Not many places get their name up on a cinema billboard. I can think of a few films with Paris in the title – “An American In Paris”, “Last Tango In Paris”… I can think of one or two that namecheck London – “An American Werewolf In London”, “London Has Fallen”… New York pops up in a title every so often – “New York, New York”, “Manhattan”… and of course Los Angeles can point to “L.A. Confidential” and “La La Land”… but I can’t think of many Hertfordshire villages named in movie titles.
Hertfordshire is increasingly becoming a hub for movie-making. You may have read in the newspapers that new film studios are planned in both Elstree and Broxbourne. But even when films shoot locally, like “Love/Loss” in Woolmer Green in 2010, or “The World’s End” in Welwyn Garden City in 2013, the name of the location doesn’t tend to make it into the film’s title. Of the two movies I can think of that are set in Stevenage – “Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush” (1968) and “Boston Kickout” (1996) – one even showcases the name of somewhere else.
So this month, Knebworth, bask in a little global fame, because on Thursday 23rd September “Oasis Knebworth 1996” is released ‘in cinemas worldwide’. Search ‘Knebworth’ on social media at the moment and you’ll see the name of our village being discussed in a number of different languages. They’re talking about us from Tokyo to Santiago. Not many other villages can say that.
So it’s a good month to talk films, and I shall be doing that in the Banqueting Hall of Knebworth House on Thursday 2nd September, in support of Knebworth Twinning Association. See you there!
Henry Lytton Cobbold
@HenryCobboldKH