Description
BRAND NEW RELEASE – hot off the press!
MGM British Studios
Hollywood in Hertfordshire
Hardback Book – OVER 400 IMAGES
by Paul Welsh MBE
Calling all film buffs! Film historian Paul Welsh has just published a limited edition book on the Hertfordshire film industry. 50 years since the sudden closure of MGM British Studios, Paul shares stories and photos from the wonder years, when the Elstree Way site was world-famous and played host to some of Hollywood’s biggest names. As well as the stars, there are stories from behind the scenes, sharing the experiences of the local men and women from Elstree and Borehamwood’s film families. Described by Oscar-winning Director of Photography Ossie Morris as ‘the Rolls Royce of British film studios’ and by actress Sylvia Syms as ‘The closest to a Hollywood “dream factory” in this country’, MGM British produced many classic movies and television series. With over 400 images, including never before published architectural drawings, rare photos and documents relating to the studio, from its very early days through to the final closure in 1970, it also chronicles the years following closure right up to the present. From the 1940s to 1970 the iconic MGM British Studio in Borehamwood made some of the biggest and best-loved films including: Ivanhoe, Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Village of the Damned, The Dirty Dozen, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Fire Maidens From Outer Space and Where Eagles Dare, as well as cult TV series Danger Man, UFO and The Prisoner. Sadly, at the end of 1969, filming was suddenly cancelled and within months the doors were closed for good.
