Spare The Rod (1961)

[Stephen Pickard]

Anybody here know where in London this was filmed? In the background of one shot you can clearly identify the larger 'Metropolitan Line' style tube trains passing, which might indicate that it could be an area like Stepney off of the Waterloo and City line.

[wideboy]

Does anyone know where this is - opening scene of Spare the Rod.



Assume it's in the East End - but where? And does the church still exist?



Thanks.

[Cooper S]

Looks a bit hilly for the East End. Possibly Ladbroke Grove area ? Looks a bit Blue Lampish. May be not even London ?

[marty]

It's Paddington..the same location was used in The Blue Lamp and also in The Boys.



Heres a screenshot of The Blue Lamp.







The Chuch is still there but the houses have gone.

[marty]

Here's a shot of how the church looks today...

[Cooper S]

It's Paddington..the same location was used in The Blue Lamp and also in The Boys.



Heres a screenshot of The Blue Lamp.







The Chuch is still there but the houses have gone.

Almost exactly the same angle - thought it looked familiar. Amazing how the area has changed though. Apart from the church it's now completely unrecognisable.

[phil]

Fascinating, the crescent on the right completely gone and grassed over. When did it go?

[marty]

Fascinating, the crescent on the right completely gone and grassed over. When did it go?

I'm not sure when those houses were pulled down....probably in the 70's when there was a lot of redevelopment taking place in the area.



It's amazing how many houses in London were pulled down back then....some of them were in such a dilapidated state with no bathrooms etc and it was considered easier and cheaper to pull 'em down and start again.

These days houses like that would be rennovated at enormous costs.



Luckily we have these old films and TV shows to remind us of these old streets...even if some of them were an eyesore it's still fascinating to see.

[wideboy]

Many thanks to everyone for such swift and interesting replies.....am kicking myself cos I've actually walked over the bridge seen in the aerial shot when looking for the Blue Lamp/The Boys locations a few years ago.



I didn't think those houses looked right for the east end but never imagined the location would be so far from where it's supposed to be...nearer the studios I guess.

[darrenburnfan]

I received my new DVD release of Spare the Rod from amazon yesterday and wondered where the locations were filmed, including the town scenes and the exterior school scenes. It looked like a real Victorian school to me, but, although it's set in the east end of London, there is no Worrell Street anywhere in London these days (according to my map book of the London area). Does anyone know where the exteriors were filmed? The interiors were filmed at Shepperton Studios. My guess is that the school was demolished years ago, as it looked very delapidated even in late 1960, when the film was being made.



As for the DVD, it's the usual barebones release from Odeon Entertainment with no extras...not even the original trailer. Sound and picture quality is very good and, although the print used is complete, there is quite a bit of dirt on it in places. There is also a four page booklet about the film that has been curiously edited so that in some places, a few words from the ends of sentences are missing, which looks rather odd. All in all, though this release is very reasonable for the price. The Impersonator, the British crime drama that originally went on release as the support to Spare the Rod, will be released on DVD on the same label next month.

[999picklepuss]

A little harsh on Odeon?

Compared with Optimum releases which are normally just the DVD in a case and often twice the price, at least you get the booklet which is usually very well-written and informative. Odeon have had some really good releases lately particularly The Painted Smile/Ragdoll which also came out on Monday and A Time to Kill/Impersonator due out on 22nd June.

Think the locations have been dealt with here already.

[darrenburnfan]

Well, I will say this for Odeon. When they announce the release of a DVD, they actually release it, unlike Optimum, who often give a release date for a DVD, then cancel it. Although The Weapon was supposed to be released on April 27th, it never appeared. Amazon uk have an item page for it, although anyone ordering it will never receive it. I've contacted amazon to tell them the DVD hasn't been released and that there's no mention at all of it on Optimum's website, nor on HMV or Play.com...but they haven't taken any notice and are still offering for sale a DVD that doesn't exist!



One other thing about the Spare The Rod DVD. Although the box gives the aspect ratio as 4 x 3, it's actually 1:85:1 and window-boxed, so that there are black bars at the sides of the image as well as top and bottom.

[wideboy]

The opening scenes are identified in the thread posted on 9th October 08 - currently on page 9 of this section.



But I didn't ask about the school.

[darrenburnfan]

Thanks for that, wideboy. I just had a look. So the town scenes were shot in Paddington...maybe the school was somewhere nearby. Or least somewhere close to Shepperton Studios, so the unit wouldn't have to travel far to the location.

[999picklepuss]

One other thing about the Spare The Rod DVD. Although the box gives the aspect ratio as 4 x 3, it's actually 1:85:1 and window-boxed, so that there are black bars at the sides of the image as well as top and bottom.

Good point there - I noticed that and thought it was just my DVD player

[JonesBach]

Does anyone know where this is - opening scene of Spare the Rod.



Assume it's in the East End - but where? And does the church still exist?



Thanks.

It was shot in Islington . I am trying to obtain a copy of this as it shows where I was brought up as a kid

[Mark O]

It looks similar to outdoor scenes in 'The Boys'.

[JonesBach]

Does anyone know where this is - opening scene of Spare the Rod.



Assume it's in the East End - but where? And does the church still exist?



Thanks.

That is Camden Town approaching from the Archway Islington

[rose]

Hi - I was wondering if you can help me - i am watching 'spare the rod' with max bygraves and I was wondering where they filmed the school scenes and what was the building actually was that you see in the film used as a school whether it was a school or not (name of th school in the film was called Worrell Street School) and if the building that they used is still standing - thank you

[rose]

It was shot in Islington . I am trying to obtain a copy of this as it shows where I was brought up as a kid

Hi - hope you do not mind me replying to your info on spare the rod - i also like to know where that scene of that film was filmed and also where that building they used for that school is and if it is still there - hope you do not mind if you have any details of that film if you can share - seen that film many years ago and still am interested in the answers - thank you Chris PS: I have just registered here at Britmovie.co.uk