One of the UK's oldest surviving studios, the Twickenham site was
bought in 1912 by Dr. Ralph Jupp who formed the London Film Company to produce stylish films for the American market, his first being The House Of Temperley (d. Harold Shaw, 1913). He also employed legendary actors such as Sir Herbert Tree and American producers Harold M. Shaw and George Loane Tucker. Financial and health
problems caused him to sell in 1920 to the Alliance Company; "big on ideas,
short on experience", it collapsed in 1922. From 1923 to 1928 the studios were leased to various companies, then Julius Hagen founded the Twickenham Film Studios Ltd, with actor Henry Edwards and director Leslie Hiscott. For the period he made a suprising number of films attracting good actors and directors including Michael Powell. Financial problems resulted in the sale of the studios in 1937 to Studio Holdings Ltd, until 1938. The studios were bombed during World War II, then were used for mainly TV productions until Guido Coen developed the studio's international profile, attracting the producers of such films as Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (d. Karel Reisz, 1960), A Hard Day's Night (d. Richard Lester, 1964),
Reds (US, d. Warren Beatty, 1981) and Shirley Valentine (UK/US, Lewis Gilbert, 1989). A tiny studio with a long established reputation for filming, television, commercials and post production facilities.
Bibliography
Warren, Patricia, British Film Studios: An Illustrated History (2001).
Patricia Warren, Encyclopedia of British Film
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