Elstree Film Studios: Stories and articles from the UK's premier film studios

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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.

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It sure is tough at the top

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.

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The spirit of the Sixties

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).

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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.

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Great day at the office with a pint each take

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.

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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.

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Film finds its voice

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.