Elstree Studios before their construction was completed. Alexander Korda made one of his greatest successes at the studio, "The Private Life of Henry VIII" (1933), which starred Charles Laughton as the King. The film's success in the United States and elsewhere persuaded United Artists and The Prudential to invest in Korda's proposed Denham Film Studios. Film production continued until 1936 when fire destroyed the three stages. British and Dominion made a substantial investment in Pinewood Studios and moved production to Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. The support buildings that remained after the fire were sold off to various companies including Frank Landsdown Ltd, which
The Premises Studios restaurant, placed at the front of the complex in Hackney, and is also open to the general public. In the early days of the studios being based at 201–203 Hackney Road, a mixture of studio staff and musicians staffed the café. Broughton said of this: "Musicians understand musicians. Musicians aren’t so good at running the café side of things – in fact, when I let them do it they always made a loss – but it makes complete sense for the studios." The Café business is now owned and operated as family business and services the studios as well as