The Times (22/Jul/1993) - Elstree suffers unkindest cut
(c) The Times (22/Jul/1993)
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Blackmail (1929), Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, Jamaica Inn (1939)
Elstree suffers unkindest cut
Hopes that the ailing British film industry might somehow be restored to health received a further blow yesterday with the announcement that Elstree studios, once regarded as the British Hollywood, is to close.
The present owner, Brent Walker, which acquired the site from the Cannon group in 1988, said there was little demand for the studio facilities and it had been unable to find a new buyer.
In a statement, the company said that with regret it intended to discontinue film-making activities at Elstree: "With the demise of the film industry, the facilities there have been substantially under-utilised over the last three years."
The site in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, was chosen in 1926 to avoid fogs hampering film-making near central London. The studios were the first to be built near the capital and were used by Alfred Hitchcock to produce Blackmail, the first British talkie. Hundreds of successful films followed, including Jamaica Inn, The Dambusters, Murder on the Orient Express, Moby Dick and The Hasty Heart.
More recently, Elstree was chosen by Steven Spielberg to produce his blockbusters, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies. It has also been used for dozens of popular television series.
The closure announcement is certain to cause controversy because, at the time when planning permission was granted for development of part of the site to include a new supermarket, Hertsmere Borough Council stipulated that the rest of the land must continue to be used by the film industry for the next 25 years. Gill Gowing, the council's head of planning, said: "The clause in our agreement simply precludes the use of the studios for any other purpose."
