Ealing Studios was built in 1931 by the theatre director
Basil Dean, head of Associated Talking Pictures. He co-produced
about 60 films there, and left in 1938, when it was taken over by
Michael Balcon. Balcon had been profitably running Gainsborough
and then Gaumont studios, with directors such as Alfred
Hitchcock, and worked for Louis B. Mayer for a while after
that, but hated it and decided to start an independent production
company of his own, which became Ealing Films. The films of George
Formby and Will Hay raked in the money, and attracted
directors such as Charles Crichton, Henry Cornelius, Robert
Hamer, Alexander Mackendrick and Leslie Norman. 'Ealing
comedies' became a hallmark for good films, and include Passport
to Pimlico, The Lavender Hill Mob, Kind Hearts and Coronets,
The Ladykillers and Whisky Galore!. Alec Guinness was a frequent star. The final Ealing film was
produced in 1959, after which the BBC bought the studios. They
now play host to a comedy club.
Studio filmography:
Against the Wind, (1948)
Another Shore, (1948)
Barnacle Bill, (1957)
Bells Go Down, The (1943)
Big Blockade, The (1942)
Bitter Springs, (1950)
Black Sheep of Whitehall, The (1942)
Blue Lamp, The (1950)
Cage of Gold, (1950)
Captive Heart, The (1946)
Champagne Charlie, (1944)
Cheer Boys Cheer, (1939)
Come on George, (1939)
Convoy, (1940)
Cruel Sea, The (1953)
Dance Hall, (1950)
Davy, (1957)
Dead of Night, (1945)
Divided Heart, The (1954)
Dunkirk, (1958)
Eureka Stockade, (1949)
Feminine Touch, The (1956)
Fiddlers Three, (1944)
For Those in Peril, (1944)
Foreman Went to France, The (1942)
Four Just Men, The (1939)
Frieda, (1947)
Gaunt Stranger, The (1938)
Gentle Gunman, The (1952)
Ghost of St. Michael's, The (1941)
Goose Steps Out, The (1942)
Halfway House, The (1944)
His Excellency, (1952)
Hue and Cry, (1947)
I Believe in You, (1952)
It Always Rains on Sunday, (1947)
Johnny Frenchman, (1945)
Kind Hearts and Coronets, (1949)
Ladykillers, The (1955)
Lavender Hill Mob, The (1951)
Lease of Life, (1954)
Let George Do It, (1940)
Let's Be Famous, (1939)
Long Arm, The (1956)
Love Lottery, The (1954)
Loves of Joanna Godden, The (1947)
Maggie, The (1954)
Magnet, The (1950)
Man in the Sky, The (1957)
Man in the White Suit, The (1951)
Mandy, (1952)
Meet Mr. Lucifer, (1953)
My Learned Friend, (1943)
Next of Kin, (1942)
Nicholas Nickleby, (1947)
Night My Number Came Up, (1955)
Nine Men, (1943)
Nowhere to Go, (1958)
Out of the Clouds, (1955)
Overlanders, The (1946)
Painted Boats, (1945)
Passport to Pimlico, (1949)
Pink String and Sealing Wax, (1945)
Pool of London, (1951)
Proud Valley, The (1940)
Rainbow Jacket, The (1954)
Return to Yesterday, (1940)
Run for Your Money, A (1949)
Sailors Three, (1940)
Saloon Bar, (1940)
San Demetrio, London (1943)
Saraband for Dead Lovers, (1948)
Scott of the Antarctic, (1948)
Secret People, The (1952)
Ship that Died of Shame, The (1955)
Ships with Wings, (1941)
Shiralee, The (1957)
Siege of Pinchgut, The (1959)
Spare a Copper, (1940)
Square Ring, The (1953)
There Ain't No Justice, (1939)
They Came to a City, (1944)
Titfield Thunderbolt, The (1953)
Touch and Go, (1955)
Train of Events, (1949)
Trouble Brewing, (1939)
Turned Out Nice Again, (1941)
Undercover, (1943)
Ware Case, The (1938)
Went the Day Well? (1943)
West of Zanzibar, (1954)
Where No Vultures Fly, (1951)
Whisky Galore! (1949)
Who Done It? (1956)
Young Man's Fancy, (1939)