film . for the film comedies see ealing comedies . ealing studios ealing studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at ealing green in west london . will barker bought the white lodge on ealing green in 1902 as a base for film making and films have been made on the site ever since . it is the oldest continuously working studio facility for film production in the world 1 and the current stages were opened for the use of sound in 1931 . it is best known for a series of classic films produced in the post wwii years including kind hearts and coronets 1949 passport to pimlico 1949 the lavender hill mob 1951 and the ladykillers 1955 . the bbc owned and filmed at the studios for forty years from 1955 until 1995 . since 2000 ealing studios has resumed releasing films under its own name including the revived st trinian s franchise . in more recent times films shot here include the importance of being earnest 2002 and shaun of the dead 2004 as well as the theory of everything 2014 the imitation game 2014 and burnt 2015 . interior scenes of the british period drama television series downton abbey are shot in stage 2 of the studios . the met film school london operates on the site . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 1955 to 1995 1.3 1995 to present 2 ealing studios films 2.1 basil dean era 2.2 michael balcon era 3 documentaries 4 bbc tv productions 5 later films 6 independent tv 7 music videos 8 see also 9 external links 10 references history edit early years edit the site was first occupied by will barker studios from 1902 . 2 from 1929 it was acquired by theatre producer basil dean who founded associated talking pictures ltd. he was joined on the management level by stephen courtauld and reginald baker . in 1931 they built ealing studios transferring all production there in december of that year . when dean left in 1938 to be replaced by michael balcon from mgm about 60 films had been made at the studios . balcon discontinued the atp name and began to issue films under the ealing studios name . in 1944 the company was taken over by the rank organisation . in the 1930s and 1940s ealing produced many comedies with stars such as gracie fields george formby stanley holloway and will hay who had established their reputations in other spheres of entertainment . the company was also instrumental in the use of documentary film makers to make more realistic war films . these included went the day well 1942 the foreman went to france 1942 undercover 1943 and san demetrio london 1943 . in 1945 the studio made its influential chiller compendium dead of night . in the post war period the company embarked on a series of comedies which became the studio s hallmark . these were often lightly satirical and were seen to reflect aspects of british character and society . the first was hue and cry 1947 and the last barnacle bill 1956 . the best remembered ealing films were produced between 1948 and 1955 whisky galore 1949 passport to pimlico 1949 kind hearts and coronets 1949 the lavender hill mob 1951 the man in the white suit 1951 the titfield thunderbolt 1953 the cruel sea 1953 and the ladykillers 1955 are now seen as classics of british cinema . 1955 to 1995 edit the bbc bought the studios in 1955 though productions bearing the ealing name continued to be made at the mgm british studios at borehamwood for two years . the bbc based its film department at the studios ; and at its peak 56 film crews used the studios as a base for location filming of dramas documentaries and other programmes ; shot on 16mm and occasionally 35mm film . 3 there were also over 50 cutting rooms working on every genre except news and current affairs . many great programmes came out of ealing from alistair cooke s america edited by alan tyrer to z cars edited by shelia tomlinson and many others and cathy come home edited by roy watts assisted by roger waugh . these programmes had massive post production support viewing theatres transfer suites dubbing theatre maintenance ; all these staff and the film crews made up what was fondly known as the tfs family . in the 1980s the bbc developed and expanded the use of electronic psc portable single camera location equipment and the use of 16mm film on location gradually reduced . the bbc also used the studio facilities at ealing for filmed inserts where the electronic studio could not be used such as for the excavation site in quatermass and the pit 1958 59 the white rabbit tv mini series 1967 colditz 1972 74 and the communal sequences in porridge 1974 77 . programmes wholly shot on film were made there also such as alice in wonderland 1966 the singing detective 1986 and fortunes of war 1987 . the bbc had preview theatres to run 16mm sepmag film and 35mm . the 16mm machines were bauer and the 35mm projectors kalee 21 . the projection area was a long room open plan with projectors serving theatres e j. there was a separate projection room in the same area for theatre k which was 35mm . there was also a dubbing theatre b where 16mm productions would be dubbed . there was also film dispatch and sound transfer suites where the quarter inch tape from nagra tape machines would be transferred to 16mm magnetic . film previews ran rushes cutting copies synch rushes answer prints and transmission prints before going to telecine . david a. ellis who worked in the preview areas from 1974 1989 wrote the above . with the bbc seeking to reduce costs and in particular studios a decision was taken to sell ealing studios on the open market . although a sale was agreed with bbrk the bbc inserted a buy back clause so that in the event that bbrk for whatever reasons put the site up for sale then the bbc would have first option to purchase . bbrk found it necessary to sell the site and the bbc repurchased the site and sold it on for 1.00 to the national film and television school nfts . citation needed 1995 to present edit in 1995 the studios were purchased by the nfts and yet again in mid 2000 by a consortium led by fragile films uri fruchtmann and barnaby thompson harry handelsman and john kao with a view to reviving the fortunes of the studio . handelsman s manhattan loft corporation redeveloped the 3.8 acre site to include the existing grade ii listed sound stages . the studio has since begun to produce theatrical films again such as lucky break 2001 the importance of being earnest 2002 and valiant 2005 . shaun of the dead and 2005 horror film the descent were both shot on the lot . in 2007 ealing revived the st trinian s franchise and the first film took over 12 million at the uk box office making it the 4th most successful british independent movie of all time . st. trinian s the legend of fritton s gold was released in december 2009 and took over 7 million at the uk box office . between these ealing released easy virtue 2008 directed by stephan elliott and dorian gray 2009 directed by oliver parker . ealing studios is also home to the met film school london which has a purposely built film school on the lot and use of the studios . itv drama downton abbey shots the servants quarters on stages 3a and 3b . ealing studios films edit main article list of ealing studios films basil dean era edit birds of prey 1930 a honeymoon adventure 1931 sally in our alley 1931 looking on the bright side 1932 nine till six 1932 the bailiffs 1932 the impassive footman 1932 the sign of four 1932 the water gipsies 1932 the right to live 1932 loyalties 1933 perfect understanding 1933 the fortunate fool 1933 the house of trent 1933 this week of grace 1933 three men in a boat 1933 tiger bay 1933 to brighton with gladys 1933 autumn crocus 1934 love life and laughter 1934 rolling in money 1934 sing as we go 1934 love on the spot 1934 the perfect flaw 1934 the secret of the loch 1934 honeymoon for three 1935 it happened in paris 1935 look up and laugh 1935 lorna doone 1935 midshipman easy 1935 no limit 1935 play up the band 1935 the dictator 1935 the public life of henry ix 1935 the silent passenger 1935 a woman alone 1936 calling the tune 1936 cheer up 1936 dreams come true 1936 guilty melody 1936 keep your seats please 1936 laburnum grove 1936 queen of hearts 1936 the house of the spaniard 1936 the lonely road 1936 tropical trouble 1936 whom the gods love 1936 brief ecstasy 1937 feather your nest 1937 keep fit 1937 secret lives 1937 take a chance 1937 the girl in the taxi 1937 the high command 1937 the show goes on 1937 who s your lady friend 1937 i see ice 1938 it s in the air 1938 penny paradise 1938 michael balcon era edit the gaunt stranger 1938 the ware case 1938 let s be famous 1939 trouble brewing 1939 the four just men 1939 there ain t no justice 1939 young man s fancy 1939 cheer boys cheer 1939 come on george 1939 olympic honeymoon 1940 return to yesterday 1940 the proud valley 1940 let george do it 1940 convoy 1940 saloon bar 1940 sailors three 1940 spare a copper 1940 the ghost of st. michael s 1941 turned out nice again 1941 ships with wings 1941 the black sheep of whitehall 1942 the big blockade 1942 the foreman went to france 1942 the next of kin 1942 the goose steps out 1942 went the day well 1942 nine men 1943 the bells go down 1943 undercover 1943 my learned friend 1943 san demetrio london 1943 the halfway house 1944 for those in peril 1944 they came to a city 1944 champagne charlie 1944 fiddlers three 1944 johnny frenchman 1945 painted boats 1945 dead of night 1945 pink string and sealing wax 1945 the captive heart 1946 the overlanders 1946 ; produced by ealing but filmed in australia hue and cry 1947 ; the first of the ealing comedies nicholas nickleby 1947 the loves of joanna godden 1947 frieda 1947 it always rains on sunday 1947 against the wind 1948 saraband for dead lovers 1948 ealing s first technicolor film another shore 1948 scott of the antarctic 1948 eureka stockade 1949 passport to pimlico 1949 whisky galore 1949 kind hearts and coronets 1949 train of events 1949 a run for your money 1949 the blue lamp 1950 dance hall 1950 bitter springs 1950 cage of gold 1950 the magnet 1950 pool of london 1951 the lavender hill mob 1951 the man in the white suit 1951 where no vultures fly 1951 his excellency 1952 the secret people 1952 i believe in you 1952 mandy 1952 the gentle gunman 1952 the titfield thunderbolt 1953 the cruel sea 1953 the square ring 1953 meet mr. lucifer 1953 the love lottery 1954 the maggie 1954 west of zanzibar 1954 the rainbow jacket 1954 lease of life 1954 the divided heart 1954 out of the clouds 1955 the night my number came up 1955 the ship that died of shame 1955 touch and go 1955 the ladykillers 1955 the feminine touch 1956 who done it 1956 the long arm 1956 the man in the sky 1957 with mgm the shiralee 1957 with mgm barnacle bill 1957 with mgm davy 1957 with mgm dunkirk 1958 with mgm nowhere to go 1958 with