Ealing Studios

It is the oldest continuously working studio facility for film production in the world,[1] and the current stages were opened for the use of sound in 1931.

It is best known for a series of classic films produced in the post-WWII years, including Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Passport to Pimlico (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and The Ladykillers (1955).

Since 2000, Ealing Studios has resumed releasing films under its own name, including the revived St Trinian's franchise.

In more recent times, films shot there include The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) and Shaun of the Dead (2004), as well as The Theory of Everything (2014), The Imitation Game (2014), Burnt (2015) and Devs (2020).

Interior scenes of the British period drama television series Downton Abbey were shot in Stage 2 of the studios.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the facility as ATP and then Ealing Studios produced many comedies with stars such as Gracie Fields, George Formby, Stanley Holloway and Will Hay, who had established their reputations in other spheres of entertainment.

(1949), Passport to Pimlico (1949), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953), The Cruel Sea (1953) and The Ladykillers (1955) are all regarded as classics of British cinema.

But I do wish I had realised at the outset how absolutely vital it is to make films with mass appeal in America - by which I don't mean lowering standards but rather finding the right subjects.

Initially these crews were equipped with Arriflex ST cameras and EMI L2 quarter inch tape recorders that had to be tethered to one another with a physical sync cable to ensure the picture and sound ran in lock.

The Nagras made use of 'crystal sync', a system that provided synchronisation between the camera and the tape recorder remotely, removing the need for a physical cable.

Shortly after The Eagle Has Landed (1976) was released in London on 31 March 1977,[7] Michael Caine was present at the studios during his promotional tour for the film.

Apart from the regular production staff and technicians involved with filming the associated interview, at his table in the studio canteen he was surrounded by a large entourage of followers during the obligatory break period.

Programmes wholly shot on film were made there also, such as Alice in Wonderland (1966), The Singing Detective (1986), Portrait of a Marriage (1986), and Fortunes of War (1987).

Handelsman's Manhattan Loft Corporation redeveloped the 3.8-acre site to include the existing Grade II listed sound stages.