In 2014 Eddie Redmayne had his finest hour so far in The
Theory of Everything, starring as Stephen Hawking. However a few years before Redmayne appeared
in another excellent film called My Week With Marilyn. The film centres around
the visit to the UK in 1956 by Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) and her new husband Arthur Miller for the making of The Prince And The Showgirl with Laurence Olivier
(Kenneth Branagh), whose patronising attitude towards Marilyn leads to a
prickly relationship. Redmayne plays the part of an aspiring film-maker called
Colin Clark who is working on the film,
and who finds himself looking after Marilyn when
Arthur departs for Paris. The real-life Colin Clark chronicled his
blissful week with the great star in his diaries ‘My Week With Marilyn’, which
followed an earlier account of the wider visit by the star called ‘The Prince, the
Showgirl and Me’ – the film is based on both of these accounts.
Apart from the brilliant cast of the film, which also
includes Judi Dench, the film features a wide variety of locations in
south-east England, including several in the Home Counties. Marilyn and Arthur
flew in to London Airport in 1956 (the precursor to Heathrow), which in the
film is represented by White Waltham Airfield, one of the oldest airfields in
the country, located 2 miles south-west of Maidenhead. While in Britain, the couple stayed at
Parkside House on the edge of the village of Englefield Green in Surrey, and
the makers of My Week With Marilyn managed to do some of the filming there,
including the shot of the newly-weds standing in the doorway of the house. It was Clark who was dispatched to look for a
suitable property within easy reach of Pinewood Studios, where The Prince and
the Showgirl was being made, and what he found was a large Regency house set in
a secluded location adjoining Windsor Great Park and set in 10 acres of grounds,
including the rose garden where the newly-weds held a photo call. Other famous people who have stayed at the
house include Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev.
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| St Simon and St Jude, Englefield Green - geograph.org.uk - 1521391. Photo by Michael FORD, via Wikimedia Commons |
During Marilyn’s week with Clark, he takes her to Windsor
Castle. Some of the interior shots of
this episode plus the castle grounds were shot at Hatfield House in
Hertfordshire. This Jacobean property has
been home to the Cecil family ever since it was built in 1611 by Robert Cecil,
the 1st Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister to King James I. The present-day building is located at the
site of an earlier building, the Royal Palace of Hatfield, which was the
childhood home of Queen Elizabeth I. The building was given to Cecil by
Elizabeth's successor James I because he did not like it much, and it was
Cecil's fondness for instigating building work that led to its transformation
into what is seen today. The 42 acres of
gardens were created in the 17th century by John Tradescant the elder, who
introduced plants new to England and added a number of features including a
maze, fountains, water parterres and terraces.
One feature of the grounds known as Broad Water is where the skinny
dipping scene was filmed. Fans of Johnny
Depp should be familiar with Hatfield House, since several of his films were
made there, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sleepy Hollow and
Mortdecai. Hatfield House is open to visitors, but is currently closed, although the shops and restaurant are still open along with Hatfield Park Farm and Bloody Hollow. The house and estate reopen in March.
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| Hatfield House - geograph.org.uk - 760240. Photo by Pam Fray, via Wikimedia Commons |
Clark also takes Marilyn to his old school, Eton College,
which was also where one of the interior shots depicting Windsor Castle was
filmed, in which Marilyn puts on a show for the Windsor staff. Coincidentally
Eddie Redmayne also attended Eton. The college was founded by Henry VI as a place
of free learning for poor boys who would then go on to King’s College,
Cambridge. Somewhat different to today,
as Eton is now a preferred choice of schooling for the likes of royalty and
future politicians. Eton has been used
for many films over the years, including Chariots of Fire, The Madness of King
George and Shakespeare In Love, to name but a few.
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| Eton College quadrangle. Photo by jtriefen, via Wikimedia Commons |
