Day in the Death of Joe Egg, A
Date: 1972
Director: Peter Medak
Production Company: Domino
Stars: Alan Bates, Janet Suzman, Peter Bowles, Sheila Gish, Joan Hickson
Location(s): Bristol, London
Region(s): London C-D, South West
Storyline:
A couple use black comedy to survive taking care of a their severely disabled daughter.
Additional Information:
Screen captures uploaded by Phil Wilkinson
Lesley Busby-Waltho advises the church interiors in this production were shot at St. Joseph the Worker at Northolt, Greater London where she used to sing in the choir. Lesley remembers the excitement when everyone was told about the film crew and actors coming. “I was very much into Alan Bates and managed to get his autograph as well as those of one or two others.”
In a connection to Rank, Lesley’s father was Roderick Hardacre who was third director on two old black & white films and “He knew the man with the gong!”
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We are aware that there are films on the site that were added when the criteria for the inclusion of locations was very different from today and, as a result, there may be scenes missing from some productions. Please do not forward additional screen captures to us but bring the detail to our attention, for we do, and are, 're-addressing' these older entries as time allows.
- Capture 1
- 'Now' required
Teacher Bri (Alan Bates) leaves his class as the school day ends. Liz identifies this as Lavender Hill Girls Secondary School which is on Amies Street in London SW11.
- Capture 2
- 'Now' required
Bri gets into his car only to find that it doesn't start. Lavender Hill Girls School in Battersea located by Liz. David Alexander tells us that the Boys playing in the background were from Balham Boys School in Hearnville Road SW12 adding that, as a 15 year old, he remembers the shoot but unfortunately was too tall to be selected for the classroom scene.
- Capture 3
- 03 Sep 2013
Night draws in after Bri gets the car going and heads through the city. The Horsefair in Bristol 1, a street that can also be seen in 'Some People' and 'Two and Two Make Six'.
This is looking along The Horsefair from the junction with Merchant Street. (PW)
- Capture 4
- 03 Sep 2013
The light fails as the journey home to his wife and severely disabled daughter continues. The camera follows the car around a corner.
The tell tale roof lines still exist. Merchant Street in Bristol looking towards Broad Marsh. (PW)
- Capture 5
- 27 Jun 2013
It's even darker as Bri arrives home at last. Freeland Place in the Hotwells area of Bristol.
Yes, the top three single windows, centre frame, correspond, as do the covered balconies and the openings to the store-rooms below. Rotten angle though.
- Capture 6
- 'Now' required
During one of his fantasy tales, Bri tells his daughter Jo of the time that he and her mother, Sheila (Janet Suzman), visited a fantastic new church. Facing 4-6 Beauvais Terrace, Northolt. (SR)
- Capture 7
- 'Now' required
A flashback sees the couple taking Jo to a residential school. Frenchay Hospital in Frenchay, Bristol identified by Tim Hardiman.
- Capture 8
- 'Now' required
The reluctant parents wheel their daughter Josephine (Elizabeth Robillard) into her new home. Opening in 1921, Frenchay Hospital grew in the late 1930s and early 1940s and was modernised before a new ward was added in 2000.
- Capture 9
- 'Now' required
After leaving Jo with a nurse, Bri follows his distraught wife as she runs to the car. Frenchay Hospital in north-east Bristol, located by Tim Hardiman who spent many hours playing in the grounds. The facility closed in 2014 with just a few services remaining at the site on which almost 500 homes as well as a school and a clinic have since been built.
- Capture 10
- 'Now' required
When they realise what they have done, Jo's mother and father turn back into the institution to take her home. The entrance to Frenchay Hospital at the junction of Frenchay Park Road and Begbrook Park in Frenchay, Bristol recognised by Tim Hardiman.
- Capture 11
- 27 Jun 2013
An establishing shot of the family's domain. Hotwells in Bristol with Royal York Crescent at the top of the image. The Georgian crescent was seen in 'Some People'.
Facing the river, docks, road bridges, fly/overs and motorway. Taken from across the Avon some 300 meters south of Clifton's famous suspension bridge.
- Capture 12
- 27 Jun 2013
After the latest health scare, an ambulance brings Jo and her Mother home. Freeland Place looking towards Hotwell Road and the River Avon in Bristol.
Trees have grown, so has the traffic, but the small walls are still there adjacent to the "village green".
- Capture 13
- 27 Jun 2013
As the strain on life becomes too much, Bri makes his prepared escape from the house. Freeland Place, Hotwells, Bristol. Andrew Lynch adds "The house used for the exteriors in Freeland Place was No 1 and the film company put up the then owner in the Avon Gorge Hotel during filming. Playwright Peter Nichols thought it was too posh for a teacher to live in."
The first house in Freeland Place, with an entry in Granby Hill. The red roof in the background is still there, behind the foliage! Honest!
- Capture 14
- 28 Jun 2013
On the pretense of going to work, Bri runs away. Freeland Place.
.......and here I dropped, and smashed my camera. ^%$£^%$£_*&^%$!!!!!!!!!!11
- Capture 15
- 03 Sep 2013
The pained father runs past The Rownham Hotel at the end of Freeland Place. The pub was demolished to widen Hotwell Road. Bristol BS8.
PW took up the reins, as the previous correspondent now had no camera, and didn't even have his box of watercolours!
- Capture 16
- 03 Sep 2013
More, now demolished, buildings are passed along Hotwell Road as Bri runs for the departing bus.
The same location from a similar viewpoint across the River Avon in Rownham Woods. (PW)
- Capture 17
- 03 Sep 2013
Bri just catches the bus to the city. The General Draper public house behind the bus has been replaced by . . .
. . . . a stone wall and a lovely wide road, the A4 Portway. (PW)
- Capture 18
- 03 Sep 2013
Upon arriving at the station, Bri goes to the booking office. The booking hall at Temple Meads station. Station Approach off Temple Gate in Bristol.
The same, brighter location now. I hope no one has forgotten their mobile phone! (PW)
- Capture 19
- 03 Sep 2013
Sitting on a barrow waiting for the London train. The sign says Platform 9 at Bristol Temple Meads station. Similar views can be seen in 'I See a Dark Stranger' and 'The Halfway House'.
No longer platform 9, this is now platform 3. With thanks to the staff of First Great Western. (PW)