Campbell's Kingdom 1957 Canadian locations?

[brevoort]

I am trying to find information on the exterior shooting locations set in Canada for the 1957 Pinewood Studios "Campbell's Kingdom"



I have checked imdb.com, google in general, and some Alberta newspapers of the time without result.



The Canadian sequences clearly were shot in the Alberta and British Columbia Rockies but I cannot find any actual locations.



Any pointers to books, magazines, or internet resources that can help would be appreciated.





Rick Grant

Calgary, Alberta

[batman]

Stock footage of Canadian mountains etc was used but the film was actually made at Pinewood in the UK with footage also being filmed in the The Dolomites, Italy. The cast and crew never went to Canada.



Stallone's Cliffhanger was made in the same region of The Dolomites.

[Hugo]

In Richard Webber's book Fifty Years of Hancock's Half Hour he records that Sid James missed being in the first two episodes of the second TV series of Hancock's Half Hour in 1957 because he was filming Campbell's Kingdom with Dirk Bogarde, in Cortina, in Italy.



IMDB also says some of the exteriors were filmed in the Dolomites. Are you sure that any of it was shot in Canada ?

[darrenburnfan]

batman is quite right. The location filming was all done in the Italian Dolomites...geographically a lot closer to Pinewood than the real Canadian Rockies, which saved money on travel expenses.

[Wee Sonny MacGregor]

In Betty Box's autobiography "Lifting the Lid" she says that location shooting for Campbell's Kingdom took place at Cortina d'Ampezzo dei Dolomiti. Four years earlier BB & Ralph Thomas had researched locations in the Canadian Rockies, a trip which sounded as if it also doubled up as a holiday.

[Nick Dando]

So was the filming of Cortina's Kingdom done in Dagenham?



Nick

[darrenburnfan]

That's a good one, Nick! Could be. Dagenham is a lot closer to Pinewood that Canada is.

[julian_craster]

Two 1957 Rank films were made concurrently by the same crew in the Italian Alps:

CAMPBELL'S KINGDOM, and the motor racing thriller CHECKPOINT. Both starred Stanley Baker.....

[brevoort]

Thanks all for your quick and comprehensive replies.



In researching some material for a television history program about the film industry in western Canada I came across mention of Campbell's Kingdom but then became instantly puzzled that I could find no contemporary reports of the film crew's activities.



Even today there is always media interest in crew activities and it could only have been more so in the fifties.



Just the appearance of the film stars alone would have guaranteed widespread coverage and I could find none.



The other thing that puzzled me, and you all so ably helped out in explaining, was the fact that I couldn't even begin to identify the mountain peaks and ranges in the film. I made the logical conclusion that a crew would shoot from within walking distance of a road and not trek through forest to a high valley so that would limit the number of possible vistas.



Since there are only so many roads through the southern Rockies and the other ranges, it's quite possible to identify locations from memory alone. But not in this case. I screened the shots in question to some others with much more experience in the back country than myself and they too drew blanks.



This has been quite a digression from what I am supposed to be doing but highly interesting just the same.



But I'll tell you, that Dolomite crew knew what it was doing. It is uncanny how Canadian they made it all seem.



Thank you all again.







Rick Grant

Calgary, Canada

[hannay]

Slightly off thread. Ever notice that as Baker and Bogarde have a heated dispute in the bar in a two shot sequence, the bottle of Canadian Club whiskey jumps on and off the tray and keeps it's label to camera.

[nanduthalange]

My wife and I just enjoyed watching Cambell's Kingdom - in her case, for the first time, and in mine, for the first time in 40 years!



My wife, who comes from Edmonton, Alberta, was convinced that it was shot in the Rockies, as it looked amazingly authentic. The film credits simply state that it was filmed at Pinewood studios, with no mention of Italy.



I hit google for information, and found the post above. Very interesting, and may I offer a belated thank you to the knowledgable folks who posted a reply.



We really enjoyed thew film, which sadly seems little remembered now.



Regards,

Nandu