List of Illustrations

Ealing was not your typical film studio, at first glimpse it looked like some fancy Regency manor house. © Olive Limpkin/Associated Newspapers/REX

Michael Balcon’s presence and influence dominated the entire fabric of the studio. ‘He was like some kind of benign God,’ said one worker. © Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

One of Ealing’s first successes was George Formby, but Balcon disliked him personally. © Everett Collection/REX

Will Hay made several popular comedies at Ealing before ill health forced him to retire from the cinema. © Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The canteen was the social hub of the studio with many workers meeting their future wives and husbands there. © Associated Newspapers/REX

One of Ealing’s most politically aware films was The Proud Valley (1940), starring the celebrated American actor/singer and Communist sympathiser Paul Robeson. © Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The supernatural chiller Dead of Night (1945) is today best remembered for Michael Redgrave’s haunting portrayal of a ventriloquist who believes his dummy is alive. © Hulton Archive/Getty Images

With its cast of children and filmed amidst the bombsites of post-war London, Hue and Cry (1947) was the first of the ‘classic’ Ealing comedies. © Moviestore Collection/REX

Ealing was criticized for its lack of strong roles for women, but Googie Withers excelled as a barmaid out to kill her husband in Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945). © Courtesy Everett Collection/REX

The screen embodiment of stiff upper lip Britishness, John Mills as Scott of the Antarctic (1948). © REX

Ealing became well known for using outdoor locations, following the example of the Italian neorealist movement. Ironically Passport to Pimlico (1949) was shot in Lambeth. © Richard Woodard/Ealing Studios/Getty Images

Bottom: Whisky Galore! (1949) turned out to be one of Ealing’s most famous films but came within a hairsbreadth of being an unmitigated disaster. © REX

Alec Guinness’ tour de force performance as the entire D’Ascoyne family in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) elevated him to the forefront of film actors. © Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Bottom: The Blue Lamp (1950) was the most popular film of its year at British cinemas and made a star of Dirk Bogarde. © Courtesy Everett Collection/REX

Director Charles Frend and producer Sidney Cole in the props department at Ealing. © Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Director Charles Crichton gives instructions to his young stars Petula Clark and Diana Dors in Dance Hall (1950). © Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Alfie Bass, Alec Guinness and Sid James star in The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), the inventive bank heist screenplay that won Ealing regular T.E.B Clarke a deserved Oscar. © StudioCanal/REX

Appearing briefly at the start of The Lavender Hill Mob was unknown actress Audrey Hepburn. Ealing, however, failed to recognise her potential and two years later she won Hollywood fame in Roman Holiday. © Everett Collection/REX

Directors Leslie Norman, father of film critic Barry, and Harry Watt, who when angry on set would tear his shirt in half. © Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

A fascinating glimpse behind the scenes showing an Ealing film crew at work. © Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Another Ealing classic, The Man in the White Suit (1951), satirized both boardroom idiocy and trade union intransigence. © Moviestore Collection/REX

The courtroom drama I Believe In You (1952) gave early roles for Laurence Harvey and an 18-year-old Joan Collins. © Moviestore/REX

The heart-rending drama Mandy (1952) featured a remarkable performance from seven-year-old Mandy Miller. © StudioCanal Films/REX

On location for The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953), Ealing’s celebration of the bygone age of steam. © Daniel Farson/Picture Post/Getty Images

Ealing turned Nicholas Monsarrat’s bestseller The Cruel Sea (1953) into one of British cinema’s greatest war pictures. © Courtesy Everett Collection/REX

A consummate comedy cast for The Ladykillers (1955). Years later Peter Sellers and Herbet Lom would lock horns again in the Pink Panther movies. © ullstein bild/Getty Images

Ealing hoped to create another comedy star with Benny Hill, a successor to the likes of Will Hay, but Who Done It? (1956) flopped. Here Benny enjoys lunch at Ealing’s executive dining room with Balcon and writer T.E.B Clarke. © Popperfoto/Getty Images

Bernard Lee and John Mills in Dunkirk (1958), Ealing’s underrated war epic and one of the studio’s final pictures. © Moviestore Collection/REX