IT’S 1937 and Alfred Hitchcock’s latest crime thriller has hit UK cinema screens.
Coming two years after his successful spy thriller The 39 Steps, based on John Buchan’s novel and starring Robert Donat, there’s plenty of interest in his latest crime drama about an innocent man on the run from police.
But for Buckinghamshire cinemagoers there’s an extra appeal to Young And Innocent, because many scenes are filmed in and around Pinewood Studios at Iver Heath.
The film opens on a stormy night in Cornwall where a successful actress is arguing with her husband. By the morning her dead body washes ashore on a beach to be discovered by writer Robert Tisdall, who rapidly becomes the prime suspect.
When the evidence starts to look overwhelming, our hero goes on the run, aided and abetted by the daughter of the local chief constable – and for audiences in the Chilterns, that’s when the surroundings begin to look strangely familiar.
From Hambleden village the couple head to Heatherden Hall, the Grade II-listed Victorian country house in the grounds of Pinewood Studios which nowadays acts as wedding venue but which has featured in so many classic films and TV series.
They also almost get stopped outside the Swan on West Wickham High Street and the police chase later hots up around Twyford station, although there may be other local locations which the enthusiasts haven’t been able to place yet.
Although not in the same league as The 39 Steps or the 1938 mystery thriller The Lady Vanishes – the pair are ranked among the greatest British films of the 20th century – Young And Innocent was praised as a crisply paced romantic thriller in which numerous small touches showed Hitchcock’s penetrating observation and knowledge of human nature.
By the end of the decade the director had won international acclaim and had been lured to Hollywood.
If you fancy your chances at spotting any other missing locations, or have up-to-date pictures of what the locations look like today, the Reelstreets website has 24 screen captures to test your knowledge.
