(Not) Filmed in Shropshire

Toby Neal looks at the Shropshire films which were never made.

In September 1947 a film crew descended on Bomere Pool, near Bayston Hill, to start preliminary shooting for "Precious Bane", a movie of the Mary Webb novel, which was to feature two of the big stars of the day, Ann Todd and David Farrar.

Have you seen it? Thought not. Not this version, anyway. It was never made – just one of a number of Shropshire movies, or scenes from movies shot in Shropshire, which disappeared without trace.

• For films that were made in Shropshire, click here

Not to worry. A couple of years later the film crews were in Shropshire again on the Mary Webb trail, to make "Gone To Earth". This time Farrar was teamed up with Jennifer Jones, another big star of the day.

Various locations around Shropshire were used, but perhaps the area which remembers it best is Much Wenlock.

And that film definitely did see the light of day. But there is a fly in the ointment. A number of scenes shot on location in Shropshire were either cut from the movie entirely, or re-shot in a studio. An example of the former was a scene shot at Farley Crossing, which was apparently axed because telegraph poles, out of keeping with the period of the film, were in view. And of the latter, it is said that a scene shot in the George & Dragon pub in Much Wenlock was later re-created in the studio.

Going back a bit further, a film crew descended on the wartime Rednal Airfield, near Oswestry, in 1943. Some Gloster Gladiator biplanes flew in, along with a Wellington bomber to be used as a camera plane, and the intention was to make a movie called "Signed With Their Honour" about the air war in Greece. However, it was not long before two of the biplanes had crashed, and this seems to have spelt the death knell of the project. Whether any footage survives is unknown.

Moving to more modern times, Richard Burton came to Ellesmere College in May 1978 for the filming of "Absolution". According to comments on the internet, it's a stinker which sat on the shelf until well after Burton's death, only seeing light of day (presumably by coming out on video) as late as 1988. At least you can see it, then.

There was a lot of excitement in Ludlow in the year 2000 when "Unconditional Love" was partly filmed there, with Kathy Bates, Rupert Everett, Richard Briers, and dozens of local extras. And then . . . nothing. It's another one that sat on the shelf for years, eventually coming out on DVD in 2004. (It was apparently retitled "Who Shot Victor Fox? although there are plenty of references under the original name on the internet).

The same fate befell many local extras used in the recent blockbuster hit "Atonement" starring Keira Knightley, much of which was filmed at Stokesay Court, near Craven Arms. There was one big scene at the end in which all the extras appeared. Yet when the film was released, there it was – gone.

The ending had been changed. And the Shropshire extras were left on the cutting room floor.