London Film Locations: Peeping Tom, Frenzy, The Nanny etc

[Dave Rattigan]

Just reporting back from my first day in London.

Got off the tube at Chalk Farm and took in Hartland Road and Hawley Street (Ave? Rd?) from It Always Rains on Sunday. I thought St Barnabas's Church was bomb-damaged in the film, but maybe I was thinking of a different film. Looked fine today!

Then walked through Camden Town and past Regents Park, down past Chester Terrace, seen most memorably in The End of the Affair and The Nanny. I also went round the back, but it didn't resemble anything I remember from The Nanny. Does anyone know if the back of the Fanes' apartment (courtyard with fire escapes etc) was filmed at the same location, or somewhere else entirely?

Then walked on to the West End, taking in Rathbone Street, The Newman Arms and the Newman Passage from Peeping Tom, then on to Covent Garden for some locations from Frenzy.

As someone suggested, I went in The Globe and had a pint (of Coke!). According to the landlord, both the exteriors AND interiors were filmed there. The only bits that were particularly familiar were the staircase (I seem to recall Anna Massey coming down the stairs) and behind the bar, where Jon Finch was caught nabbing a drink.

I had planned to see some more locations, but my feet were tired, so I'll save them for another day. Main ones I still want to see are Belgravia locations for The Fallen Idol, Kings Road/Royal Ave(?) locations from The Servant and then several from The Prisoner, most of which are within walking distance of Parliament.

I'll post some pics when they're uploaded.

[smudge]

Dave -

Were you using Simon R.H. James' London Film Location Guide, or just info from the Internet ?

Smudge

[Dave Rattigan]

Just gathered the info myself, mainly from the Internet. If I'd planned ahead a bit more, I'd have bought the guide.

[CaptainWaggett]

The Time Out Book of London Walks (I think Vol 1 rather than Vol 2) has a walk round film locations in Soho taking in Peeping Tom and Beat Girl which is well worth doing if you're in the area.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Dave Rattigan As someone suggested, I went in The Globe and had a pint (of Coke!). According to the landlord, both the exteriors AND interiors were filmed there. The only bits that were particularly familiar were the staircase (I seem to recall Anna Massey coming down the stairs) and behind the bar, where Jon Finch was caught nabbing a drink.

I find that landlords either have absolutely no idea that their pub was used in a film, or they claim to know all about it and that every scene was filmed there.

The truth is often somewhere between those two extremes

Steve

[harryfielder]

Hello Dave, having worked on Frenzy all those years ago I can tell you that the interiors of the Globe were filmed at Pinewood Studios.
Of course Covent Garden was a working market at the time and we had to work around the daily work load. (Of course their day started and ended early)
(I tell about Frenzy on year 1972 on my web)

This is how it looked then with me being told by Hitch to ''Get on that lorry and start unloading it''
I had plenty of dark curly barnet in those days, but it was 72....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../PDVD_0440.jpg

Aitch,

[Dave Rattigan]

Thanks for that info, Harry. I did have my suspicions, since it would seem more likely that a studio would be used for an interior, than a real location. Also, I remembered it being bigger, and with another entrance, although I could be mixing it up with another scene, as I'm sure there were a couple scenes in other pubs.

Here are a few photos from my travels, anyway.

Peeping Tom:







Frenzy:

[Dave Rattigan]

The Nanny/The End of the Affair:


It Always Rains on Sunday:

[smudge]

Great pix Dave !

Smudge

[Mark O]

Nice pis Dave, thanks for sharing, I've not been to the 'Sunday' location, looks much bigger in the Film but that's the magic of the Movies for you!

Next time I'm uptown 'Travelcarding' I hope to go to the Ace Cafe, and Melbury Road in Kensington for 'Mark Lewis' house........thouigh I'd better not 'peep' through the window as that Mark did, the residents in the ' Helen Stephens' flat now may think I'm some sort of weirdo!

[Cooper S]

Originally Posted by harryfielder Hello Dave, having worked on Frenzy all those years ago I can tell you that the interiors of the Globe were filmed at Pinewood Studios.

A while ago I met set dresser Sid Palmer who worked on the studio sets for Frenzy - he said that Hitch was particularly pleased with the pub interior that they put together at Pinewood.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Mark O Next time I'm uptown 'Travelcarding' I hope to go to the Ace Cafe, and Melbury Road in Kensington for 'Mark Lewis' house........thouigh I'd better not 'peep' through the window as that Mark did, the residents in the ' Helen Stephens' flat now may think I'm some sort of weirdo!

You can 'peep' through the windows of Michael Powell's old house at number 8. The 'Mark Lewis' house was across the road at number 5 and was pulled down some years ago and is now a block of flats. But the ones on either side of number 8 still look quite a lot like number 5 did. Powell's house has very high windows on the upper floor because it was an artist's studio before he moved in.





But another good one is Clive Candy's house from Colonel Blimp. That's in Ovington Gardens & Ovington Square, just behind Harrods. The houses are very much as they were, but there are a lot more cars there now.


Steve

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Dave Rattigan The Nanny/The End of the Affair:

Where's that one Dave? It wouldn't be Ovington Square by any chance would it? See my comments about Colonel Blimp

Steve

[PaulPlowman]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Where's that one Dave? It wouldn't be Ovington Square by any chance would it? See my comments about Colonel Blimp Steve

Looks more like Chester Terrace, more recently seen in Mrs Henderson Presents, and The Golden Compass among others.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by PaulPlowman Looks more like Chester Terrace, more recently seen in Mrs Henderson Presents, and The Golden Compass among others.

That's the trouble, a lot of London terraces and squares do look remarkably similar

Steve