BATTLE OF BRITAIN

GB
1969
2hrs 13mins
Dir: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier

The story of Britain’s war in the air during 1940

Right at the very end of this epic there is a shot of people taking refuge in an Underground station during an air raid. This was filmed at Aldwych Underground station. The 2-disc edition of the DVD of the film includes a contemporary documentary about the making of the movie, which includes good behind-the-scenes footage of the Aldwych location. Both the completed film and this additional footage contain shots of the station frontage, quite rare in fact when you consider most productions stuck solely to the platform areas.

A quite rare shot of the frontage to Aldwych station
A view of the platform at Aldwych disguised as an air raid shelter. The station was still open, and would be until its closure 25 years later in 1994, but already the station is being used as a film set.