History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

This is a story from the early days of British film. It is October 1935, and we are in Elstree Studios in Borehamwood Hertfordshire.  British International Pictures Studios Douglas Fairbanks, father and son The American actor Douglas Fairbanks, was known as ‘The King of Hollywood’ from his career in the silent era. He was famous for his adventure films such as The Mark of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921) and Robin Hood (1922).    The Mark of Zorro poster As a means of gaining control over their films, in 1919, he set up United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, the director D.W. Griffiths and Mary Pickford, whom he married the following year. Signing the United Artists contract (1919) From the left: D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks. Fairbanks had been impressed by Alexander Korda’s production of ‘The Private Life of Henry VIII’ (1933), starring Charles Laughton. The film had been funded and distributed by United Artists and was a hug...