This film is part of Free
World's Greatest Gasworks
It’s a gas gas gas as George V and Queen Mary visit Beckton's giant coal gas plant - where 60 years on Stanley Kubrick would build his Vietnam.
Overview
This film shows the 'before' picture: one of Europe's biggest coal gas plants, occupying some 550 acres of East London. 60 years later, Stanley Kubrick visited the same site with his art director and a wrecking ball to turn the location into the devastated city of Huế at the height of the Vietnam War for his film Full Metal Jacket (1987).
The visit by the King, complete with a ride on one of the site's many steam locomotives, was to inaugurate a new coal handling plant. The competition of North Sea gas reserves led to the site's closure by 1970. After many years as an eyesore and a film location - the opening of For Your Eyes Only (1981) was also filmed there - redevelopment of the area has left only the faintest of traces that the works ever existed.
Related
Skiing and Carol Singing in Newham Skiing and Carol Singing in Newham
Documentary 1988 11 mins Location: Beckton
Get to know the side of Newham you never knew, thanks to this fantastic 1980s compilation of the weird and wonderful the borough has to offer.
Beckton Coke Works Beckton Coke Works
Industry sponsored film 1926 10 mins Silent Location: Beckton
The awe-inspiring industrial splendour of Beckton gasworks is on show in this beautifully photographed film
Engineers to the World Engineers to the World
Promotional 1963 29 mins Location: Lincoln
Historic Lincoln where 100 acres are dedicated to the Ruston Group whose engines provide power for industry across the world.
Khichdi Khichdi
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 16 mins
The interwoven stories of four best friends who reunite in the UK, thirty-five years after training together as nurses during their teens in Ferozepur, Punjab.
Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology
2023 15 mins
A satirical take on the healthcare service announcements of the 1960s and 70s.
Every Moment Counts Every Moment Counts
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 9 mins
A short animation that offers a window into the world of children’s palliative care.
Police Story: Panel Discussion Police Story: Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 24 mins
Panel discussion on Jackie Chan's 1985 action classic Police Story, with Chase Armitage, Sam Mak and Jadey Duffield.
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.