European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 2, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Giant projector is used to project exterior scenes join them with studio shots. Britain s rendezvous of the stars f by Bob Hoyer staff writer or three decades the celebrities of world Cinema have been cruising to work Down the winding wooded roads of Rural Britain less than an hour s drive from downtown  destination has been a metamorphosed mansion and estate once the Pride of wealthy Indian cricketer k. S.  Taylor Sean Connery Rich Ard Attenborough Norman Wisdom Etal have made the 20-mile trip from London to Pinewood  the list of callers at Pinewood Hub of rank organization s film Divi Sion is As impressive As Ever. A ran Dom Check reveals such names a James Mason Geraldine Chaplin Phil silvers Hayley Mills and Michael  s biggest studio Pinewood has become one of the world s busiest Cin Ema factories. It All happened in three decades. Even world War ii caused Only a temporary interruption. To be properly told the Pinewood Story should be unravelled from the be  Grant Morden Canadian Finan Cier and member of parliament arrived at Heatherton Hall the name of Rankin Sinji s former property it was defunct and had fallen into a state of  promptly spent nearly $1 million in the restoration and refurbishing an ultimately the mansion became the site of historic confab in British  Climax came nov. 3, 1921, when Morden sat around a table in the Greathouse with lord Birkenhead Viscount Long Viscount younger and sir Mal Colm Fraser to sign the Irish free state  Morden died in 1934 the property was bought by construction firm chair Man Charles Boot who decided to build a film studio that would rival the bestow Hollywood. His first move was to convert the Hall into a country club and invite show business personalities to the  the first film stars were enjoying the luxuries of the club Boot was i Hollywood on a fact finding Mission. Back in Britain he began a $3-Mil-lion transformation of Heatherton Hall into the most up to Date film making enter in the United kingdom with the help of two architects. First chairman of the company then known As Pine Wood studios ltd., was j. Arthur rank now lord rank. Pinewood opened its Gates sept. 30,1936. Within weeks four films were in production. By 1938, it was the busiest studio in Britain. A year later the sound stages of Pine Wood were silenced with the outbreak of world War ii. Soon food was being stockpiled where cameramen and actors had worked. The Royal mint was move to the studio producing coins there. Then in 1941, the British army Thoraf and Crown film units took up occupancy at Pinewood to produce film for the War Effort. The stars did not begin to return to the scene until 1945. And it was a year later until the rank organization took Over full control of production. Since then there has been a steady buildup and improvement of facilities. Behind the guarded double archway Entrance the layout stretches across 100  amalgamation of Art and Industry science and imagination Pinewood counts More than 1,300 people on its payroll nearly 1,000 of them skilled technicians and craftsmen. Research workers engineers sculptors plaster ers electricians writers musicians secretaries carpenters and hairdressers they re All necessary cogs in the Pinewood machine. More than 50 separate departments Are involved in the process of turning a written Story into a full length Fea Ture film. The projection theater and the cutting and editing rooms Are where the final product is he mered out after hours of scrutiny and  the recent opening of two new studios Pinewood now operates 12 sound studios and at any Given time May be making As Many As seven films. Page 12 the stars and stripes Entrance to administration Block was carved in 1561, once served As fireplace. Monday october 2, 1967 a huge outdoor backdrop can be use to film almost any scene in the world. It was Here that the maritime sequences of thunderball were filmed with a stationary  the setting of a particular City is required it is painted on the  completely covered it May re quire up to three tons of  studio has its own museum which contains pictures set pieces and a Vari Ety of souvenirs from former films. Another department includes a vast array of miscellaneous pieces House hold goods of All kinds Antiques Furni Ture clothing weapons almost any thing which might be used in film Mak ing. Despite the flurry of activity so characteristic of the Cinema crowd Pinewood has managed to maintain much of the stately aplomb of the old mansion. The gardens still Are full of Flowers the grass still Lush. The panel restaurant is Roomy and comfortable the bar noisy amiable and relaxing. Framing the Entrance to the 400-foot-Long office Block is the carved Oak fire place it took three generations of crafts men from one family to finish it and it dates from 1561 from an elizabethan mansion in Derby. The newly installed Board room i which Boot and lord rank planned the new studio was the Library of the . Mauretania broken up after hundreds of transatlantic Crossings. It has been reset in Pinewood exactly As it was on the liner. Among the dozens of films made a Pinewood during the past decade have been a tale of two cities no love for Johnnie those magnificent men in their flying machines Thunder Ball the i press file stranger in the House and the magnificent  the activity continues unabated. Penetrating through the exaggeration associated with motion picture publicity Pinewood manages to give the impression of serious people dedicated to their work. Name your location. Here studio workers prepare backdrop showing Geneva. Pinewood studio was formerly estate of wealthy Indian cricketer. Keystone a Dick and Liz show at Pinewood. Hayley Mills Pola Negri have filmed there. A the stars and stripes Page 13