A star-studded summer (From Borehamwood Times)

A star-studded summer

1:04pm Friday 11th September 2009

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PAUL WELSH remembers the stars of Hitchcock’s film Stage Fright, reveals the romance on set and spots the extras who went onto greater fame.

What was filming on the sound stages of Elstree Studios in that long forgotten summer of 60 years ago?

It was a murder mystery entitled Stage Fright and at the helm was director Alfred Hitchcock who had made his name at the studios 20 years earlier but spent the last decade in Hollywood.

Warner Bros had bought part ownership of the studio during the war and was financing Hitch’s latest effort. Elstree had only just re-opened after a major rebuild and this was one of the first films into production.

A young contract star named Richard Todd was cast in the role of a murderer and he had just enjoyed success and an Oscar nomination for the Elstree-made The Hasty Heart with future American president Ronald Reagan. I met Richard several times over the past 20 years and hosted the plaque unveiling we did for him at Elstree in the Nineties.

By a twist of fate one of his co-stars on this new film was Jane Wyman who had just divorced Ronnie and picked up an Oscar for her role in Johnny Belinda.

Jane, who died two years ago, remained a friend of Reagan and respected their friendship by never being interviewed about him.

The other female star was the legendary Marlene Dietrich who had been one of Hollywood’s brightest stars in the Thirties but who’s film career was beginning to lose its lustre.

Off screen, Marlene was apparently quite a girl with romantic interludes with such diverse fellow stars as John Wayne and Greta Garbo.

Hitchcock praised her screen artistry by commenting “she is a superb film actress because she understands the camera, the lighting and even how to direct”.

The film was peppered with cameos from the likes of Andre Morell and Joyce Grenfell and you can have fun spotting extras who would become household names, such as Alfie Bass, Irene Handl and Lionel Jeffries. Even Hitchcock’s own daughter makes a guest appearance.

Another British actor, who had started at Elstree as an extra in the early Thirties had a prominent role as a detective. Michael Wilding was already becoming a matinee idol in screen musicals alongside Anna Neagle such as Spring in Park Lane. In real life, he enjoyed an affair with Marlene during filming and later recalled: “We went everywhere together and it was the talk of the studio, but it was destined not to last.”

In fact, three years later, Michael married another actress he had also met in Borehamwood — her name was Elizabeth Taylor.

Wilding suffered from ill health and his career nose-dived, especially after he and Liz divorced, but they re-mained friends until his death in 1979.

My favourite in the film was Alastair Sim, who yet again had a supporting role but stole the movie from the stars with his comic timing and witty mannerisms. I once asked Alastair for his autograph but he politely declined, saying he never gave autographs as he never wanted the trappings of celebrity that went with it.

To be honest, Stage Fright was not one of Hitchcock’s memorable movies and, watched today, reminds me of a dated stage melodrama. Nearly all of it was shot in the confines of the sound stages. It was to be his swansong at the studio that helped make his name in the Twenties.

Ahead of him lay further hits such as North By North West with Cary Grant and Psycho with Anthony Perkins, but also some failures as his directing style passed its sell-by date.

I had a brief meeting with the legendary director on the set of Frenzy in the Seventies. At the time, I sensed he had little interest in the actual shooting. I think having thoroughly planned each scene in advance and no doubt already edited the movie in his head, filming was the boring bit.

It was amusing when another person present started to ask him about the inner meanings of various classic scenes from his movies. Hitch simply replied: “Dear boy, I make movies to entertain the audiences, make money for the studio so they employ me again, and make money for myself and it’s as simple as that.”

It wasn’t the analytical answer the film student wanted to hear, but it was the best an elderly gent making yet another movie was willing to give.

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