when I was watching it, I immediately remarked to myself that the quarry scenes must be in Sussex because it just looked so local. It was evidently chalk downland and the whole landscape looked right. I made a vague resolution to study it more at some later time..... Now I know I was right!



The big cement works near Beeding has been closed for some years but is still un-redeveloped. There was a madcap scheme proposed to turn it into Europe's largest artificial Ski Centre......:eek: but it came to nought.....



I note from my OS 2.5in-to-the-mile map that there is a 'yellow' road running up the hill behind the quarry-works, that might be the place to get a view-point. The small stands of trees that Red and Cartley parked behind, whilst waiting for Tom to come past, might be still there. Trees along the South Downs can be few and far between.



One forum debated that the tipper trucks were Leyland Comets:

Leyland Comet 90 photo from trucks pictures on webshots



but the Dodge bonnet is clearly distinctive:

Dodge Kew 103 Perkins NTT72 1952 photo from trucks pictures on webshots



I can feel a visit to Beeding and Ford coming on......