the face of Stockwell Road

[lang rabbie]

Question for longer established Brixtonians

I've just stumbled across Reelstreets (http://www.reelstreets.com) - a labour of love website of "then and now" pictures of film locations.

One feature on scenes from Michaelangelo Antonioni's classic "Swinging London" movie 'Blow Up' (http://www.reelstreets.com/blow_up.htm)includes several images of Stockwell Road.

http://www.reelstreets.com/blow_up/blow_up_13.jpg

http://www.reelstreets.com/blow_up/blow_up_13now.jpg

My question is - were the houses really that shade of red? Were they painted for the movie OR did the crazed perfectionist Antonioni play around with the film processing to create a mood?

Apparently he painted the grass at Maryon Wilson Park in Woolwich greener to get the right colour contrasts for the movie. :eek:

Edited to add: I have a memory of Stockwell Road buildings being much darker/grubbier pre Brixton Challenge, but nothing like that colour.

[boohoo]

Great picture- gonna have to re-watch the film! The photos on the site show it being that red. But have to go to archives for an earlier photo. Some buildings in both photos aren't painted red.

[Belushi]

Apparently he painted the grass at Maryon Wilson Park in Woolwich greener to get the right colour contrasts for the movie.

That park is weird enough as it is, v. strange oplace to go if your off your tits.

[starpuppy]

That park is weird enough as it is, v. strange oplace to go if your off your tits.
I remember when i grew up as a kid in the 70s on the stockwell road, that those pinkred building were "pride and clarkes"which were car spare shops

[fanta]

I like this.

http://www.reelstreets.com/alfie/pict19.jpg
http://www.reelstreets.com/alfie/alfie_19now.jpg

[happyshopper]

Yes, the whole of that part of Stockwell Road was gradually taken over by the firm of Pride & Clark, who painted all their properties that shade of red. I remember that they specialised in motor cycles and scooters but they may have sold car parts as well. It was run as lots of separate specialist shops. Then, relatively quickly they all disappeared - just from memory this was sometime in the seventies.

[lang rabbie]

I like this.

Just don't remind me of the loss of the decent architecture of the old high level viaduct bridges and their replacement with the boring as hell 90s strucures. :mad: It was vandalism, VANDALISM I TELL YOU! ;)

But of the shots from Alfie, I was more surprised by the emptiness (and cleanness) of Brixton Station Road !

http://www.reelstreets.com/alfie/pict18.jpg

[miss minnie]

Yes, the whole of that part of Stockwell Road was gradually taken over by the firm of Pride & Clark, who painted all their properties that shade of red. I remember that they specialised in motor cycles and scooters but they may have sold car parts as well. It was run as lots of separate specialist shops. Then, relatively quickly they all disappeared - just from memory this was sometime in the seventies.
i had a picture of a pride & clark shop - it was where brixton cycles is now, that entire row in fact. bsa motorcyles were lined up outside. i went rooting around through boxes of old bsa mags but couldn't find it. :(