Films set in the Brighton & Hove area

  Page still under construction; subject to revision

These are films that are ostensibly set in Brighton but were probably not filmed in the city, except for establishing shots. For the most part they are productions that have not seen the light of day (or projector) for many years and are difficult to check.

The Brighton Mystery (1924)
Directed and written by Hugh Croise from a story, An Unparalleled Outrage, by Baroness Orczy
Starring Renée Leslie and Rolf Wakefield
Fifth in a series called The Old Man in the Corner (mysteries in York, Kensington, Regent's Park and The Northern Mystery) made for Stoll by Croise in 1924, during which year he turned out 13 films. This one runs 24 minutes.

To Brighton with Gladys (aka To Brighton with a Bird) (released February 1933)
Produced and directed by George King at Ealing Studios from a story by John Quin
Starring Harry Milton, Constance Shotter and Gladys the penguin
A 'quota quickie' B feature (45 minutes)  

The Gay Divorcee (1934)—made by RKO in the USA, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

It Began in Brighton (1937)
The act of a trapeze quartet is sabotaged. A quota quickie.
Directed by Rita Waterhouse, who appears as one of the quartet. Identified in one source as having music by Georges Delerue (who was 12 at the time)

Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday (1939)
One of the Inspector Hornleigh crime trilogy starring Gordon Harker and Alastair Sim. The inspector and his sergeant spend a rain-swept holiday in Brighton (Brighthaven), where they become involved in investigating murder and fraud.
Director by Walter Forde, written by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat.
Launder was educated in Brighton and acted with the Brighton Repertory Company while working for the Official Receiver of Bankruptcy.

Bank Holiday (US title: Three on a Weekend) directed by Carol Reed (1939)

Millions Like Us (1943)—made by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat

The Brighton Strangler (1945)—made by RKO in the USA
Starring John Loder, June Duprez, Miles Mander.
Directed by Max Nosseck
An actor playing the role of the Brighton Strangler is injured in an air raid on London and carries on playing the part in real life, which for all its staginess is more real than the Hollywood version of Brighton, with its rugged coastline straight out of Hitchcock's Rebecca, its 'Lord Mayor', who is murdered outside his home in 'Hove Terrace', and Inspector Allison of the 'Sussex Constabulary Brighton Division' (yet is responsible to Scotland Yard), who is murdered at his home in 'Rottingdean Way'. There are not even any library shots to set the scene in Brighton. Interestingly, a local cinema is showing a newsreel of the funeral of the mayor. A first class single rail ticket from London Victoria to Brighton costs 12s 9d. However, the person who buys a return ticket to Rottingdean is likely to be disappointed.
In fact, at that time the Brighton police force was part of the merged Sussex Constabulary.

Pink String and Sealing Wax (produced 1945, releasedJanuary 1946)—made by Ealing Studios, produced by Michael Balcon and directed by Robert Hamer. A Victorian melodrama, adapted from a stage play written by Brighton-born Roland Pertwee. An entirely studio-bound production of with the exception of a shot at the end purporting to show the beach at Brighton as rocky outcrops at the foot of a long and precipitous drop (cf, The Brighton Stranger). At least the railings look vaguely familar.

Mrs Fitzherbert (1947)

Uneasy Terms  (1948)

Good Time Girl (1948)

The Magic Box (1951)—an unreliable but enjoyable biopic directed by John Boulting for the Festival of Britain celebrations about William Friese-Greene (played by Robert Donat) and the invention of cinematography.

One that got away...

Les Jumeaux de Brighton (1936)
It would be nice to include this, if only because the script was written by Robert Bresson early in his career (from a play by Tristan Bernard), directed by Claude Heyman and starred Michel Simon and Raimu. But although it concerns some twins from Brighton, it appears to be set in Le Havre.

 

Other suggestions welcomed.

Page updated 28 February 2007
© David Fisher