Geraldine Chaplin

The Hollow Crown: Henry V (2012)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Henry V riding on a white horse next to a castle. Three other characters are on horses behind him.

Henry V – Duke of York (Paterson Joseph), Earl of Salisbury (Richard Clothier), Henry V (Tom Hiddleston) and Earl of Westmoreland (James Laurenson) © BBC/Neal Street Productions/Nick Briggs

Director: Thea Sharrock

Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Freeman, Richard Griffiths, John Hurt

Production company: Neal Street Productions, NBCUniversal, WNET

Kent locations used: Squerryes Court, Penshurst Place

Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes  (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) produced The Hollow Crown, four film adaptations of Shakespeare’s best-loved history plays; Richard II, Henry IV (Part I & 2) and Henry V screening on BBC this summer as part of the Shakespeare Unlocked Season.

The Hollow Crown series star many familiar faces including Ben Whishaw (Criminal Justice) as Richard II, James Purefoy (Solomon Kane) as Thomas Mowbray, Rory Kinnear (Quantum of Solace) as Henry Bolingbroke and Tom Hiddleston (Thor, Warhorse) as Henry V.

Henry V is directed by Thea Sharrock (Me Before You, Call the Midwife) and along Tom Hiddleston stars Geraldine Chaplin (The Impossible, Talk to Her), Paul Freeman (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hot Fuzz), Richard Griffiths (Sleepy Hollow, Harry Potter series) and John Hurt (V for Vendetta, Alien).

Featuring as part of the BBC’s Shakespeare season for the London 2012 Festival and Cultural Olympiad, Henry V is the final film of the series and charts Henry V campaign against France and their leader Herald Montjoy.

Earl of Salisbury (Richard Clothier) fighting in a battle in a field

Earl of Salisbury (Richard Clothier) © BBC/Neal Street Productions/Nick Briggs

Kent features strongly in Henry V: No Surrender, as the Battle of Agincourt was staged in the grounds of Squerryes Court, where Henry V leads his soldiers to battle. The crew also visited Penshurst Place, with the exterior doubling for The Palace of Westminster and the interior of the Baron’s Hall as the French Palace where Herald Montjoy resided.

It is not the first time Squerryes Court has been on the screen, the location was used for Emma Wooshouse’s home in the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s famous novel Emma (2009),
The Boat that Rocked (2009) and Foyle’s War – The German Woman (2002). The estate is popular with productions as it boasts a grand 17th Century manor house with 20 acres of grounds.

Penshurst Place is a Medieval and Tudor fortified style manor house set in parkland and featuring Elizabethan formal gardens. It is a popular filming location and previous productions filmed at Penshurst Place include Wolf Hall (2015), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) and Anne of a Thousand Days (1969).

The Hollow Crown also features in the Kent Film Office Tudor(ish) Trail which celebrates Kent’s Tudor history and film connections.

 

The Hollow Crown series was shown from July 7th 2012 BBC Two and is now available to buy on DVD.

 

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 

The Mirror Crack’d (1980)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Angela Lansbury, Rock Hudson and Edward Fox stood having a conversation in front of a window with beige curtains

Angela Lansbury, Rock Hudson and Edward Fox © Columbia-Warner Distributors

Starring: Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Geraldine Chaplin, Edward Fox and Kim Novak

Production Company: G.W. Films, EMI Films

Kent Locations used: St Clere Estate, Smarden, Shoreham

The Mirror Crack’d is a detective drama based on an Agatha Christie novel of the same name. In this instalment of the Miss Marple Franchise, a visiting Hollywood production has come to the town of St Mary Mead. The story focuses on the life of Marina Rudd (Elizabeth Taylor), a veteran actress competing for the spotlight with a younger actress, Lola (Kim Novak), in an upcoming production. When a local resident is poisoned at a grand reception, it is thought that Marina herself was the intended victim.

Angela Lansbury (Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Murder She Wrote, Beauty and the Beast) stars as Miss Jane Marple alongside Elizabeth Taylor (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Cleopatra), Tony Curtis (Some Like it Hot), Rock Hudson (Dynasty, McMilan & Wife, Pillow Talk), Geraldine Chaplin (Remember my Name, Doctor Zhivago) Edward Fox (Gandi, Never Say Never Again) and Kim Novak (The Great Bank Robbery, Falcon Crest).

St Clere Estate, Heaverham in the Sevenoaks District of Kent is a private, family run country estate that today prides itself on being an ideal location for filming and photography, due to its period architecture and beautiful grounds. In this episode, it was perfect of the setting for Gossington Hall, the grand home of the Rudds.

 Ye Olde George Inn and a Bridge on Church Street in Shoreham are both noticeable in the production, doubling as part of the village of St Mary Mead. Shoreham is a picturesque village near Sevenoaks, famous for its traditional pubs and annual May Day duck race.

The village of Smarden and St Michaels Church are also used to double as the village of St Mary Mead. The Thatched House in Smarden was used as Miss Marple’s cottage. Smarden is located in the Ashford district of Kent, and the traditional thatched houses and village shops made it a perfect filming location.

The Mirror Crack’d was first released in February 1980 and is now available to buy on DVD.

 

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map.