Teddington Studios Biography

The studios generally favoured drama and crime subjects throughout the thirties together with the occasional musical. Comedy was also catered for and in 1935 Max Miller, the 'cheeky chappie' cockney music hall comedian, made his first Teddington film - Get Off My Foot (1935), directed by William Beaudine. Miller went on to make seven further comedies for Warner’s: Educated Evans (1936), Thank Evans (1938), Don't Get Me Wrong (1937), Take It from Me (1937), Everything Happens to Me (1938), The Good Old Days (1940) and Hoots Mon! (1940). Special mention should be made of the young director Arthur Woods, who made his first Warner’s film at Teddington in 1936, having previously directed at British International Pictures Elstree. Within the next three years Woods went on to direct fifty films at Warner’s, including the rarely seen They Drive by Night (1938), in production at Teddington during October 1938. It is held to be the best of all the Warner’s films made in the thirties. It was a thriller set amongst the lorry driving fraternity of the Great North Road, starring Emlyn Williams. The author and critic Graham Greene claimed that it was on a level with some of the French films of the time.Whether Woods could have sustained this standard is hard to determine He went on to make three further films before being killed in war service.

The infamous quota quickie was no more. On the 30th of March 1938 the new quota act was given the Royal Assent and came into operation on October 1st. In essence this meant that British cinemas had to screen a minimum 12½% of British films. A direct result of this was that they became fewer in number but of longer and of better quality. Production in 1939 continued with eight films completed, whilst during the first year of war six were made; Atlantic Ferry (1940) and Flying Fortress (1941) employed the talented special effects cameraman Henry Harris. The latter film starred Richard Greene. Other production companies in addition to Warner’s also used the studios during this period. Teddington was fortunate in being able to keep open whilst other studios were requisitioned by the government to help the war effort. But on the evening of July 5th 1944 at 8.10pm, a V1 bomb landed on the edge of the power house, before falling onto the open ground between the rear of the administration block and the front of stage two, where it exploded. Directly beneath were diesel oil storage tanks and a mist of burning oil was thrown into the air. Doc Salomon the studio manager had been working late and was killed, along with two other members of the staff. The two stages, administration block and other buildings were wrecked. The film in production at the time, Flight from Folly (1944), featuring Pat Kirkwood and Hugh Sinclair, had to be completed in the studio garage, which was hastily sound proofed by new studio manager Jack Gilbert and other staff. Warner’s kept the staff of the studios on until October, but subsequently only departmental heads remained. From the date of the bombing production ceased for 3½ years.

Rebuilding could not commence without the necessary licences from the government. The first licence came in 1946 and covered the foundations and steel works for stage two and the power house. The architects were Messrs. Roberts and Hastings, the construction company Humphreys Ltd. At this time there were plans to build a third stage 140ft by 100ft in the open space between what was then the property block and stages one and two. Had this been carried out the smaller stage one would have been divided into two with one half used as a sound recording stage and the other half for a model shop for process work - i.e. special effects. These plans never reached fruition. By the summer of 1947 Teddington had been rebuilt and looked pretty much as it had done pre-war. Most of the main buildings had been rebuilt from the foundations up, so severe had been the damage. The new power house was fitted with four Ruston Hornsby diesel generators, two for ac current and two for dc. They were mounted on their own separate supports in order to prevent noise and vibration being transmitted to the sound stages during filming. Warner’s had hoped to rebuild stage one (the smaller) differently in order to improve the overhead lighting, however war damage rebuilding regulations only permitted reconstruction to the original size and shape. There was a new facility in one corner of stage two; a sound proofed booth had been constructed from which film could be projected for music recording to picture. Two Mitchell cameras which survived the bomb damage were brought up to date with new motors and sound blimps sent over from Hollywood.

It should be noted that by the mid 1940's Warner Brothers had bought a fairly substantial number of shares in the Associated British picture Corporation which amounted to a 37½% share in ABPC. By the summer of 1947, when Teddington was ready to open for production, ABPC was operating from their Welwyn Studios whilst the much larger Elstree was closed for extensive modernisation. ABPC was to re-open Elstree in 1948, which had been closed since requisition by the government at the outbreak of war. Thus, by the late 1940's ABPC had ample production capacity at Elstree and the smaller plant at Welwyn Garden City. The years between the start of the war and 1949 were unquestionably the golden ones for the British film industry. Cinema attendances peaked in 1946 with 1,635 million admissions during the twelve months, though in subsequent years they were to diminish. In this climate Teddington should have flourished, but production at the start was tardy. In October 1947 the Alliance company, which controlled studios at Twickenham, Southall, and the Riverside Studios at Hammersmith, moved in to Teddington to shoot some back projection sequences for Just William's Luck (1948), the rest being produced at Southall. In November another independent company used Teddington, for sound re-recording purposes only, for The Night Comes Too Soon (1947), a minor production featuring Valentine Dyall. In December Warner Brothers announced that the Hollywood actress Alexis Smith, who was in England at that time, would attend the formal opening ceremony of the rebuilt Teddington.

This did not happen and Alexis returned to the USA before the month was out. The reason Warner’s gave for the delay was that a contract with the production company Edward Dryhurst had not been signed. This company was the first to complete a film at the post-war Teddington, and was called The Noose (1948). The director was Edmond T. Greville and the cast included Carole Landis, Derek Farr, Joseph Calleia, Nigel Patrick, John Slater and Hay Petrie. Shooting began on the last day of 1947 and was on the floor for about three months. On January the 29th 1948 Teddington Studios were formally opened by the Managing Director of Warner Brothers in Britain, Arthur Abeles Jr. Hollywood star Danny Kaye cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. On the canopy of the administration building were the words 'The Doc Salomon Building' in memory of the studio manager killed in the bombing. At this time the contents of the property department was valued at about £70,000, many of the items having intrinsic value as antiques, such as those which originally came from the old Daly's Theatre in Leicester Square after Warner’s had taken it over to build their cinema on the site. During the opening ceremony Arthur Abeles stated that preference for floor space at Teddington would be given to independent producers. This, he claimed, was Warner’s answer to misinformed critics who said American companies were trying to hinder picture making in this country. As 1948 progressed the second film went into production, again by an independent company, Independent Sovereign. Silent Dust (1948) starred Sally Gray and Stephen Murray, with Nigel Patrick, Seymour Hicks, Marie Lohr and James Hayter. It was directed by Lance Comfort who had a prolific though largely indifferent output during his long career. The title of this film was prophetic as no further production has been traced for this year:

According to the trade paper Cinema Studio dated January 5th 1949, production was resumed at Teddington that week with Now Barabbas (1949) directed by Gordon Parry. The producer was Anatole de Grunwald, who quickly followed on with Three Men and a Girl (1949). Heading the cast were Burgess Meredith and Jean-Pierre Aumont, others appearing were Richard Murdoch, Kathleen Harrison, Karel Stepanek and Sandra Dorne. Gordon Parry directed again. Film production was now picking up at Teddington and it attracted some work on a film shot at the nearby Nettlefold Studios at Walton-on-Thames, re-recording dialogue sequences for No Way Back (1949). Work continued to flow with the start of shooting in July of the Coronado Production Your Witness (1950), Robert Montgomery coming over from the US to star and direct. The year 1950 continued to build on the work of the previous year with four features completed up till November. These are as follows: Double Confession (1950); a Harry Reynolds production directed by Ken Annakin and starring Derek Farr, Peter Lorre and Joan Hopkins. Very close to the bottom of the cast is Henry Edwards credited as 'man in bus shelter'. This is the same Edwards who launched Teddington as a sound studio back in 1931. Shadow of the Eagle (1950), a Valiant Tuscania Production directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Richard Greene and Valentina Cortessa. I'll Get You for This (1950). A Kador-Romulus Production directed by Joseph M. Newman and starring George Raft, Colleen Gray, Charles Goldner, Walter Rilla and Greta Gynt. Flesh & Blood (1950). A Harefield Production directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring Richard Todd, Glynis Johns, Joan Greenwood, Andre Morell, Freda Jackson, James Hayter, George Cole and Ursula Howells. Completion of the last mentioned film signalled the end for any semblance of healthy production at Teddington.