The Great Pretender: England on film
- Published
The great English landscape is a film icon in its own right - think of the sweeping grandeur of Wuthering Heights, Bond's swaggering London, the Cotswoldian charm of Pride and Prejudice.
But what about the film locations you never knew about? Here are some of the country's best disguises.
Avengers: New York State
"Got your mallet and palm-torch? We're off to Norfolk!"
The grand and futuristic Avengers HQ in "Upstate New York" is in reality nestled in Norwich.
The hangar-like building featured in the Thor movies, the newest Spider-Man offering (Homecoming) and the Avengers franchise is actually the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts on the campus of the University of East Anglia in Norwich.
The building - when not overrun by people in exclusively skin-tight outfits - houses modern art donated by Lord and Lady Sainsbury, including works by Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Edgar Degas, as well as world art spanning 5,000 years of human creativity.
Spidey arrived for lectures in his usual understated manner
Atonement: Dunkirk
James McAvoy searching for a chicken parmo
One of the most poignant sequences in the film Atonement was shot on Redcar beach. It captures the moment in the story when the character of Robbie Turner, played by James McAvoy, along with two of his soldier friends, arrive at Dunkirk having walked for many days to get there.
They are greeted by chaos, with hundreds of thousands of men on the beach hoping for the British ships to return so they can be evacuated.
Additions to the eight-mile stretch of sand near Middlesbrough included the smouldering wreckage of a seafront French hotel and thousands of local extras in army uniform.
Redcar at war
A more typical day at the beach
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World War Z: Nova Scotia
"I think I'd prefer Dorset"
In the 2013 Brad Pitt film World War Z, one place speaks of safety, tranquillity and freedom following the great zombie panic - Nova Scotia.
Can't get to Canada? Then step forward Lulworth Cove in Dorset.
With its sweeping coastline and green hilltops it's the very picture of safety and natural serenity in this bleak movie.
Peace, quiet and free of zombies
Les Misérables: Paris
"Cheer up Russ. Your singing wasn't that bad, was it?"
At first glance 2012's Les Misérables seems about as classically French as possible, and yet the majority - sweeping landscape shots aside - was actually filmed in England.
In one scene, Russell Crowe's character - the vengeful police officer Javert - becomes overwhelmed by the futility of his existence and throws himself into the River Seine.
The scene of the Seine, however, is the weir of the River Avon beneath the Pulteney Bridge in Bath, Somerset.
Did the character of Javert scream a scream as he fell into the Avon?
The Princess Diaries: The royal palace of Genovia
A pretend palace fit for a pretend princess
While the bulk of the Anne Hathaway movie might be set in San Francisco, her regal life is set firmly in the fictional country of Genovia.
But the exterior of the grand palace is actually Longford Castle in Bodenham, Wiltshire.
The main building is an unusual triangular shape with a round tower in each corner which it's said represent the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Hands up if you've never been to Wiltshire
Dark Shadows: Collinsport, Maine
"Look. My Devon handbook insists it's cream first, then jam"
The sleepy, eerie setting of Tim Burton's 2012 comedy Dark Shadows is Collinsport in Maine.
It was filmed, however, in England and Scotland.
Those wild and breath-taking beach scenes are in fact filmed at Great Mattiscombe Sands near Kingsbridge in Devon.
The sunlit beach is merely a filter away from being full of Dark Shadows
A View To A Kill: Silicon Valley
"This old thing? Yes, 100% pleather"
One of the things synonymous with England is 007, Her Majesty's secret weapon - Mr James Bond.
And while we expect to see the Aston Martins and the finely-cut suits in Westminster, what we don't expect is for scenes set in California to be filmed in England.
Nevertheless, this Zorin's mine in "Silicon Valley" is actually a shaft at Amberley Working Museum in West Sussex.
Could the Amberley mine have inspired The Sad Story of Henry?
- Published13 July 2017
- Published27 September 2016
