Studying Ealing Studios

by Stephanie Muir

Located in the West London suburb from which it takes its name, Ealing Studios is one of the best loved and best known institutions of British cinema. Ealing represents a particular kind of institutional practicea community of filmmakers who collaborate in a defined location and produce a particular kind of film. Popular and acclaimed examples include Dead of Night (1945), Whiskey Galore! (1949), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and The Ladykillers (1955). Viewed within the context of a nation forced to adjust to World War II and its subsequent social upheavals, Ealing films reflect common characteristics that can be identified as "national," conjuring images of Britain and Britishness for domestic and international audiences. In many ways, the values of Ealing in the 1940s and early 1950s are the values of Britain. Encouraging a view of the institution from its own perspective (which John Ellis casts as "liberal rather than radical, progressive
rather than revolutionary "), this volume traces how Ealing constructed an image of Britain at a particular moment in history.

Genres: Film

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2010

Reviews

[Malcolm Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather difficult to write a history of this country's most famous film studios.
The pages dealing with the history of the studios is very interesting. However it is superfluous to add synopsis of their most famous films.The opinions on them come from dull academia.