Lights, Camera…Islington!

Lights, Camera…Islington! in the NEWS

Having only started this blog mid-October, I could not decently do a 2013 Review post. However, in the little time that I have been publishing posts, I have been pleasantly surprised by the interest and feedback generated.

Although the topic of film locations is interesting more and more people everyday, by concentrating on the London borough where I live, one of the smallest London boroughs, I had not anticipated such response. I am glad to see that I am not alone in being keen on such subject!

From bloggers, twitter and other social media connections commenting, providing feedback, pointing out some web pages to local people, neighbours and local organisations. I will not mention anyone in particular here – I do not want to have one of those award-winning speech moment when actors start naming everyone but then fail to mention that all important person – but you know who you are so a big THANK YOU to you all.

Local journalists and media have also shown their interest.

First, Amy Smith from the Islington Tribune mentioned Lights, Camera…Islington! and our Islington Film Locations Map on Caught on Camera published on 22^nd November, only a month after the blog being launched.

Islington Tribune
22nd November

Online version: Caught on Camera

On 19^th December, Yannic Rack from St John Street News, published a very nice article From the Italian Riviera to Islington, referring at the same time to my Hollywood on the Italian Riviera project.

St John Street News
19th December

Online version: From the Italian Riviera to Islington

Finally, under the Christmas tree, I found Rory Brigstock-Barron’s present on Page 3 of the Islington Gazette: Lights, Camera, action…it’s Islington .Yes, Ladies & Gents, I have made Page 3!

NEWS - Islington Gazette Article 26122013

Islington Gazette
26th December

Online version from the 25th: French film buff reveals Islington’s famous flick spots

With all this media frenzy going on, I’d better keep calm and carry on writing for 2014. I wouldn’t want to disappoint that lady, would I?

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

Islington Film Locations Map

Tags: Cinema, Film Tourism, In the News, Islington, Islington Faces, Islington Gazette, Islington Tribune, Italian Riviera, London, London boroughs, Screen Tourism, St John Street News, Tourism

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Categories Islington Filmography

Chapel Market: McDonald’s is Loving It

26 Dec

Having first visited Chapel Market in October for its appearance in The London Nobody Knows (1967), we are back for more for a slightly different kind of post. As anticipated at the end of that post, on Monday 28^th October, making the most of the only day non-market day of the week, a film crew had taken over the street, set up a mini Christmas market and even brought in a snow machine!

On 25^th November, fast-food giant Mc Donald’s unveiled their Somewhere Near You festive TV ad for Christmas.

I know what some of you may be thinking. Like many chain outlets that we can find everywhere and anywhere across the UK, retail outlets are pretty much the same wherever you go. Asides for the first opening seconds, the Christmas 2013 advert takes place mainly inside the restaurant which makes it tricky to identify it.

However, it is not the first time that Mc Donald’s UK uses this Islington outlet. They have done so on a number of occasions and, on those TV adverts, it is possible to spot that we are indeed in Chapel Market, albeit using the ‘pause’ button. Here are a few of those adverts and the clues.

You may remember Mc Donald’s First Day advert. A young man turns up for his first day in a new job and is taken around the office at Mach 2 speed, bombarded with information, names, passwords, etc. When finally he has some time for himself, to recover from this frantic and traumatic experience, he pops in the local outlet…in Chapel Market!

Another campaign you may remember is the Great Tastes of the World one. A man, comfortably seating at home reading the paper, suddenly tells his girlfriend: “Jane I have decided to travel the word.” The adverts were there to support a ‘5 weeks – 5 Burgers’ campaign to invite you to try out tastes from Australia, Mexico, Spain, South Africa and Switzerland. Nonetheless, every single time his exhaustive journey ends up in…you’ve guessed it, Chapel Market again!

In all these adverts, the clues are the black parking post outside the restaurant, the white mark above the company’s name and the windows in the top right angle.

I know, it is not as obvious as Tower Bridge or the Houses of Parliament but this is also what McDonald’s is after: to make it look familiar to all of us independently of where we are in the country.

To sum up, out of their 12,000+ UK outlets, Mc Donald’s is Loving Chapel Market!

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Chapel Market N1 9ER

Angle Tube Station: (Zone 1)

Many buses to Angel

Chapel Market: The London Nobody Knows (1967)

Tags: Angel, Christmas, Islington, Islington Film Locations Map, McDonalds, Screen Tourism, TV advert

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Angel, Islington Filmography

In Great Sutton Street Christmas is All Around, Actually

19 Dec

Switching on the Lights, Advent Calendars, Christmas cards, the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree, Ice-rinks blossoming across London, Selfridge’s Christmas windows, Christmas jumpers… In case you hadn’t notice the Christmas frenzy is upon us.

It is precisely 10 years since rom-com expert Richard Curtis, already behind Four Weddings and a Funeral, masterminded another one of his little gem: Love Actually (2003).

Using a tried and tested recipe, Love Actually tells us the story of interrelated characters and couples dealing with their love lives in the madness that is the run up to Christmas. To do this, Curtis brought together a plethora of British actors such as Emma Thomson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Billy Nighy, Rowan Atkinson to name but a few, and not forgetting his trusted accomplice Hugh Grant. All this wrapped up in a well-crafted soundtrack and song selection…Bingo! Ten years on cinemas around the UK reprogram the movie while radio stations blast away Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas is You.

One item missing from my list above, as you may have noticed, is the sacrosanct office Christmas party. Hate it or love it, this event is an untouchable part of office life, as regular as clockwork. Which is just as well in the present case.

In Love Actually, Harry (Alan Rickman) asks his flirty PA Mia (Heike Makatsch) to find a venue for such party. One of Mia’s friend runs an Art Gallery on the South Bank and this is where the event will take place. Well, sorry to say Richard but this did not fool Lights, Camera…Islington! The ‘South Bank’ gallery isn’t on the South Bank at all but…in Great Sutton Street, off St John’s Street!

In the movie we mainly see the inside of the gallery but we get a quick chance to spot it first by day, and then on the night of the Christmas party.

On this Christmassy note, we would like to wish you all, all the best for the festive season.

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Great Sutton Street EC1V 0DX

Barbican Tube Station (Zone 1)

Farringdon Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Clerkenwell Road, Goswell Road and St John’s Street

Tags: Christmas, Cinema, film, Film Location, Film Tourism, Islington, Islington Film Locations Map, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, London, movie, Richard Curtis, Screen Tourism, Travel

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Categories Clerkenwell, Islington Filmography

Claremont Square: Harry Potter caught outside Number 12 Grimmauld Place

12 Dec

So, Harry Potter fans and wizards of this world: you’ve travelled the world to come to the UK, went up and down London to visit Leadenhall Market – sorry the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley – tried your luck at Australia House – Gringotts Bank – and made it to King’s Cross Platform 9 ¾ to board the Hogwarts Express…or, failing that, take a picture.

Since you flew on your broomsticks all the way to King’s Cross, you’ll be delighted to know that Number 12 Grimmauld Place, the Order of the Phoenix’s Headquarters, is only a stone’s throw away from you!

Based on the book of the same name published by J.K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), is the fifth instalment in the Harry Potter franchise. There is probably no point in me setting up the scene of such story. Suffice it to say that, early on in the movie, a group of wizards come to get Harry and take him to meet his Godfather, Sirius Black.

What follows is a flight over the Thames that screams “Made in London” to the world: Canary Wharf, Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, Blackfriars Bridge, Houses of Parliament and… Islington’s very own Claremont Square!

Harry and friends emerge from behind the trees, open an iron gate and, seconds later, Number 12 Grimmauld Place appears.

The strange shape of Claremont Square is due to the fact that, back in the 18^th century, a water reservoir was there. Following the construction of a larger one nearby, houses were built and, later, the reservoir emptied and covered with grass, hence its steep aspect. A rather wizardly shape you’ll admit.

Later on in the movie, we can spot again Claremont Square for a brief moment with children playing with the snow.

So, Harry Potter fans of this world – what kind of wizards are you if you don’t fly to Islington?

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Claremont Square N1

Angel Tube Station (Zone 1)

King’s Cross Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Angel, Pentonville Road and St John’s Street

Lights, Camera…Islington!

Tags: Cinema, film, Film Location, Film Tourism, Harry Potter, Islington, Islington Film Locations Map, J.K Rowling, London, movie, Pentonville, Screen Tourism, Travel

Comments 6 Comments
Categories Islington Filmography, Pentonville

Frederica Street: Sweet Old Lady in £60,000 bank robbery!

5 Dec

More than ten years ago, a few months after landing on the shores of Dorset, the landlady I was renting a room from, recommended me to join her family for the evening. By then, I had spent quite a few hours with them talking movies and cinema. She knew I was keen on the subject. That evening, she said, I had to watch that movie, a “British classic” starring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers amongst others. Indeed she was right.

Watching The Ladykillers (1955) I could see how this Ealing Studios black comedy had grown to be cherished and become a national treasure, and is still regarded today as one of the best British film of all time. In many ways, it reminded me of some movies I had grown up with, and my parents before me. Post war films that year after year TV channels keep scheduling and that, invariably, get top viewing figures. Everyone in the family has their favourite characters, their preferred scene, and know the dialogues inside out. A certain melancholy, nostalgia for a bygone era hangs around such films.

I doubt there is any point in summarising the story nor should I want to spoil it should you not – really? – have seen it. Make sure you do, you won’t regret it. I am as honest as Mrs Wilberforce here…

With all this in mind, I was surprised and excited to found out that Mrs Wilberforce’s house was in Frederica Street, Islington. Although the views from her house are actually Argyle Street with St Pancras in the background, her house had been built specially for the movie on an empty plot at the end of Frederica Street with the railway line leading to King’s Cross just behind it.

Sadly, but understandably considering the year the movie was made, Frederica Street as it was then is no more. In the following years the area underwent a major redevelopment to give way to the Nailour Estate and only a very short part of it remains.

Nearly 60 years have passed and I wonder how many locals know about this. Maybe someone out there remembers…

CALL OUT: In an interview available online Tom Pevsner, Assistant Director on The Ladykillers, recalls that in Frederica Street, the crew “used rooms in various houses as dressing rooms, rest rooms for the artists, make-up, hair and all that fitted in and we were there for quite a long time.” (…) I should think probably 3 or 4 weeks and the people got quite used to us and enjoyed it (…) I think all the people in Frederica Street or a lot of them knew each other (…).

Pictures found online show a tea party organised by the producers and attended by the cast for the schoolchildren of Frederica Street as a thank you for their co-operation during the many weeks of location shooting.

Do you know anyone who lived in Frederica Street or the area back then? Anyone who may have opened their doors to the crew? Attended the tea party? We would LOVE to hear from them!

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Frederica Street N7

Caledonian Road Tube Station (Zone 2)

Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Overground (Zone 2)

Many buses to Caledonian Road

Tags: Alec Guinness, Barnsbury, Caledonian Road, Cinema, film, Film Location, Film Tourism, Islington, Islington Film Locations Map, Local History, London, movie, Peter Sellers, Screen Tourism, The Ladykillers, Travel

Comments 34 Comments
Categories Barnsbury, Islington Filmography, Lived in Islington

Islington Green: The Screen on the Green “In Cinemas NOW”

28 Nov

This week, The Screen on the Green cinema in Islington is celebrating a very, very special birthday. It is 100 years since the Pesaresi brothers opened this purpose-built cinema after having acquired and demolished a few old shops. The Screen on the Green has changed hands a few times along the way, seen a few refurbishments, in particular to its auditorium, but its peculiar façade outlined in red neon has survived the years and become a local landmark.

To join in the celebrations, I wanted to find out if the cinema has had its 15 minutes of glory. Surely, in its 100 years, and with all the movies filmed in London and Islington, it must have featured in one way or another in a movie. It took some time to go through all my film locations books and usual resources to find one on time for this week’s celebrations but I eventually did.

Just Ask for Diamond (1988) is a teenage comedy based on The Falcon’s Malteser, the first book of The Diamond Brothers series published by British novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz. Hopeless Herbert, who goes by the pseudonym of Tim Diamond (Dursely McLinden) works as a private investigator and, thank God for him, lives with his younger and smarter brother Nick (Colin Dale).

The movie opens with our heroes in a desperate situation: cold, starving, no money left and waiting for that ever-elusive first client. Out of nowhere comes the mysterious Johnny Naples (José René Ruiz) to leave a package. They must not open it and must take care of it for 2 to 3 days in return for… £200!

With things looking up, the two brothers decide to go to the movies and head off to…The Screen on the Green!

Once the movie has ended, they can be seen leaving the cinema and crossing Upper Street towards Islington Green with the familiar façade all lit up behind them.

If you do know of any other film featuring the cinema please do get in touch! In the meantime, let’s all raise our glasses to The Screen on The Green and to the next 100 years!

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Islington Green N1 0NP

Angel Tube Station (Zone 1)

Highbury & Islington Station (Zone 2)

Many buses to Angel, Islington Green

Tags: Angel, Cinema, film, Film Location, Film Tourism, Islington, Islington Film Locations Map, Islington Green, Local History, London, movie, Screen on The Green, Screen Tourism, Travel, Upper Street

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Categories Angel, Islington Filmography

Clerkenwell Green: Fishy Wanda on the Run

21 Nov

A heist-comedy co-written by, and starring John Cleese, fellow Monty Python’s star Michael Palin, Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis looked to have all the ingredients for success when it was premiered. Indeed, within weeks A Fish Called Wanda (1988) became an enormous critical and commercial success, scooping numerous awards along the way.

In London, George (Tom Georgeson) has a plan. Together with Ken (Michael Palin), Otto (Kevin Kline) and Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) they join forces to commit a multi-million pound jewellery heist. After their success, they all try to double cross each other for the loot, as you would. In her quest, Wanda needs to seduce George’s lawyer, Archie Leach (John Cleese).

We can spot our culprits in Islington when, having carried out their heist in nearby Hatton Garden, they arrive Clerkenwell Green walking to meet Wanda, waiting for them in their getaway car.

The car is parked on the south side of the Green with the Crown Tavern pub in the distance.

Pause for a second. Although Hatton Garden is fairly close to Clerkenwell Green I am not sure, should I ever consider carrying out a similar robbery, that I might want to walk all the way to Clerkenwell Green before getting into a car…Having said that, it suits us perfectly since, in doing so, they leave behind Camden to enter Islington!

They jump on the car and here they go – not without nearly running over an old lady and her three Yorkshire Terriers.

Where are they heading? Will they stay in Islington? To be continued…

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Clerkenwell Green EC1R 0DU ‎

Farringdon Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Clerkenwell Road, Farringdon Road, Mount Pleasant and St John’s Street

Tags: A Fish Called Wanda, Cinema, Farringdon, film, Film Location, Film Tourism, Islington, Islington Film Locations Map, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Local History, London, Michael Palin, movie, Screen Tourism, Travel

Comments 2 Comments
Categories Clerkenwell, Islington Boundaries, Islington Filmography

Islington Film Locations Map Launch

14 Nov

It is once month this week that Lights, Camera…Islington! was thrown into the spotlight.

To celebrate this, here is a slightly different post. Not one about a movie location in the borough, but one about the Islington Film Locations Map I have started.

A link to the map will be available below each post in the ‘How to Get There?’ section, and via the ‘Categories Column’ on the right-hand side menu.

Click on the link to get an overall map with icons spread around the borough.

On the left, you’ll see a menu with the different film titles. Click on the one of your choice to go straight there or, alternatively, get closer to the icon or area of your choice, and a box will appear. Inside such box you’ll find a still of the scene, a picture of the location today, and the link to the relevant post…Et voila!

Considering that Lights, Camera…Islington! is only celebrating its first month, there are understandably only a few locations at present. However, I am delighted to say that after spending many weekends going back and forth, up and down the borough, I have now gathered enough materials to publish a post a week for the next year or so.

A BIG THANK YOU to all the Islington organisations, residents and other movie fanatics that have already got in touch with me willing to share their knowledge and open their doors. Glad to see that I am not the only one keen on the subject…When you think that a few weeks ago, I thought I would run out of materials after 3 months!

Hope you get to make the most of the map as it expands and I look forward to seeing many of you with your smartphones, tablets and cameras discovering and enjoying Islington.

Islington Film Locations Map

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

Tags: Cinema, film, Film Location, Film Tourism, Islington, Islington Film Locations Map, Local History, London, movie, Screen Tourism, Tourism, Travel

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Categories Islington Filmography

Highbury: It’s Fever Pitch Around Here

7 Nov

I could not start a blog about Islington film locations in 2013 and not mention Highbury, the home of Arsenal Football Club between 1913 and 2006. The Club, celebrating the 100^th anniversary of its move to Islington, and its stadium, have provided the backdrop to both murder mysteries and romantic comedies.

I have to confess that when I first heard of and saw Fever Pitch (1997), many years after its release, I did smile and wonder how Colin Firth, having just dried off from that little swim of his and become the fantasy of half of the UK, had decided to take on such role. An interesting thing for me about this comedy is to see the journey made by both Colin Firth and Mark Strong, arguably two big names in Hollywood today, since sharing the screen on Fever Pitch. And if I do not know why the former made this film, you can find on youtube an interview of Mark Strong explaining how, being born and bred in Islington and an Arsenal season ticket holder himself, desperate he was to get his part!

Based on Nick Hornby’s novel, the story centres on English teacher Paul (Colin Firth) a passionate Arsenal fan who falls for colleague Sarah (Ruth Gemmell), not so keen on football herself. Inevitably, many scenes take place around the stadium.

As a kid, Paul (Luke Aikman) discovers the Gunners and the Arsenal Stadium atmosphere. We can see him and his dad (Neil Pearson) at the West Entrance Gate on Highbury Hill.

At the end of the movie, the last day of the 1988-89 season, Sarah looks for Paul and goes to Avenell Road, passing by the art-deco style East Stand.

There, she finds him celebrating with Steve (Mark Strong) and other Gunners’ fans, the end of an excruciating season and dramatic last gasp win over Liverpool for the title.

As many scenes of Fever Pitch were shot in the borough, I’ll get back to it: Arsenal fans beware!

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Highbury Stadium N5 1BU

Arsenal Tube Station (Zone 2)

Drayton Park Train station (Zone 2)

Many buses to Highbury Park Road and Holloway Road

Tags: Arsenal, Arsenal Football Club, Arsenal Stadium, Cinema, Colin Firth, Fever Pitch, Film Location, Film Tourism, Highbury, Holloway, Islington, Islington Film Locations Map, London, Mark Strong, movie, Nick Hornby, Ruth Gemmell, Screen Tourism

Comments 2 Comments
Categories Highbury, Holloway, Islington Filmography

Chapel Market: The London Nobody Knows

31 Oct

Located in the heart of Angel, between Penton Street and Liverpool Road is Chapel Market. Known as Chapel Street until 1936, it changed its name after the busy market that had established itself well in the second part of the nineteenth century.

Chapel Market in 1906

Chapel Market survived the twentieth century without any major changes. It is therefore probably unsurprising that it has appeared time and time again on our screens as we will have the opportunity to see in future posts.

Based on an earlier book of the same name, the documentary The London Nobody Knows (1967) follows British actor James Mason around non-touristy areas of 1960s London. The film encapsulates the real life of those years and is definitely worth seeing for anyone interested in the history of the capital.

It is in this context that Mason introduces the spectators to “Chapel Market, Islington” and its array of stalls in a rather psychedelic visit!

As mentioned above, I will come back to Chapel Market in the future. In fact, no later than Monday, only non-trading day of the week, a crew had invaded the street. Watch out for something (an advert?) involving a Christmas market, snow and a world famous fast food restaurant chain…To be continued

Fade Out

Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.

And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Chapel Market N1 1UP

Angle Tube Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Angel

Chapel Market: McDonald’s is Loving It

Tags: Angel, Chapel Market, Cinema, Film Location, Film Tourism, Filming Location, Islington, Islington Film Locations Map, James Mason, Local History, London, movie, Screen Tourism, The London Nobody Knows, Travel

Comments 7 Comments
Categories Angel, Islington Filmography

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Lights, Camera…Islington!