The Shepperton Story - Softcover

Owen, Gareth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752449702 ISBN 13: 9780752449708

Publisher: The History Press Ltd, 2009

Synopsis

This exhaustive and affectionate history is crammed with information and rare pictures from the famous Shepperton Studios. From assistants to directors, producers, stars, prop men, production managers and studio executives, the author has interviewed over 200 industry people and has painstakingly researched the history of the studio site from its first recorded use in the Doomsday Book through its redevelopment as one of Britain's first major film studios in 1932. The studio has housed classic movies featuring comedy great Will Hay, to blood-churning horrors starring Todd Slaughter through the studio's covert use during the Second World War as a camouflage manufacturing plant and on to its reopening with great classics such as The Third Man, The Tales Of Hoffman, Dr Strangelove and I'm All Right Jack, and on to modern greats such as Flash Gordon, Alien, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, The Crying Game, Chaplin, Gladiator, Troy, Batman Begins, The Da Vinci Code and The Golden Compass. This is their story.

About this title

About the Author

Gareth Owen formed his own film production company at Pinewood, currently works with Sir Roger Moore and his production company, and is the author of The Pinewood Story and Roger Moore. Sir Roger Moore is best known for his portrayal of James Bond from 1973-1985. Leslie Gilliat is a film producer.

From the Back Cover

Tucked away in a quiet corner of the Middlesex countryside, near to the massive Queen Mary reservoir, is a once former estate now known as Shepperton Film Studios.

Shepperton, like most other UK studios: Pinewood, Elstree, Ealing, Denham and Bray, is centred around a one-time country house, Littleton Park Manor. Though unlike the other major studios, Shepperton was not initially controlled by a company with production, distribution and/or exhibition interests. It could be said that Shepperton was a truly independent studio, with an independent spirit.

The magic of the grand once-stately home has been enjoyed by many famous stars and film-makers over eight decades, such as Sir Alexander Korda, Sir David Lean, Sir Carol Reed, Humphrey Bogart, Orson Welles, Sir John Mills, John Wayne, Charlie Chaplin, Deborah Kerr, Peter Cushing, Sir Alec Guinness, Lord Attenborough, Lord Olivier, Carol Reed, Dame Margaret Rutherford, The Boulting Brothers, Peter Sellers, Sigourney Weaver, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hanks, Robert Downey Jr, Launder & Gilliat, Sir Michael Caine, Dame Edith Evans, Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Colin Farrell and Brendan Fraser - to name but a few.

They brought films such as The Third Man, Richard III, The Tales Of Hoffman, Dr Strangelove, The Day The Earth Caught Fire, I'm All Right Jack, Flash Gordon, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Alien, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, The Crying Game, Gladiator, Troy and The DaVinci Code ... to life.

Whilst proud of its past Shepperton Studios is also very much geared to the future, with extensive refurbishment and investment, state of the art post-production and digital effects facilities and, of course, healthy bookings in the diary. But how did it all start? How did this little area in south west London became synonymous with the best in film production?

Edition details

• Publisher: The History Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752449702
• ISBN 13: 9780752449708
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368