With an open door hiring policy, the studios fared little better in
the 1950s, producing films with the occasional star performance such
as The Sleeping Tiger (1948), with Dirk Bogarde and Alexis Smith; Dance
Little Lady (1955), with Mai Zetterling; Svengali (1954), starring Hildegarde
Neff; and Tiger by the Tail (1955), with Larry Parks and Constance Smith.
Thanks to the launch of a third commercial television channel, ITV,
Nettlefold became home to ITV’s first television series, The Adventures
of Robin Hood, starring Richard Greene. The leafy surroundings of Walton
were perfect for recreating Sherwood Forest and the Sheriff of Nottingham's
castle was built on a plot of land behind Bridge Street. The series
was the brainchild of American Hannah Weinstein who fled to England
as a refugee from the McCarthy anti-communist which-hunt. Weinstein
established her own production company at Walton, Sapphire Films .
By the end of the 1950s, Nettlefold's fortunes had completely declined
due to the popularity of television and a lack of production funding
for low-to-medium budget films. Meanwhile, Hannah Weinstein became involved
with an American attorney named Jonathon Fisher, and after a brief courtship
the two married. Fisher had intended to transfer his personal fortune
from Florida to England to finance the necessary expansion of the existing
studios, but in the meantime the studio shareholders entered into a
fixed-term loan with a Merchant Bank in exchange for debenture on the
free-hold land and buildings. No investment from American was forthcoming
and when Fisher disappeared the Merchant Bank foreclosed. Hannah Weinstein
Fisher later located her husband in Scotland but was subsequently banned
from film production involvement by the film trades union.
This once unique studio was never able to expand further or gather
a strong personality, and with larger modern studios claiming the lion’s
share of work. Nettlefold closed in 1961, the majority of the equipment
was sold to Shepperton Studios
and the studio buildings and adjacent land were redeveloped to create
the present Hepworth Way and shopping centre, all that remains of the
studio is the power block which housed the generators; now the Playhouse
Theatre.
