Tag Archives: Travel

Ooh-La-la! Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench on Holloway Road

26 Jun

After two lazy week spent in sunny Liguria eating pasta al pesto, focaccia col formaggio and gelati while working on my Hollywood on the Italian Riviera project, yours truly is back in town. Lights, Camera…Islington! series 2 is now on.

In our last post before our departure, we talked about Notes on a Scandal (2006) and left teachers Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench enjoying a good old cuppa in one of Islington’s favourite greasy, The Shepherdess on City Road.

The following scene of the movie was also shot in Islington you’ll be delighted to hear. Shortly after their cup of tea and on their way home Sheba (Blanchett) and Barbara (Dench) can be seen strolling and chatting on…Holloway Road!

Having just passed the Ooh-La-La! vintage shop, they stop and have a look at the window of the Egerton Pharmacy, nearby St Mary Magdalene Gardens and Islington Central Library.

Notes on a Scandal - Holloway Road - OhLaLa - FILM

Notes on a Scandal - Holloway Road - OhLaLa - MRX

That’s all for this week: short and sweet as I am still on Italian mood!

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

Ooh-La-La! & Egerton Pharmacy

147 & 145 Holloway Road N7 8LX

Highbury and Islington Station (Zone 2)

Holloway Tube Station (Zone 2)

Many buses to Holloway Road

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Love or Disaster at Islington Town Hall

24 Apr

At the end of March, Islington Town Hall hit the headlines and front covers for being the first one to celebrate a same-sex marriage. Today, the spotlight is once again on our Town Hall, again for a wedding and again for a ceremony involving a gay man…or maybe not.

Love and Other Disasters (2006) is a romantic comedy partly produced by Islington based Ruby Films, in which Emily, also known as Jacks (Brittany Murphy), works as an assistant at Vogue UK and shares a flat with her gay friend Peter (Matthew Rhys), a screenwriter. Both worry about serious relationships. Jacks spends her time with her friends Peter and Tallulah (Catherine Tate) and sleeps with her ex, while Peter lives and falls in love in his dreams rather than real people. Enter Paolo Sarmiento (Santiago Cabrera – Aramis in the BBC’s Musketeers to you and me), a charming photographer from Argentina.

Convinced that Paolo is gay, Jacks introduces him to Peter. At the same time she receives him at home in her underwear, when not in her bath. Both Peter and Jacks fell under Paolo’s charm…

All seems going well until Paolo announces that he is packing, going back to Argentina. Someone reported him to the UK authorities, his visa has expired, Paolo must leave.

With a promising photographic career ahead of him, Jacks offers Paolo to get married so that he can stay. And where best to tie the knot than Islington Town Hall!

When Paolo wakes up in finds a note from Jacks saying ‘Meet me at the Islington Registry at 11 a.m. sharp’.

Love and Other Disasters - Islington Town Hall - Film 01

Then we can see Paolo arriving Islington Town Hall.

Love and Other Disasters - Islington Town Hall - Film 02

Love and Other Disasters - Islington Town Hall - Film 03

Love and Other Disasters - Islington Town Hall - MRX 01

Seconds later Peter rushes out of a black cab.

Love and Other Disasters - Islington Town Hall - Film 06

Love and Other Disasters - Islington Town Hall - MRX 02

 

Will Jacks and Paolo get married or will Paolo dare to tell her that he is not the man she thinks he is? More scenes of Love and Other Disasters were shot across the borough so, you’d better watch it to get the answer!

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 Town Hall N1 2UD

Highbury and Islington Station (Zone 2)

Many buses to Upper Street

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Fever Pitch rises again around Arsenal Station

17 Apr

Ever since Gillepsie Road Tube station was renamed Arsenal (Highbury Hill) in 1932, football fans across the world have been able to pinpoint where the home of Arsenal Football Club was.

Gillepsie Road Sation pre November 1932

Gillepsie Road Sation

As we saw in part one of our Fever Pitch (1997) franchise, Highbury: It’s Fever Pitch Around Here, as a kid Paul (Luke Aikman) discovers Arsenal Football Club with his dad (Neil Pearson). As you would expect, in the same way that the old Arsenal Stadium features a number of times, so does Arsenal Tube Station.

On his way to the stadium, we can see him exiting the station on several occasions, here with his dad…

Fever Pitch - Arsenal Tube Station - FILM 01

and returning to it after the game.

Fever Pitch - Arsenal Tube Station - FILM 03

Towards the end of the movie, while looking for Paul (Colin Firth), Sarah (Ruth Gemmell) can be spotted on Highbury Hill with the station in the distance.

Fever Pitch - Arsenal Tube Station - FILM 05

Finally, all is well that ends well. After the celebrations, Sarah & Paul can be seen strolling down Highbury Hill making their way towards Arsenal Station.

Fever Pitch - Arsenal Tube Station - FILM 06

Arsenal Tube Station - MRX

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

Arsenal Tube Station (Zone 2)

Many buses to Blackstock Road and Holloway Road

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Cowcross Street: Jude Law lives Closer than you think

10 Apr

In our first post on Closer (2004), we left Dan (Jude Law) and Alice (Natalie Portman) outside Anna’s studio (Julia Roberts) in Westland Place, off City Road. We find Alice and Dan back in Islington later on in the movie.

After heartbreaks, affairs, and a few arguments along the way, Alice and Dan are eventually back together. However, one evening, as Dan keeps asking Alice the same question, the couple argues. In the end, Dan apologies and goes to make tea. While in the kitchen, Alice disappears.

When he realises it, he runs down the stairs behind her only to find out that she has vanished in the night.

The first shot we see from Jude Law outside his flat does not tell us much. We primarily see him, in the dark, with an open door behind him.

Closer - Cowcross Street - FILM 01

Closer - Cowcross Street - MRX 01

However, the following one, from a different angle, allows us to recognise the Victorian structure of Smithfield Market which is all lit up. Yes, Ladies & Gents, Jude Law lives in Cowcross Street!

Closer - Cowcross Street - FILM 02

Closer - Cowcross Street - MRX 02

That’s the Wrap!

This post is our last one on Closer but if you know otherwise, please do let me know.

 

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

Cowcross Street EC1M 6DR

Farringdon Station (Zone 1)

Barbican Tube Station (Zone 1)

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

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Liam Neeson rushes through Camden Passage

3 Apr

You may recall that in From Angel Station to Milano, we left Peter (Liam Neeson) a worried man. Following the passing of his wife, he had discovered that she probably had a lover. He wanted to find out who The Other Man (2008) might be and we had left him exiting Angel Station.

But then what next? Would we be lucky enough to spot him again in Islington?

Cinema has always been very good at tricking us, pretending to be somewhere when in fact the scene was shot in a studio or on the other side of the world. It would therefore not have been very surprising to see that on the next shot Liam Neeson was (already) in, say, Greenwich!

However, I am delighted to say that he stayed in Islington. In fact, Neeson follows a route that hundreds of locals and Londoners know very well. Once out of the station he walks past The Royal Bank of Scotland and goes through…Camden Passage!

The Other Man - Camden Passage - FILM

The Other Man - Camden Passage - MRX

Once one of London’s leading antique market destinations, Camden Passage has in more recent years welcomed a diverse range of vintage shops, cafes, restaurants, not to mentioned a British cheesemonger and a Chocolatier extraordinaire. If you haven’t done so already, it is definitely worth a visit the next time you come to Islington!

Having featured a number of times on the big screen Camden Passage will become another hot spot on our Islington Film Location Map. Just as well since I am yet to try half the cheeses on display there. You can take the boy out of France but…

That’s the Wrap!

This post is our last one on The Other Man but if you know otherwise, please do let me know.

Since the two sequences we talked about follow each other, here they are as they appear on screen.

The Other Man - Angel Tube Station - FILM

The Other Man - Camden Passage - FILM

 

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

Camden Passage N1 8EA

Angel Tube Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Angel and Islington

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Myddelton Square’s Week with Meryl Streep

27 Mar

Today I was due to talk to you about a film shot in Myddelton Square and outside St Mark’s Church. I had it all planned for months, set in stone in my blog calendar: Thursday 27th March, Myddelton Square, The End of the Affair (1999) with Julianne Moore and Ralf Fiennes.

Hummm… maybe not. Let’s put it this way, we will still visit Myddelton Square and St Mark’s Church but for the time being we’ll forget about Julianne More and Ralf Fiennes. All this because I realised a few weeks ago that although I had drafted the text, selected the pictures from the movie, I was actually missing those from the location itself! As a result, making the most of a sunny afternoon, I made my way to yet another beautiful square of our borough.

As I arrived Myddelton Square some familiar yellow signs grabbed my attention.

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 01

Well, well, well…Parking spaces booked …for Filming…24 to 26 March… How interesting…

Back home, I started searching the Internet for any information I could possibly get. Eventually, some light at the end of the tunnel:  Suffragette…Biopic on Emmeline Pankhurst… First film to get permission to shoot inside Houses of Parliament…Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw, not bad, not bad…MERYL STREEP? Oh oh oh…Now we’re talking.

Islington has had its fair share of Oscar and BAFTA winning movies and stars as we have seen on our blog, but this was different: filming was taking place on our doorsteps within days!

Another cause for celebration maybe is not only the fact that the shooting and such cast were coming to Islington this week, but also that Ruby Film and Television, an Islington based production company, based a stone’s throw from Myddelton Square, is behind such project. Although Islington Film Studios (later Gainsborough Studios) and Highbury Studios have long gone, Islington’s cinema industry is still going strong!

Ruby Film & TV Offices

Ruby Film & Television Offices

My initial excitement was short lived. The 24th, 25th and 26th March were all weekdays, i.e. workdays. I enlisted the help (and camera) of LadyPinkLondon who already contributes to this blog and who went to Myddelton Square during her spare time.

We are proud to present, ‘exclusively for the readers of Lights, Camera Islington!’ some behind the scenes pictures of what has been going on this week in Islington. This should keep you going until the release of Suffragette in 2015.

 

Before

Myddelton Square Before…

and After!

and After!

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 02

Setting the scene

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 06

Banners for the Suffragettes being delivered

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 09

A few vintage cars

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 08

a Police van

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 07

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 04

Lights ready and THE balcony…

And the Oscar goes to…

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 10

An Oscar ‘Made in Islington’ for Meryl?

Finally, some cast and suffragettes having a well deserved break between scenes

 

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 13

 

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 11

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 18

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 14 15 16

Selfie Time - Sadly no Meryl on this one!

Selfie Time – Sadly no Meryl on this one!

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 20

Extras outside St Mark’s Church

 

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 19

St Mark’s Church

CALL OUT: You live or work on Myddelton Square or nearby? You got involved in the shooting in one way or another? Maybe as an Extra or as a location? Was Meryl standing on your balcony? Carey outside your house? Should you be happy to share your experience with Lights, Camera…Islington!, we would LOVE to hear from you!

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

Myddelton Square EC1R 1XP

Angel Tube Station (Zone 1)

King’s Cross Station (Zone 1)

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

 

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Copenhagen Tunnel: The Ladykillers Part 2

20 Mar

In Frederica Street: Sweet Old Lady in 60,000 bank robbery! I explained how Ealing Studios’ classic The Ladykillers (1955) was dear to me: One of the first movie I saw after landing in the UK, one that reminded me of a bygone era and that I was over the moon when I realised it had been partly filmed in Islington’s Frederica Street.

Sadly, we also saw how this excitement was short lived when I walked to Frederica Street and realised that shortly after the filming the area had undergone a major redevelopment to give way to the Nailour Estate: Nothing remained from 1954.

Nothing? Hummm, maybe not. Despite all the changes around Frederica Street, if you look carefully, you will find that 60 years on something is still here: The Copenhagen Tunnel. The bridge and the mouths of the tunnel that stood right at the back of Mrs Wilberforce’s house, so crucial in the final stages of the film, can still be seen today.

The LadyKillers - Federica Street - House and Bridge - FILM

The LadyKillers - Bridge - FILM 01

Alec Guinness (Professor Marcus) and Herbert Lom (Louis)

The LadyKillers - Bridge - FILM 02

The LadyKillers - Bridge - MRX

Yes I confess, it is particularly difficult to reach since Frederic Street is no more but…where there is a will, there is a mean. The long option will take you via York Way and then Yale Road through the industrial estate.

A shorter and maybe more comfortable route might be to simply catch the Overground from the Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Station towards Camden Road. Within seconds of departing, looking north, you’ll see it.

The mouths of Copenhagen Tunnel from the Overground

The mouths of Copenhagen Tunnel
from the Overground

A final option might be to know someone living in the Bunning Way flats (off the former Frederica St) and who may let you have a sneak peek from their window or car park… you know my email.

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.

Frederica Street - The Ladykillers - Tea Party

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

Vale Royal, N7

Caledonian Road Tube Station (Zone 2)

Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Overground (Zone 2)

Many buses to Caledonian Road and York Way

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On Holloway Road, Mind the Driving Instructor #Enraha

13 Mar

In our first Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) post, we left Poppy (Sally Hawkins) confronting Scott (Eddie Marsan) about an earlier incident, outside her house in Mountgrove Road. Once in the car, with Scott behind the wheel, they disappeared onto Wilberforce Road towards Finsbury Park.

Where are they off to one wonders: Hackney? Islington? I am glad to say that you do not have to wait long to get the answer as it lies in the next shot. Here they are again, right in the heart of Islington: Holloway Road.

In fact, Poppy and Scott are at one of Islington’s busiest junction. we can spot them on Tollington Road, turning right onto Holloway Road towards Archway.

Happy Go Lucky - Holloway Road - Waitrose - FILM

Happy Go Lucky - Holloway Road - Waitrose - MRX

And if they have just turned right towards Archway, it would be reasonable to believe that they should next be seen around there, wouldn’t it? Well… they may still be in Islington, but not quite where ‘Enraha’ might expect them… To be continued!

Fade Out

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

Holloway Road N7

Holloway Tube Station (Zone 2)

Many buses to Holloway Road

 

Related Happy-Go-Lucky posts

Mountgrove Road: A Vintage Sally Hawkins Lived Here

At Highbury Corner, Keep Your Lane!

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

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Stephen Fry Hides in Alwyne Road

6 Mar

When we last spoke of V for Vendetta (2005), we left Evey (Natalie Portman) recalling her childhood to V (Hugo Weaving), and how she used to hand out leaflets outside Farringdon Station.

Soon after, V tells Evey that, having brought her to his house, she must now remain there until the following 5th November, one year away. When she realises that V kills government officials, she escapes. Now a wanted woman, she cannot go back home and decides to take refuge at her boss’s, comedian and talk show host Gordon Deitrich (Stephen Fry).

In return for her trust, Gordon explains that he conceals his sexuality to protect his career, and shows her a collection of prohibited materials such as paintings, an antique Quran, and homoerotic photographs.

And where better to hide than…Alwyne Road. A quiet leafy street in Canonbury, by the new river footpath.

Unlike other Islington film locations, the house is not instantly recognisable. We only get to see it for a few seconds, at night and mainly from close-ups. First, when Evey rings the bell and Gordon opens the door.

 V for Vendetta - 6 Alwyne Road - FILM 01

Then, later that evening, before the police storms in, we get a quick glance at the whole house but again it is a night shot.

V for Vendetta - 6 Alwyne Road - FILM 02

V for Vendetta - 6 Alwyne Road - MRX 01

Stay on your toes, V for Vendetta will take us to other locations across 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

Alwyne Road N1

Essex Road Train Station (Zone 1)

Highbury and Islington Station (Zone 2)

Buses to Canonbury Road, Essex Road, Upper Street or Highbury Corner

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Hercule Poirot solves murder in Thornhill Crescent

27 Feb

In a similar way than Chapel Market, this week’s Islington Film Location survived the upheavals of the 20th century without any major changes. Similarly, it features regularly on our screens and you can be sure that “we’ll be back”. This is where the similarity ends.

Agatha Christie’s crime novels have been adapted time and time again for the big screen, the television or the stage. It is for an episode of ITV’s Agatha Christie’s Poirot, that Belgium detective Hercule Poirot (David Suchet), graces us with his presence.

In The Clocks (Season 12 – 2009), Hercule Poirot investigates a murder in Wilbraham Crescent. Wilbraham Crescent? No such crescent in Islington my dear Monsieur X, non, non, non!

In fact, there is no reason why one should think or realise that we are in the heart of Islington. The whole episode is set in Dover, as the regular views of the Castle and the sea remind us, not to mention the seagulls we hear on most outdoor scenes. Furthermore, when Lt Colin Race (Tom Burke) presents the case to Poirot he refers to Wilbraham Crescent as “a quiet street away from the seafront”. How could you possibly guess you are in Thornhill Crescent?

Since Wilbraham Crescent is the crime scene, Poirot keeps coming back to it: to visit the house where the body was found, talk to the neighbours, once, twice…

The first time we get to spot Thornhill Crescent is when typist-for-hire Sheila Webb (Jaime Winstone) arrives to the house of Ms Pebmarsh (Anna Massey). She arrives from Crescent Street and turns left.

Poirot - Thornhill Crescent - Film 01

Poirot - Thornhill Crescent - Film 02

Poirot - Thornhill Crescent - MRX 02

Later on Poirot and Lt Race go back to ask the neighbours a few questions. We can see them arriving by car from Bridgeman Road (east side) and turning right onto Thornhill Crescent.

Poirot - Thornhill Crescent - Film 03

After their visit, they stop on the pavement to discuss progress with Inspector Hardcastle (Phil Daniels) who has joined them.

Poirot - Thornhill Crescent - Film 04

Poirot - Thornhill Crescent - Film 05

Poirot - Thornhill Crescent - MRX 03

Finally, when our Belgium detective has all the evidences he needed, he rings Inspector Hardcastle. The red phone box used was a prop but St Andrew’s Church can be seen in the background.

 Poirot - Thornhill Crescent - Film 06

Poirot - Thornhill Crescent - MRX 04

A particular Thank You to our Twitter friends @thecallyroad and Jan in particular for  pointing us in the right direction us!

We will come back to Thornhill Square for more Islington Film Locations adventures…

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

Thornhill Crescent N1 1BJ

Caledonian Road Tube Station (Zone 2)

Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Overground (Zone 2)

Many buses to Caledonian Road

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