Portland Place, London
Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London.
BBC Broadcasting House
BBC Broadcasting House is located at the southern end of Portland Place, and is referenced in several Hitchcock films as characters listen to BBC radio broadcasts.
On the evening of 8 January 1939, Hitchcock took his family to Broadcasting House where his acceptance speech for the New York Film Critics' award was relayed to New York. Hitchcock had won "Best Director of the Year" for The Lady Vanishes (1938).[1]
Hitchcock's Films
The Pleasure Garden (1925)
Patsy's landlord, Mr. Sidey is seen listening to a BBC radio broadcast on his headset at the end of the film
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
An intertitle announces "MURDER - HOT OVER THE AERIAL" and a radio news announcer at BBC Broadcasting House is shown describing the latest murder. Several people are then shown in close-up listening to their radios, including one who might be Alma Reville.[2]
The 39 Steps (1935)
In both the source novel and the film The 39 Steps, Richard Hannay lives in a flat at 122 Portland Place. The actual flat was created on the sound stages at Lime Grove Studios.[3]
As Hannay flees north on the Flying Scotsman from King's Cross Station, one of his travelling companions reads about the murder and says that Portland Place is "by the BBC".
Author John Buchan lived at 76 Portland Place.[4]
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
The film ends with Johnny Jones broadcasting from the BBC as German bombs fall outside Broadcasting House.
The scene was filmed on a studio sound stage.
The Paradine Case (1947)
In Robert Hichens source novel, Anthony Keane lives at 53 Portland Place. For the film, Hitchcock situated the Keane's house at 60 Portland Place, on the corner with Weymouth Street.
Both the interior and the initial exterior view of the house were constructed at the Selznick Studios by art director Thomas N. Morahan.[5]
Google Maps
The Keane's house at 60 Portland Place:
Nearest Locations
- Park Crescent, London (0.2 miles)
- London Palladium, London (0.5 miles)
- Scala Theatre, London (0.5 miles)
- L'Étoile Restaurant, London (0.5 miles)
- Claridge's, London (0.5 miles)
- Oxford Street, London (0.6 miles)
Links
Notes & References
- ↑ New York Times (09/Jan/1939) & (12/Feb/1939)
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock's London: A Reference Guide to Locations (2009) by Gary Giblin, pages 102-3
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock's London: A Reference Guide to Locations (2009) by Gary Giblin, pages 99-100
- ↑ The 39 Steps: A British Film Guide (2003) by Mark Glancy, page 4
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock's London: A Reference Guide to Locations (2009) by Gary Giblin, page 101
