Smashing Time - location

[Remy]

Hello,



In the very final scene of this film Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave dance and sing "Smashing Time" in a deserted street with the Post Office Tower in London in the background. Does anybody know where this street is? I've tried to find it but without any luck.



Thanks,



Remy

[Steve Crook]

In the very final scene of this film Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave dance and sing "Smashing Time" in a deserted street with the Post Office Tower in London in the background. Does anybody know where this street is? I've tried to find it but without any luck.



Thanks,



Remy

At a guess I'd say it was probably somewhere in London, possibly in the Soho/Fitzrovia area

The IMDb locations page for the film mentions Carnaby Street. The tower should be visible from there.



Steve

[rjd0309]

At the end of the film, Rita and Lynn caper off in a northerly direction straight up the middle of Charlotte Street, a long, wide Soho street full of restaurants and delicatessens.



Rita says, "We made that at dawn, with men holding back all the traffic, but some car came right down the middle while we were dancing. He must have thought we were midnight ravers. Still, we're professionals, dearie, we got right back up again after he went over us and carried on."



Any shopowners who were present at that hour were told to stay in their shops and out of camera range. One shopowner didn't, and Roy Millichip finally had to prop up a large board in line-of-sight to block the man from the camera. The man even took a swing at Millichip.

[Steve Crook]

I see that they're showing Smashing Time at the NFT on Tue 20 Nov at 18:15 in NFT1. They say that they hope that Rita Tushingham will join them for a Q&A after the screening



Scripted by George Melly, this groovy movie is fab, funny and sharp, and somehow manages simultaneously to document, celebrate and dismantle the myth of swinging London. Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave make a gear double-act as two girls from up north seeking glitz and glamour in the Big smoke. But all is not what it seems! You'll dig it as the girls go stark raving Mod in London's trendy boutiques and hit the big time meeting a bewigged Michael York and a knavish Ian Carmichael. Thrill to the streets, the sounds, the clobber, the psychedelic robots, and a food fight with Arthur Mullard in a Camden café.



Steve

[Bunnyboy]

Anyone out there know the location of 'Harry's Cafe' or where the steamroller scene was shot? Have managed to get hold of a copy - very dated but fun. I love the 'Yvonne meets Bishop of Runcorn' newspaper clipping!

Smashing Time 46.jpg

Smashing Time 22.jpg

Smashing Time 61.jpg

Smashing Time 72.jpg

[mariocki]

The 3rd picture was Kings College Road NW3, extensively redeveloped in 1968 and is now part of Hawtrey Road. The distinctive houses in the background with the white gate posts are on King Henrys Road.

[tavistock]

I think the first photo is looking towards the junction of Fleet Road and Southampton Rd. The street the scene was shot in no longer exists, the Council block Waxham sits on top of it.

[Christopher Matheson]

I'm pretty certain 'Harry's Cafe' was on the north side of Lismore Road, NW3 with the first grab being the view along that street to the junction mentioned by tavistock.

Any chance of seeing the full text of the newspaper article, with date?

[tavistock]

Harry's was 42a Lismore Road, the pub was the Mansfield Hotel

[Bunnyboy]

Thanks for replies on those. Much as I feared, all swept away in the name of progress...!

[mariocki]

Out of interest BB, does the scene depicted in the 3rd picture have a shot without the steam roller obscuring the background? I only ask because there used to be a distinctive low rise building there which was actually the studio of noted 60's photographer Duffy.

[bigtree]

Does anyone know where Mrs Gimbles shop was located?

[tavistock]

Haven't seen the film for some time but thought the shop was on the corner of Belsize Lane and Belsize Place, shop has appeared on another location here.