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The Shrinking of The Avengers

Ribbon of Dreams

100 Years of Elstree Studios - Part Nineteen

Visit our current Exhibition

By the Autumn of 1967 (yes, nearly 60 years ago) Diana Rigg was coming to the end of her time in The Avengers.  Her penultimate appearance, and final full episode, was in number 128 Mission... Highly Improbable which was shown in the UK on 18 November.

Filming had moved from Teddington after three series to ABPC in Shenley Road so 35mm colour film could be used for the US market.  In this episode both Steed and Peel are shrunk by a ray so they are smaller than everday objects. The expert prop builders, plasterers, carpenters and scene painters at ABPC created a number of oversized ordinary objects found on a desk to make the actors look extremely small.  In the script Steed has to call for help, so a giant phone was made from fibreglass with a dial that could be turned, and a handset with a sprung cradle. The floor of Studio 3 was turned into a desk top with a blotter, penholder and pens and a calendar, while the metal shop made a giant paper-knife.  It made for an unusual and memorable episode. Diana Rigg made one more short appearance in the first episode of Season 6, and then Linda Thorson took over as Steed's companion.

All this was reported in the internal newsletter for ABP, Studio News, in October 1967 with the photo above. And here are a couple of shots from the episode found somewhere out there.

    

ToysRUs

Our most recent Going Down The Village reminiscence session proved to be quite a lively activity due to the topic of Toys and Games and we had a variety of vintage toys which sparked many fond memories. Among them were Diabolo, Marbles, Skipping Rope, YoYo, Sooty & Sweep Hand Puppets, and a Kaleidoscope. Cheryl proved to be expert level at Jacks as you can see. We were treated to a vintage game of SCOOP! that we were unfamiliar with and our grateful thanks to Sue and Peter Williams for bringing it in. Do you remember SCOOP! or did you have another favourite?

Reel Streets On Tour

Those of you who love to know where your favourite film was shot - " That location looks familiar" - must visit the website reelstreets.com.  This site will guide you to where the location was, and, sometimes, how it looks these days. So a couple of times a year friends and contributors to the website visit an area to check out the locations and find more. Their trip this time was to Borehamwood and Elstree where many a film has been shot outdoors over the last 100 years. A three mile walk up Deacons Hill Road, Allum Lane, Furzehill Road, Shenley Road, and Clarendon Road was most productive. And of course a visit to the Museum for our current exhibition, Ribbon Of Dreams - A Celebration of 100 Years of Elstree Studios.  

Even if all the shops have changed over the years, there are many films featuring Shenley Road. And if you ever visit Whitehouse Avenue you will find George & Mildred's house, while The Wellington has been spotted in a film or two.  Thanks to Phil Wilkinson of Reelstreets for organising the walk.

The Friends Meet The Stunt Man

To highlight our latest Exhibition Ribbon Of Dreams - Celebrating 100 Years of Elstree Studios, The Friends of the Museum were invited last night to meet and hear the stories of Paul Weston, Stuntman extraordinary.  After a 60 year career as an actor, stuntman, and director, his fund of stories about the stars he knew and the films in which he created many daring stunts was amazing. Starting at Elstree Studios in 1965 when he was a stand-in for Roger Moore in The Saint, he reminisced about his early days in Boreham Wood. There were so many stories of stars he stunted for from Robert Redford, Christopher Reeve, Kevin Costner, Timothy Dalton, and many many more. Of course he worked on many of the James Bond films with Roger Moore, and some of the hair-raising train stunts he performed were described in great detail.

Paul has so many stories that his book Falling Into Film, is only the first volume and there are two more to follow.  Please check out Paul's website here for his exciting showreels and more details of his book and career. A thoroughly enjoyable evening for the Friends - please join for future exciting events!

Oasis Versus Star Wars

Oasis Versus Star Wars

Ribbon of Dreams

100 Years of Elstree Studios - Part Eighteen

Visit our current Exhibition

To celebrate the release of the new Oasis film Don't Look Back In Anger here's a quick reminder of when Noel Gallagher came up against his 'favourite villain'. At the Royal Premiere of the Special Edition of the renamed Star Wars : Episode IV - A New Hope in March 1997, Noel and Darth were in attendance. So was Prince Charles and George Lucas, and many other actors and celebs, but we aren't interested in them this time. There's much more about Elstree Studios and Star Wars in our current exhibition, though not much about Oasis.

The Gables Appears At Last

The Gables Appears At Last

There was great excitement when we received from Brighton and Hove Museum some photos of The Gables, the grand house that was once in Red Road. We have never had images of the house before, and now we have seven stereoscopic photos. These were taken by James Williamson. He was a pioneer of photography and films and began making films in 1897 in Hove where he was a pharmacist.  In 1910 he sold up and concentrated on film equipment and processing. He moved to London and then in 1917 he bought The Gables, no doubt attracted by John East's new film business in Borehamwood, and Wellington & Ward's growing photographic plates and film works, just down the road.

These 7 photos show the house inside and out, and Williamson himself in his car, a Scripps-Booth, in Red Road.  Maybe a car enthusiast can let us know when that model became available in the UK so we can date the photos. You can clearly see 'The Gables' sign on the wall.

 

Later on The Gables was renamed King's House when purchased by Martin Benson of The King And I fame, and then was sold to Ray Davies of the Kinks in 1968. For more details please visit our previous blog here.  The house was demolished after Ray sold up and only the annexe remains today as 1 Red Road - King's Cottage.

Many thanks to Alexia Lazou, Assistant Curator, for sending us the photos. Please visit her blog here for more information on the origin and source of the photos, and the importance of Stereoscopy.  The Brighton and Hove Museum can be found here.

Carole Lesley - The 'Blonde Bombshell' Who Faded Away Too Soon

Ribbon of Dreams

100 Years of Elstree Studios - Part Seventeen

Visit our current Exhibition

In the last blog we mentioned the beautiful Carole Lesley who nearly became a huge star with the projected film Cinderella Nightingale. But lawsuits by Sabrina (a 'dumb bombshell') led to the cancellation of the film in 1959, and she was never to get her starring role to take her to Hollywood.

   

   

Born Maureen Lesley Carole Rippingdale in 1935 in Chelmsford, she was mad on films and performing.  She was a child actress at 12 in The Silver Darlings in 1947 and followed this with Trottie True in which Christopher Lee had a small part. In between she became an usherette in her local cinema, the Chelmsford Pavillion. Running away with her sister to London in 1951, and later to Paris where she became a pin-up model under the name of Leslie Carol.

But acting was her passion and she returned to London in 1954. Then ABPC gave her a 7 year contract and she became Carole Lesley. She made a few films and attracted attention from the press thanks to her striking looks and attributes.  Hailed as a cross between "Marilyn Monroe and Diana Dors" she received much attention. A leading role eluded her, however, and even after some excellent reviews for Woman In A Dressing Gown, which won awards for ABPC, she was still a supporting actress.  Sylvia Syms got the leading parts, and Carole couldn't seem to break through.

 

After films such as Doctor In Love, Three On A Spree  and What A Whopper with Adam Faith and Sid James, ABPC did not renew her contract. Carole was devastated and decided to withdraw completely.  In 1964 she married film publicist Michael Dalling and they had two children together, but her Hollywood dream was fading and she sank into depression.

 

       

From then on it was a very sad story as her health deteriorated, she self-harmed and overdosed. The couple lived in a semi near New Barnet Station and in 1974 Dalling discovered her in the kitchen after an overdose of barbiturates. Only 38, the business of show had found another victim.

 

No apologies for the photos here - she was a shining light in the late 50s and early 60s. Try and see one of her films if you can - she made 13 in such a short space of time. I'm sure TPTV have a few scheduled.

     

    

Some Movies Never Happen

Ribbon of Dreams

100 Years of Elstree Studios - Part Sixteen

Visit our current Exhibition

 

When you visit our exhibition in the Museum you might see a brochure from 1958 advertising the forthcoming movies from Elstree Studios. Amongst adverts for Ice Cold In Alex and The Moonraker there are two new films featured that never saw the light of day.

One was an adaptation of Mary Stewart's 1956 novel Wildfire At Midnight. This was to be produced by Robert Hall and directed by Michael Anderson who had directed The Dam Busters and Around The World in 80 Days to great success.  No idea at this stage why this project was abandoned.

  

The other was Cinderella Nightingale to star Carole Lesley and to be directed by J. Lee Thompson who had just finished Ice Cold and would go on to direct The Guns of Navarone and Cape Fear amongst many others. The book by Robert Muller was published in 1958 but withdrawn after a lawsuit by Sabrina who claimed it was too true to her life story, and was not published until 1962.  The film was shelved for obvious reasons.

The next blog will tell the tragic story of Carole Lesley.

The Museum Is On The Footage Detectives

Hope you caught our slot on The Footage Detectives yesterday evening on the great TPTV channel. It was Episode 234 and is available on their Encore service if you missed us. Noel and Sarah made us look as if we knew what we were talking about, so that was a real result for us! Thanks again to everyone at TPTV for the great few hours we spent in your company, and the excellent results. 

TPTV Meets Ribbon Of Dreams on The Footage Detectives

We mentioned in a blog about a month ago how the TPTV film crew visited us and filmed the new Exhibition just before it was opened by Mr TPTV himself - Noel Cronin. Well the results are now available for all to view and will be featured on The Footage Detectives this Sunday 5th July at 5pm. What, you don't know about TPTV?! Well have a look at the trailer HERE, find the channel and add it to your 'Favourites'.  We know the show will be as much fun to watch as it was to shoot. Thank you Noel, Sarah, Neil and camerman Conor.