Pinewood malfunction in Carry on Camping was filmed on-site, with surrounds spray-painted green to disguise the dull autumnal conditions. Enduring storm Taking into account its merger As the UK’s most famous film studio celebrates its 83rd year,Sean Wilson looks (as of 2001) with the nearby back on the storied and extraordinary history of Pinewood, home to many cult films Shepperton Studios, as well as its ownership of a multitude of other sites, Pinewood now comprises ames Bond. Star Wars. Harry as one of the hubs of global rebuilt soon after before suffering 40 stages in total. Potter. Three gargantuan moviemaking since the early 20th another blaze in 2006). It’s at So how did the studio come Jfranchises connected by century. It’s home to one of the Pinewood that JJ Abrams housed about, and how did a quiet pocket more than just box office receipts most revered and enduring film the Millennium Falcon during the of middle-England become a major and a global fanbase. The studios in the world: Pinewood. shooting of Star Wars: The Force magnet for the Tinseltown elite? common denominator sits in the The name alone invokes Awakens (later, Rian Johnson Built on the site of a former unassuming village of Iver Heath, nostalgic pleasure for movie fans. would utilise Pinewood for Star Victorian house (and later 30 kilometres west of London. Pinewood houses the famous Wars: The Last Jedi). And, on a country club), Pinewood as It’s no Hollywood but it has acted 007 stage, built for 1977 James decidedly more humble note, the we know it began life in 1935. Bond adventure The Spy Who studio and its surrounding environs The studio first took shape Above: Stormtroopers on set Loved Me before burning down were also the home of the classic when flour magnate turned film filmingStar Wars: The Last Jedi during production of Ridley Scott British Carry On films. Barbara impresario J. Arthur Rank (who at Pinewood Studios in 2017 fantasy Legend in 1984 (it was Windsor’s infamous wardrobe later founded film distribution➤ July-September 2019 Upward Curve 21 Pinewood company the Rank Organisation) mythology upon construction of and the early 1990s, when the Recent Bond movies have joined forces with building tycoon the famed 007 stage in 1977. lack of government tax reliefs continued to uphold Pinewood as Charles Boot (responsible for the Conceived by production designer made the UK a less-than-desirable the spiritual home of the world’s aforementioned country club). Ken Adam to accommodate the place to shoot. most famous secret agent. All of Construction began in December vast sets needed for film The Even so, Pinewood, now under Daniel Craig’s movies, beginning 1935 and the studio officially Spy Who Loved Me (principally the umbrella of The Pinewood with Casino Royale, have been opened in September 1936, the submarine-devouring interior Studios Group, has weathered the shot there, and the studio has drawing heavily on Hollywood of tanker ship the Liparus), the storms: in 2013 the studio opened also become the home for many industrial practices including stage was hailed as a feat of its first American facility in Atlanta, entries in the template-redefining the ‘unit system’ of several contemporary engineering. Georgia, and the first film to Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), productions being shot on the That the 007 sound stage has shoot there was Marvel adventure including 2014’s Guardians of the lot simultaneously. survived two devastating fires is Ant-Man. And in 2014, Pinewood Galaxy, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Noteworthy early success emblematic of Pinewood’s staying Iskandar Malaysia Studios was Ultron and 2016’s Doctor Strange. stories included David Lean’s power. The studio has weathered opened, hosting facilities for Late James Bond actor Roger defining adaptation of Charles several bumpy patches in British a multitude of TV productions Moore described Pinewood as Dickens’ Oliver Twist and Powell film history, including the early including Asia’s Got Talent. his “second home” and praised and Pressberger’s sumptuous 1970s (during which time it was Additional studios can be found its “charm and warmth”. Fittingly The Red Shoes. But perhaps used for Roger Moore/Tony in Berlin, Teddington (London) enough, he now has a stage the moment the studio became Curtis series The Persuaders) and Toronto. named after him. And the studio’s entrenched in the global future seems safe, not only thanks consciousness was when the to the presence of modern day James Bond movies set up base epics like Maleficent: Mistress of there, from 1962’s Doctor No Evil, starring Angelina Jolie (set onwards. The nearby Stoke Poges for release in October 2019), Golf Club was also immortalised in but also due to wider industrial Sean Connery’s third Bond movie changes within the film industry Goldfinger, replete with statue- itself. Streaming mogul Netflix is decapitating punchline courtesy of making further incursions into the villain Oddjob (Harold Sakata). studio-dominated landscape, and Pinewood became increasingly is looking to secure a deal to lease intertwined with the 007 space at Pinewood for the next ten years. And with that, another Top: Daniel Craig as 007 in fascinating chapter opens up at the Skyfall at Pinewood in 2012 nexus of the British film industry. Right: The famous entrance pinewoodstudios.com ■ 22 Upward Curve July-September 2019.