A LITTLE-KNOWN studio complex in Bushey will feature alongside studio big-guns Elstree and Leavesden in an exhibition on the history of film and television in South Hertfordshire.

The Bushey studios may not be as famous as Elstree (where the first three Star Wars films were shot) and Leavesden studios (which played host to the Harry Potter phenomenon), but they played an important part in the area's cinematic history.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, an independent film-maker with studios in Melbourne Road, Bushey, was predicting: "The day will come when the one film will take up form, colour, and sound, and reproduce all these simultaneously.

"The world's stories will be brought to you in pictorial and dramatic form, such as one has not dreamed of."

Famous Bushey artist Sir Hubert von Herkomer made the statement in a letter to the Daily Telegraph in 1912.

The contribution played by his studio will be included in the exhibition Lights, Camera, Action. The Bushey Studios were used to shoot films and television shows until 1985, when they were turned into offices. The listed studios are thought to be the oldest surviving buildings from the early days of television.

Another Bushey company, spawned from film giant J Arthur Rank, also gets a mention.

In the 1950's J Arthur Rank set up the Churches Television Centre in London to instruct clergymen in the art of communicating on television and radio.

In 1965 the centre moved to Hillside House, Merry Hill Road, Bushey, and is known as Hillside Studios.

The site now employs production staff which today work with the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

The exhibition, supported by the Heritage Lottery fund and organised by Hertsmere Borough Council, will be housed in a special marquee at Elstree Film and Television Studios, until Sunday, September 1.

It comes to Bushey Museum, Rudolph Road, Bushey, on Saturday, September 7.

August 20, 2002 16:30