Join The Community
Lonely in London - Mission: Impossible (1996)
In the film: On the run IMF agent Ethan Hunt walks through the rain to make a phonecall at a clean, brightly light London train station.
The Google view: It's Liverpool Street station in Bishopsgate. Before it was renovated the station was also used in David Lynch's The Elephant Man, for the scene in which John Merrick arrives in London.
Spotted - Frenzy (1972)
In the film: On-the-run Jon Finch and his trusting beau Anna Massey are spotted meeting in the park from a hotel balcony in Hitchcock's underrated murder mystery.
The Google view: The distinctive towerblock hotel is the Hilton Park Lane, one of two Hiltons to appear in the film (the other being the Hyde Park, although it was called The Coburg at the time).
Leaving home - A Hard Day's Night (1964)
In the film: Some low-key outfit called The Beatles dream up a reason to leave Liverpool and head to the capital for hijinks.
The Google view: The Liverpudlian train station the foursome are shown entering is in fact Marylebone station in West London - the same station they're shown emerging from once they've reached their destination.
Powders - My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
In the film: The titular laundrette - the redecorated, neon sign-boasting Powders, run by Omar and his alcoholic father.
The Google view: Powders was located in a strip of shops in Wandsworth - you can still see the high-rise estates behind - and is now a shop called Tastes Of Portugal. Oddly, turn the camera to the right and there's another laundrette just two doors away.
The first of many - Peeping Tom (1960)
In the film: The shocking first scene of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's serial killer classic has a camera following a lady of the night as she leads the way through a darkened underpass and into a secluded apartment.
The Google view: And that underpass is Newman Passage, a shadowy alleyway just off Tottenham Court Road in Soho.
The house - Performance (1970)
In the film: Nicolas Roeg's psyche-shifting art-rock drama kicks into gear when Edward Fox's sneery gangster takes a room in Mick Jagger's bohemian shack to hide from some unwanted attention.
The Google view: The then-run-down row is actually the now-very-desirable Powis Square in Notting Hill, full of gleaming white town houses and a renovated park.
Gotcha - The Long Good Friday (1980)
In the film: Bob Hoskins' big-time mobster Harold Shand is outplayed by his Irish enemies as he makes a celebratory visit to a top London hotel in this classic British gangster movie. All together now: "Da-na-NAH-NAH, da-na-NAH NAH..."
The Google view: The hotel is the Savoy in the Strand. The famous metal frontage appears in the film itself, but it's worth a wander around the corner to see the Savoy theatre, which the hotel was built to service using profits from Gilbert and Sullivan musicals.
Flat for Renton - Trainspotting (1996)
In the film: Mark Renton makes a clean break from his skag-addled life in Edinburgh to sell real estate in glamorous London - including this cosmopolitan charmer, where he would later hide his hopeless friends.
The Google view: The flat is located on a busy intersection of Talgarth Road in West Kenstington, just opposite the tube station. It's as horrible as Renton suggests.
An American Werewolf In London (1981)
In the film: Luckless American tourist David succumbs to his lunar lycanthropy and goes on a flesh-tearing bender, wreaking havoc across London and causing at crash at Piccadilly Circus.
The Google view: John Landis' horror classic was the first film to shoot in Piccadilly Circus since Michael Winner spoiled it for everybody in 1967 by setting off a smoke bomb and running away during the production of The Jokers.
On the road - Radio On (1979)
In the film: New Wave hero Robert makes one last stop before his Kraftwerk-fuelled pilgrimage from London to Bristol, parking up in the shadow of this imposing brickwork building.
The Google view: The former Gillette Building stands at Gillette Corner on the A4 out of London. It's currently awaiting redevelopment, but look closely at those old red bricks and you can still make out the imprint of the old name.
