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Those Seventies box office blues

Comedy capers: to save on the budget during difficult times at Elstree, a Routemaster bus like this was driven by starring cast member Reg Varney to transport cast, crew and equipment while out filming on location

1:22pm Thursday 13th March 2008

If the previous decades that spanned the history of Elstree Studios had presented great challenges to those working there, then the Seventies presented the biggest challenges ever.

It sure is tough at the top

Low budget idea: Nanette Newman and Malcolm McDowell star in The Raging Moon, directed by Bryan Forbes

5:38pm Monday 3rd March 2008

By February 1969, EMI ruled the roost at Elstree, and a new managing director, Bryan Forbes was appointed. PAUL BURTON talks to him about the ups and downs he experienced working at the studios.

The spirit of the Sixties

Classic: Roger Moore stars in The Saint with Goldilocks, played by Joyce Blair

1:33pm Thursday 28th February 2008

During the Sixties, the television series which took to the stages at Elstree included The Saint, The Avengers and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

Years of the Young Ones

Ticket to ride: Singer Cliff Richards struts his stuff on the set of Summer Holiday (Picture: Canal+ Image UK)

8:55am Tuesday 19th February 2008

While other film studios in the Fifties quivered at the thought of what damage the new box in the corner of the living room - the television - would do to them and their takings, ABPC cleverly decided to embrace the medium.

Great day at the office with a pint each take

Plastered in the process: John Mills said his favourite day in a studio was on the set of Ice Cold and Alex

5:07pm Tuesday 12th February 2008

With the death of John Maxwell, the original saviour of Elstree Studios, in 1940, only time would tell what the future would be for the studios.

Success in decade of change

12:08pm Wednesday 6th February 2008

At the start of the Thirties, Elstree Studios' boss John Maxwell recruited a fellow Scotsman, Robert Clark, who would, in time, become the successor to Maxwell's throne.

Film finds its voice

True calling: Tommy Handley starred in the film Elstree Calling, made at BIP in 1930

12:32pm Tuesday 22nd January 2008

Alfred Hitchcock's best-remembered British International Pictures (BIP) film, Blackmail, was significant as it was the first full-length speech-based film made in Britain.

A legend is born

Early days: the British International Pictures building, circa 1935 (Canal + Image UK Limited)

4:34pm Monday 14th January 2008

Many film historians argue that March 31, 1927, was the date which is the true anniversary of the studios.

Lights, camera, cash flow

Spending money: Cliff wouldn't have been going anywhere if the Elstree Film Studios hadn't received a financial boost in the 1920s

9:10am Tuesday 8th January 2008

In the first part of a new series, author Paul Burton looks back to the 1920s and the building of Elstree Studios.






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