Denham Film Studios

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Denham Film Studios were a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952.

The studios were founded by Alexander Korda, on a 165 acre (668,000 m²) site near the village of Denham, Buckinghamshire. At the time it was the largest facility of its kind in the UK. It was eventually merged with Rank's Pinewood Studios, and was closed in 1952.

The studios were known by various names during their lifetime including London Film Studios, the home of Korda's London Films, and D&P Studios after the merger with Pinewood.

On September 30, 1953, Denham Film Studios became a U.S. Air Force installation, providing space for an administrative headquarters serving USAF activities in the London area. The official USAF name was Denham Studios. It was also called Denham Air Station. The main unit there was the 7500th Air Base Group. The site was returned to its owners on September 30, 1963.

In the 1960s and 70s Rank Xerox occupied the Art Deco office buildings and used most of the sound stages as warehouses.

The site has subsequently been demolished.

[edit] Selected films

Made on the site during construction:

• The Ghost Goes West (1935)
• Things to Come (1936)
• The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936)

The first film to be made at the studio proper was Southern Roses (1936). Others included:

• Knight Without Armour (1937)
• Korda's Rembrandt (1936)
• A Yank at Oxford (1937)
• South Riding (1938)
• The Citadel (1938)
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
• The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939)
• Thief of Bagdad (1940) - mainly made at Denham.
• The Stars Look Down (1940)
• Noel Coward's In Which We Serve (1942)
• Hatter's Castle (1942)
• The Gentle Sex (1943) - credits show D&P Studios.
• Powell & Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944), I Know Where I'm Going! (1945) and A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
• Laurence Olivier's Henry V (1944) and Hamlet (1948)
• Part of David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945).

The last film to be made at Denham was Disney's Robin Hood (1952).

[edit] External links

• Screenonline: Denham Studios

[edit] References

References: TSgt. Richard H. Willard, Locations of United States Military Units in the United Kingdom, 16 July 1948-31 December 1967 (Headquarters, Third Air Force: Historical Division, 1968).