LEE FILM

LEE INTERNATIONAL FILM STUDIOS (1977 - 1989)

The studios were left empty for over 5 years when suddenly they were snapped up again in the late 1970s. Benny and John Lee operated Lee Electric as a lighting and equipment hire firm, they also owned some film stage space in Kensal Road and they were looking to expand their operation. Passing Wembley one day they noticed that the studios were still unoccupied and took the chance to purchase them. Gary Stone and Denis Carrigan take up the story...

Gary Stone and Denis Carrigan were Studio Manager and Managing Director respectively at Wembley when Lee operated the studios.

Under the ownership of Lee the studios were put back into producing film content, therefore all of the old television equipment left behind by LWT was removed. Lee renovated the studios and dressing rooms and the whole site became the base for Lee's lighting and camera equipment rental businesses too. Lee leased the studios out to major feature films, commercials and occasionally television series during their 12 year stay at Wembley.

The major films to come through Wembley during Lee's ownership included:

Quadrophenia (1979)
Director: Frank Roddam
Cast: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Phil Davis

The Professionals (1980)
Cast: Gordon Jackson, Martin Shaw

The Awakening (1980)
Director: Mike Newell
Cast: Charlton Heston, Susannah York, Jill Townsend

The Martian Chronicles (1980)
Director: Michael Anderson
Cast: Rock Hudson, Gayle Hunnicutt

Shock Treatment (1981)
Director: Jim Sharman
Cast: Jessica Harper, Cliff de Young, Richard O'Brien

Memoirs Of A Survivor (1981)
Director: David Gladwell
Cast: Julie Christie, Christopher Guard

Britannia Hopital (1982)
Director: Lindsay Anderson
Cast: Leonard Rossiter, Malcolm McDowell, Brian Pettifer

Five Days One Summer (1982)
Director: Fred Zinnermann
Cast: Sean Connery, Betsy Brantley

Yentl (1983)
Director: Barbra Streisand
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Amy Irving, Mandy Patinkin

A Woman Of Substance (1984)
Director: John Sharp
Cast: Jenny Seagrove, Barry Bostwick

Brazil (1985)
Director: Terry Gilliam
Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist

Foreign Body (1986)
Director: Ronald Neame
Cast: Victor Banejee, Warren Mitchell

Murrow (1986)
Director: Jack Gold
Cast: Daniel J Travanti, Stephen Churchett

Dream Demon (1988)
Director: Harley Cokeliss
Cast: Jemma Redgrave, Kathleen Wilhoite

You Bet! (Seasons 1 & 2 1988 & 1989)
Cast: Matthew Kelly, Bruce Forsyth

The Corn Is Green (1979)
Director: George Cukor
Cast: Katherine Hepburn, Ian Saynor

The Elephant Man (1980)
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt

The Dogs Of War (1980)
Director: John Irvine
Cast: Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger

Inseminoid (1981)
Director: Norman J. Warren
Cast: Robin Clarke, Jennifer Ashley, Stephanie Beacham

Time Bandits (1981)
Director: Terry Gilliam
Cast: Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, John Cleese

Evil Under The Sun (1982)
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith

The Missionary (1982)
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Michael Palin, Maggie Smith

Gorky Park (1983)
Director: Michael Apted
Cast: William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy

Closed Circuit (1983)
Director: Rudolf Thome
Cast: Bruno Ganz, Dominique Laffin

Insignificance (1985)
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Cast: Gary Busey, Tony Curtis

Club Paradise (1986)
Director: Harold Ramis
Cast: Robin Williams, Peter O'Toole

The American Way (1986)
Director: Maurice Phillips
Cast: Dennis Hopper, Michael J. Pollard

Strong Medicine (1986)
Director: Guy Green
Cast: Pamela Sue Martin, Patrick Duffy

Buster (1988)
Director: David Green
Cast: Phil Collins, Julie Walters

Scandal (1989)
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Cast: John Hurt, Joanne Whalley, Bridget Fonda

Fountain's Mike Edwards speaks about the history of film at Wembley.

Lee Electric promotional brochure from the 1980s

By the late 1980s many of the other Lee businesses had expanded and left Wembley. The company found it difficult to operate the studios by themselves at a profit and in 1989 the difficult decision was taken to sell the site on and move their studios business entirely to their larger site at Shepperton Studios. Once again Wembley found itself empty, but it wasn't long before another company was taking hold of the keys...