Highbury Studios

Film studios located in London

The Highbury Studios were a British film studio located in Highbury, North London which operated from 1937 until 1956. The studios were constructed by the producer Maurice J. Wilson. During its early years, the studio was hired out to independent production companies.

Credits

Mrs Pym of Scotland Yard^[1]

Highbury Productions

Following the Second World War, Highbury was acquired by the Rank Organisation which used it to make low-budget second features featuring the company's rising actors.^[2] The studio was run by the producer John Croydon, who had previously worked at Ealing. Its aim was to make 50 minute "curtain raisers" for Rank's features. John Croydon was head of production.^[3] It frequently used members of Rank's Company of Youth.^[4]^[5]

In December 1948 the studio operation was shut down as part of a series of cuts made throughout the Rank Organisation, which had suffered heavy financial losses.^[6]^[7]

Select credits

A Song for Tomorrow (1948) – directed by Terence Fisher
Trouble in the Air (1948)
Penny and the Pownall Case (1948) – with Diana Dors, Christopher Lee
Colonel Bogey (1948) – directed by Terence Fisher
To the Public Danger (1948) – directed by Fisher, with Dermot Walsh and Susan Shaw
Fly Away Peter (1948)
Love in Waiting (1948) – with David Tomlinson
A Piece of Cake (1948)
Badger's Green (1949)
Stop the Merry-Go-Round (1952)

Later use

Occasional films were still made there by other companies, and it became increasingly used as a television studio.^[8] It made a number of commercials.^[9]

Bibliography

Macnab, Geoffrey. J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry. Routledge, 1994.
Warren, Patricia. British Film Studios: An Illustrated History. Batsford, 2001.

References

^ "Mrs. Pym of Scotland Yard". The Mercury. Vol. CLI, no. 21, 492. Tasmania, Australia. 14 October 1939. p. 5. Retrieved 22 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Macnab p.144
^ "LATEST FILM NEWS FROM ABROAD". The Sun. No. 11966 (LATE FINAL EXTRA ed.). Sydney. 3 June 1948. p. 19. Retrieved 22 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "SHORTS FROM BRITAIN". The Daily News. Vol. LXV, no. 22, 592 (FIRST ed.). Western Australia. 6 September 1947. p. 22. Retrieved 22 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "FILM STARS ARE MADE, NOT BORN". The World's News. No. 2412. New South Wales, Australia. 13 March 1948. p. 13. Retrieved 22 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Macnab p.161
^ "SACK FOR BRITISH FILM EMPLOYEES". Tribune. No. 475. New South Wales, Australia. 4 December 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 22 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Warren p.93
^ "How TV will pay its way". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 1 September 1954. p. 2. Retrieved 22 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.