Pinewood Film Studios at Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire has been the home to most of the James Bond films – and many many more as well.

An iconic view of the entrance to Pinewood.

The Garden Walk at Pinewood.

Pinewood Studios was built on the estate of Heatherden Hall which was a large, attractive Victorian house with spectacular grounds. In 1934 building tycoon Charles Boot bought the land and turned it into a Country Club.

Then later in 1935  millionaire  flour magnate  J.Arthur Rank created a partnership with Boot and together transformed the estate into a film studio.  In December of that year construction began, with a new stage completed every three weeks. The studios were finished nine months later having cost £1 million (approx. £37 million at 2012 prices). Five stages were initially completed and there was  provision for an enclosed water tank capable of holding 65,000 gallons and taht is still in use today. In later years both the Pinewood and the Denham Film Studios justup the road  had by then become a part of their newly-formed Rank Organisation.

On 30 September 1936, the studio complex was officially opened and  the first film to be made entirely at Pinewood was Talk of the Devil directed by Carol Reed.

There followed a hugely prolific part of Pinewood and British film history.  Pinewood soon was leading the way in film industry innovation through a system that enabled several pictures to be filmed at the same time and ultimately Pinewood achieved the highest output of any studio in the world.

Denham closed in 1952 effectively with Walt Disney making the last ever film there which was The Story of Robin Hood starring Richard Todd and Joan Rice – a particular favourite of mine.

I always loved Denham Film Studios and wonder what might have been if the focus of J.Arthur Rank had been there instead of Pinewood. After all the two were built at around the same time but Denham was considerably larger and built on such a scale to rival anything in Hollywood or anywhere else come to that.

Then we move on to the fifties at Pinewood which saw films such as in The Doctor series and  Norman Wisdom with his own brand of comedy films. They did extemeley well at the Box Office during that decade. 

In 1960 came an ill-fated venture when some of the biggest sets ever were constructed for Cleopatra but Liz Taylor became very ill with pneumonia and the whole production was then moved to Rome.

 Above – the gigantic set for Cleopatra 1960

1962 saw the dawn of Pinewoods most famous enterprise- the James Bond franchise that began when Terence Young directed Dr. No.

In the same year  Lord Rank announced his intention to retire as chairman. He was to be succeeded by John Davis, who had consciously moved the Rank Organisation away from film production towards more profitable areas like bingo and holidays. The sixties were buoyant years for Pinewood, with more and more American pictures being shot there in the wake of Bond and Disney’s global success. Pinewood was no longer solely dependent on the Rank Organisation to fill its stages. The studios 30th birthday was celebrated in 1966, and worked had started on new stages to accommodate every aspect of film and TV production including  new viewing theatres, new cutting rooms and sophisticated stage lighting systems.

The seventies were an uncertain period for Pinewood although more television productions aimed at family entertainment were filmed there  including  The Persuaders starring Tony Curtis and of course our own Roger Moore – later to become Bond.  

In March 1972 J. Arthur Rank  died.  He played a great part in the formation of the British Film Industry as we know it

By that time though the Rank Organisation was in a healthy state.  The Superman films held things together through the 70s.      In the 90 s  many large-scale productions such as Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket and Tim Burton’s Batman kept Pinewood ticking over.

The  summer of 1999 saw the inauguration of two huge new state-of-the-art sound stages as the first phase of Pinewood’s on-going expansion plans. As the new Millennium dawned, the Studios were acquired from The Rank Group PLC by a team led by media magnates Michael Grade and Ivan Dunleavy.

An iconic scene – At Shepperton Film Studios – One of THE great film scenes for me anyway.

 Early in 2001, it was announced that Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios had successfully completed a merger under the Pinewood Shepperton name. I still to this day hold a very few shares in that company although in 2012 there was a takeover by Peel Group from the Isle of Man so maybe those shares will become the subject of  a compulsory purchase order – who knows.   Either way there has been little upside in the price so any sale would be academic really.

Later in 2011 we saw the production of Skyfall with much of the film being shot at Pinewood – and compared to previous Bond films there were very few exotic locations – even the scenes in Shanghai were in the most part done back home with necessary shots cut in at strategic places.

Skyfall looks like shattering the record for the biggest James Bond movie debut ever after taking in $30.8 million at the box office on Friday. That’s an average of nearly $8,787 from each of the 3,505 theaters that the 23rd film in the 50-year-old 007 franchise is playing on.

That may well  translate into an $80 million weekend.   Adding in $2.2 million from Thursday night previews at IMAX and other large-format theatres, “Skyfall” has taken in $90 million in America, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

This picture shows Daniel Craig in Los Angeles

With the standards that  Skyfall  has set and with the quality of actors, director, set design photography etc involved, it would be hoped that this film receives the recognition it deserves when the awards are handed out next year.

Berenice Marlohe, Sam Mendes, producer Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig

The  screenwriter John Logan also  hopes that his latest work on Skyfall will help the film gain such recognition at next year’s awards.

After his great success in The Hasty Heart, Richard Todd was signed up on a One-Film-a Year Contract with 20th Century Fox – and this film was one of those. It was made in Hollywood and directed by Henry (Bobby) Koster in Cinemascope.

Also cast of course was Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth in a role she had played before opposite Errol Flynn in 1939.    Co-starring with the other two was Joan Collins who at that time was also with Fox during the years she spent in Hollywood in the 50s.    I heard Joan being interviewed about this period many years later and she said that in the fifties she went to Hollywood, made a great deal of money and ‘spent it all’.

Above – Bette Davis and Joan Collins in a scene from the film.

The Virgin Queen was filmed in around 30 days which is very quick for a major Hollywood picture but Bette Davis insisted that she had a strict time limit because of other projects she had on the go.  She must have been reasonably friendly with Richard Todd because a few years later in a visit to England she did visit him at his dairy farm Near Henley on Thames.

Richard Todd related one little story that when he came to make the picture and realised that Bette Davis was playing opposite he was initially somewhat  daunted by the prospect because she had quite a fearsome reputation with other actors who maybe she felt weren’t quite up to the job. However the two of them  seemed to get on fairly well and he seemed able to avoid her displeasure- other than on one famous occasion when Bette had to make a long haranguing speech to her courtiers which she did word perfect and the scene would have been ok.  However the script girl pointed out that Richard Todd had forgotten to put on his garter chain which was part of the costume – so he had to go to Bette and explain what he had done and that the scene would have to be redone and she would have to make this long speech all over again. Her reaction was ‘You Bastard’ but she just got back in and  did the speech again  perfectly.

Another very strange incident occurred during this picture. There was among the courtiers in this same scene, an old actor who had just one line of intervention but for whatever reason the poor old chap just couldn’t get it right – he would either come in too early or too late or maybe not at all – and it became obvious to Bobby Koster that he was not able to do it.   So rather than humiliate him – on the next take – Bobby said ‘Good, Cut and Print’ implying he was happy with it but secretly he knew that he would have to get another actor in to do the scene.   He then thanked the old actor who left the studio a little later.   About 20 minutes after this there was a call from the gate and the caller asked ‘ Do You have a xxxxx  working on your film ? Bobby says ‘Yes We do he has just left’.   Then the gateman said ‘ I am sorry to tell you but he has just dropped down dead.’

So Bobby Koster had been very kind to him at the very end of his life and avoided any discord and the actor had left happily.

Above – A Man Called Peter – Richard Todd and Jean Peters.

Out of the five contracted films Richard Todd made this film and D Day the Sixth of June were good but the best one was by far ‘A Man called Peter’ in which he gave probably the best acting performance of his film career as Peter Marshall the inspirational  Scottish vicar who went out to the USA and created quite a following with his stirring sermons.    Whilst rehearsing one of these from the pulipt of the set he later found Marilyn Monroe watching from a seat at the very back and crying at the words she heard.    This film is much better known in the USA than England but it was a very good film indeed. 

Jean Peters and Richard Todd above

Richard Todd’s  co-star in A Man Called Peter was Jean Peters – the very beautiful film actress – and in his autobigraphy he said that she was very good with her acting but once her scenes were done she would retire to her caravan or dressing room and she seemed always to be accompanied by another woman. She flew in just before filming started and flew out when she had completed the film and never socialised at all.  It later became clear as to why.    Not long after she married Howard Hughes and didn’t make another film.   The woman with her had been a sort of minder and the plane she travelled in was belonging to Howard Hughes.

Someone said of  A Man Called Peter that it was the best film ever made dealing with this subject and Richard Todd’s portrayal of Peter Marshall was wonderful.

The Queen with Daniel Craig and Corgies

This sequence as we know has little to do with Skyfall and more with the wonderful Olympic Games in London in 2012.

What a great event it proved to be – any of us doubters initially really had to eat their words  – because Britain staged the event just perfectly from the quirky but brilliant opening ceremony to the thrilling events right through to the close.

Daniel Craig stated much later that when he came to film this with the Queen he was nervous but she acted out her role extremely well and even made the suggestion that when he entered the room she should be writing at her desk which is how it was done as we know.

He also said that when he heard about doing this item he was in a somewhat ‘grumpy mood’ because he was expecting a few days off !!!

However – all’s well that ends well – and the sequence was very well received.

The cars used have always been a feature of the James Bond films and in Skyfall we see much more of the Jaguar below

Preparing for the shot on Vauxhall Bridge – for a short time the bridge was closed to traffic in order for these scenes to be filmed – something that would normally be unheard of.  The MI6 Building in the background – soon to be the place of action.

Skyfall Premiere – A view of the London Opening

Daniel Craig is presented to the Duchess of Cornwall

I am sure the Royal party throughly enjoyed Skyfall – everyone I know who has seen it thinks it is a terrific film – among the very best ever.

Skyfall has not only been an astonishing critical success  but  it has smashed the box-office record for its first week in the UK alone grossing over £37 million

Skyfall  has now been confirmed as the biggest ever seven-day gross for any film at the UK box office.

Above – Skyfall

It would seem as if the combination of great reviews and nostalgia for Bond’s 50th anniversary has created something of unstoppable force and it is hard tosee one of  this week’s new releases  toppling 007 from the top of the chart.

Producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said, “We are very grateful to the Bond fans and all UK cinema audiences for making Skyfall the biggest opening week ever during our 50th anniversary year.”

 Skyfall opens in the US next Friday  9 November 2012.

Above – Prince Charles meets James Bond

EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment are delighted to announce that SKYFALL has taken an extraordinary £37.2 million in its opening week, overtaking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 to secure the biggest 7 day gross of all time in UK box office history.

SKYFALL, the 23rd James Bond adventure, continuing the longest running and most successful franchise in film history opened in 587 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on Friday 26th October. It will release in the US on November 9th.

In response to the amazing 7 day figures, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said “We are very grateful to the Bond fans and all UK cinema audiences for making SKYFALL the biggest opening week ever during our 50th anniversary year.”

Daniel Craig with his ‘Bond Girls’

“The continued record-breaking success of this film is a true testament to all involved and the global power of this 50 year old franchise” said Gary Barber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MGM.

“We couldn’t be more proud of the critical and commercial reaction SKYFALL has received,” said Jeff Blake, Chairman of Sony Pictures Worldwide Marketing and Distribution. “The results are a true testament to the 50 year legacy of James Bond. The best is still yet to come in the UK and all around the world.”

Thank you, Bond fans everywhere, for making SKYFALL such an unprecedented success.

As Skyfall opens  in the biggest release ever for a James Bond film  plans are already well advanced  for the next 007 thriller again with  Daniel Craig in the role – not unexpectedly. There is also speculation in the press this very day that Sam Mendes will again be the Director – at least Daniel Craig wants him to be apparently.

There was a four-year wait between Quantum Of Solace and Skyfall but  Bond 24 is already in pre-production and the plan is for it to start shooting at Pinewood Studios around this time next year and be ready for cinemas in the autumn of 2014.

Meantime – Some more Location  Stills from Skyfall :

The Bridge –  where Bond falls from – ‘Take the Bloody Shot’ says M is actually the Varda Bridge, Kiralan, in  Turkey.

On to the Scottish Highlands – above.

We can only await the next but we can be sure it will be made in England at Pinewood  Film Studios- above

I must have seen this first about a 1954 or 55 when each Tuesday we had someone come to out local village and put on a proper film show with a typical second film about 60 mins or so, then the trailers and then the big picture – as we used to call it.

We had a village hall in this small rural village in England and it was here that among many others we saw Distant Drums – and what a thrilling film it was and is.   That was the first time that I knew that such a sub tropical part of the USA existed and I learned about  the Everglades in Florida of course.  We all know of it nowadays but in the mid fifties not very many people had ever been there.  It was only 10 years after the end of the war – and during that time many men had travelled widely but sadly that was because of conflict but other than that most people had not.

This was an unusual western – first because of its setting in Florida and also because we saw alligators and snakes – here again that was the Everglades and probably still is. The underwater fight to the finish at the end of the film was shot at Silver Springs in Florida which is still very much on the go and used in movies.   Prior to this film Tarzan Finds a Son used Silver Springs with Johnny Weissmuller and Johnny Sheffield.

In this film  we are taken to the  swamps, jungle and the Indians in a stone fort because  this is a Florida Western!

The story opens with US Navy Lieutenant Richard Tufts arriving in Florida with a small boat which he has taken overland to Lake Okeechobee.  He travels separately and meets up with Capt. Quincy Wyatt, who will lead the mission against an old Spanish fort on the opposite side of the lake which is being used by the Seminole Indians.

Watch the trailer to Distant Drums 1951

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh-C0e6Thqc&feature=player_detailpage

The real story is about how Quincy Wyatt (Gary Coper) and his men along with some rescued prisoners from the fort, escape through the alligator infested Everglade swamps with the Seminole chasing after them.  Not all of them will make it –  some will die at the hands of the Seminole Indians and others to the alligators!

The above shot is a favourite of mine. It really sums up the film – Florida Everglades,  Gary Cooper and Mari Aldon.

The Florida setting certainly gave this film a different feel to just about every other western.  The alligators here ARE more frightening than the usual rattlesnake and there was one quite bloody sequence  shown when one of the men was killed by an alligator.

They all pause for breath – above – in the Everglades.

It is an action-packed film and I love the Technicolor here which gives the Everglades a realistic beauty.  The scenes where they are on the canoe on the water paddling through the trees is a beautiful shot.

 Gary Cooper is good as always but  nowhere near as good as he was in ‘High Noon’ .   I reckon he would have enjoyed working down in Florida though.   Mari Alden takes the female lead but there isn’t a lot in this part for her to do much with.   We do learn that she isn’t quite the Southern lady she makes out to be but that  hardly seems to affect  her character and this revelation is quite sketchy anyway.

Mari Aldon was originally a ballet dancer born in Lithuania. She later married film Director Tay Garnett although he was more than 25 years older than her and he died in 1977 although they were by then divorced.

Mari Aldon.

I don’t know much about her but here are some interesting quotes written at the time.

Columnist Sheila Graham reveals: “Mari Aldon, who could have been a big star after her role with Gary Cooper in Distant Drums, won’t be. The Warners are dropping her like a hot coal. ‘Too much temperament.’”

May 51 – Columnist Louella Parsons knows: “Incidentally, Mari Aldon flies home ahead of the rest of the Cooper company – that’s how lonely she is for Tay Garnett…”

10 August 1953 – Louella Parsons tells that “Tay Garnett phoned from London to say he and Mari Aldon are getting married Thursday in a London registry…”

25 October 1955   Her daughter, Tiela, is born in Los Angeles.

August 1970  She files for divorce from Tay Garnett in Los Angeles,

31 October 2004   Mari Aldon Garnett  she died at age 78 in Las Vegas. She is survived by her daughter, Tiela Garnett; grandson, Taylor Benatsou-  granddaughter, Chloe Fazio; and sister  Janet Kozlowski.

It seems that she could have been a bigger star but she had a family and continued her career in films and later TV so she maybe had a good time. I hope she did.

Bérénice Marlohee is the leading female in the film along with Naomie Harris.

Bérénice Marlohee  – above.

Bérénice was born in Paris in 1979 of mixed ancestry she was the  daughter of a French mother and a Cambodian / Chinese father.  Her mother is a teacher and her father a doctor. She originally wanted to be a a pianist. Initially she struggled to get screen roles in France because people did not think she fitted the mould of a French actress. Before her lucky break came with the  Bond film Skyfall,  she mainly appeared on TV.   This does seem to beg the question – How on earth did they pick her out for this major role ?   But maybe the next paragraph explains ….

She is  a strong believer in fate. During an interview, she claimed to have dreamt of acting alongside Javier  Bardem at least six months before the Bond audition.    After the dream, she had a feeling that all would work out well – and it did.   It was only after  the second audition for Skyfall  that someone actually mentioned to her that Javier might also be cast.

 Naomie Harris

Naomie was born and brought up in London and is the daughter of  writer Lisselle Kayla, a single mother who came to the UK   as a child. After graduating in 1998 from Cambridge with a degree in she  trained at the Bristol Old Vic School.

Among many roles she has played is that of  Elizabeth Lavenza in Danny Boyle’s production of  Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the Theatre.  In fact  she is probably best known to American audiences for her role as Tia Dalma in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007).

Some moths ago it was  first reported that Harris was in talks for a  role in the upcoming 23rd Bond  film -Skyfall – as field agent Eve and this turned out to be correct. She is very good in this role and she appears regularly throughout the film – and I have an idea she may continue in future ones.

It is certainly an action-packed role she has as you will see the in clip on the Trailer below when she is taking aim at the villain who is fighting with Bond on the top of a moving train – and ‘M’ screams the order ‘Take the Bloody Shot’ – it is a great sequence.

See the NEW SKYFALL INTERNATIONAL TRAILER here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgr2syY_OU4

Above – Looks really good at the Premiere –  Aston Martin DB5