Stages 2 And 3A And 3B And 5 At Ealing Studios

Stages 2, 3a, 3b and 5 at Ealing Studios

A block of film studios with related offices and dressing rooms, built in brick and concrete construction with steel truss roofs. Designed by Robert Atkinson and Alexander Frederick Anderson, the complex was constructed in two phases: the south block and Stage 2 in 1931, followed by Stages 3a and 3b with the north block in 1934. A small sound studio was adapted as a meeting room and extra stage within the older structure around 1993.

The plan arranges two large film studios, one of which can be subdivided into two if required, with dressing rooms and offices positioned to the north and south. Externally, the buildings feature white rendered walls, metal casement windows and timber double doors. The interiors of the offices and dressing rooms are not of particular architectural interest, though the corridor retains delightful signage from the 1930s to 1950s. The stages themselves have exposed steel truss roofs, concrete block and brick walls, and lighting grids spanning their entire extent. These spaces demonstrate the development of sound studios as large ground-floor spaces designed for maximum flexibility and are included for their historic interest.

Ealing Film Studios represent the most historic surviving film studios in England, both architecturally and for their significance in British film-making history. The first studios were established on this site in 1908, chosen for its notably smog-free environment close to London. In 1928, legislation requiring a quota of British films to be shown in cinemas prompted a revival and reorganisation of the film-making industry. This led Basil Dean and Sir Gerald du Maurier to found Associated Talking Pictures in 1929, in partnership with the American distributor Radio Keith Orpheum Corporation. Atkinson and Anderson were commissioned to rebuild the site with new studios between 1931 and 1934.

The greatest importance of Ealing Studios, however, lies in the films produced there. Under Dean's leadership, the site enjoyed a successful if modest era, with most of Gracie Fields' and George Formby's popular films made here. The most celebrated period came between 1938 and 1958 under Michael Balcon's investment, which infused the films with a new social vision. His wartime films were notable for characterisation and plot, while the post-war period saw a distinctive exploration of social mores in films including Passport to Pimlico (1948), Whisky Galore (1948), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1950), The Titfield Thunderbolt (1952) and The Ladykillers (1955). No other British studio possesses so strong a history or has defined itself so firmly as the maker of a distinctively English, indeed London, kind of film.