MovieChat Forums > Villain (1971) Discussion > Locations

Locations

posted 16 years ago by mr_pats
3 replies | jump to latest

Having grown up there in the 70's, I noticed that the Point-of-view scene of the Police Rover and ambulance moving Ed (Joss Ackland) to hospital was filmed in Bedford High Street. On the left you'll see (now pedestrianised) Silver Street followed by what is now Debenhams. On the right, Mill Street and The Cross Keys pub, which is still there.
Why Bedford was chosen as a location is a mystery because as far as I can tell, no other scenes were filmed in the area!

The "blag" was filmed at Clark-Eaton glass factory, Southern Industrial Estate in Bracknell, Berkshire. The factory is long-gone and the site has been redeveloped. It all seems so brand spanking new in Villain!

Lowis's Car Sales was in Suffolk Road, London NW10.

The final scenes were filmed under and around the arches of the London to Brighton main line at Battersea. I believe what was wasteground in Villain is now the industrial estates around Nine Elms Lane (now Royal Mail, New Covent Garden Market etc.)

In the title sequences you can see the iconic Battersea Power Station, very much fully functioning in 1970!

[–] naseby 15 years ago

well done, Mr Pats - it was good to know those locations, thanks! I'm a great fan of this very underrated film.

[–] ktvalve 12 years ago

The part of this film where Burton walk's into the launderette and walks to the back of the launderette was filmed in Cambridge road ,London NW6 opposite Percy road school entrance . I was a pupil at the school at that time and remember the film crew turning up and filming for a couple of day's with loads of locals hanging around , when I see the film ( it was a X rated film ,adults only) years later I was amazed how fleeting the scene was . The launderette and Cambridge road are now long gone .

[–] hugh1971 12 years ago

Well done for spotting these. Was the car lot the same one that Arthur Daley would use later in Minder?

Does anyone know where the bank that the clerks left from was filmed? It looked to me a bit like the area around South Wimbledon tube station but I couldn't be sure.