Blenheim Palace in film and media

Blenheim Palace has frequently been the setting for books, TV programs and films and other events presumably enjoyed by the paying public. These include:

Blenheim Palace

Architectural historian Dan Cruickshank selected the Palace as one of his four choices for the 2002 BBC television documentary series Britain's Best Buildings.[1]

Blenheim Horse Trials is an annual three-day event rated CCI*** (the second highest level of eventing), and Blenheim hosted the European Eventing Championships in 2005.


Blenheim on film and TV

A number of sources also credit the Berlin book-burning rally in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as having been filmed at Blenheim Palace. However, these scenes were actually filmed at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire.

Other film-based media

The Roman Style Bridge features in synthpop band OMD's music video for their 1981 single, Souvenir. Other parts of the video show band member Andy McCluskey driving his Volkswagen Karmann Ghia through the grounds.

Other media

The BBC Radio Four programme Just a Minute was recorded (twice) at Blenheim with Clement Freud, Derek Nimmo, Peter Jones and Kit Hesketh-Harvey. They were broadcast in 1998.

In 2019 Blenheim was the subject of news-coverage concerning the exhibition and later theft of Maurizio Cattelan's sculpture America, a gold toilet.[3]

Blenheim in fiction

  • The setting for T. H. White's novel Mistress Masham's Repose is a huge, ruined estate called Malplaquet. While this is an obvious parody of Blenheim Palace, it is also related to the landscape, architecture and local geography of Stowe School where T.H. White taught for many years.
  • In Neil Simon's play Brighton Beach Memoirs, (and the film adaptation), Eugene mentions "Blenheim Castle" in the dinner scene.
  • There is a scene in a partially finished Blenheim Palace in The System of the World, the last volume of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. John Churchill also plays a prominent role in the last book.
  • Blenheim features prominently in Karen Harper’s historical fiction account of Consuelo Vanderbilt’s life in the book American Duchess.
  • Blenheim Palace, the 9th Duke, Consuelo Vanderbilt and Gladys Deacon feature prominently in Robin Paige's novel Death at Blenheim Palace.
  • In Alan Hollinghurst, The Sparsholt Affair, the use of the Palace for secret war work is the background for undergraduate life at Oxford University.
  • The novel "A Weekend at Blenheim", by J.P Morrissey, published 2002 by Thomas Dunne Books "A superb reconstrction of the aristocratic autumn of Edwardian England...a gripping tale of intrigue."-Iain Pears, author of An Instance of the Fingerpost

"In richly textured description J.P Morgan evokes a period and place - Blenheim Palace in the very early 1900s - rarely (if ever) touched upon in fiction. The characters are a delight: Winston Churchill (in his youth, which prtery much foretells his age); John Singer Sargent (deliciously at his peak); the Duchess of Marlborough (up to no good) among them. A winning mystery." -Martha Grimes, author of the bestselling Richard Jury series.

Blenheim in art

American musician Barry Manilow performed a concert for over 40,000 fans on the grounds of the Palace on August 27, 1983. The recorded concert was released on VHS and later on DVD as "Barry Manilow: The Concert at Blenheim Palace."

The British painter John Piper (1903–1992) was commissioned to paint scenes in the grounds of the palace during the 1980s. In 2012, an exhibition of the artist's work entitled John Piper at Blenheim Palace was held in a room at the palace to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Piper's death.[4]

In October 2004, British jazz-pop pianist Jamie Cullum released "Live at Blenheim Palace," a 145-minute live concert DVD of his performance at the Blenheim Palace Music Festival on 1 July 2004.[5][6][7]

References

  1. Cruickshank, Dan. "Choosing Britain's Best Buildings". BBC History. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  2. "Where was King Ralph filmed?". British Film Locations. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  3. Soto, Kaly (14 September 2019). "Golden, Going Gone: 18-Karat Gold Toilet Is Stolen". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  4. Bapasola, Jeri (2012). John Piper: Blenheim Palace. Blenheim Palace. ISBN 978-0-9502344-7-2.
  5. Amazon.com listing, "Jamie Cullum – Live at Blenheim Palace [DVD] (2004)", retrieved 25 July 2012.
  6. Verve Music Group artist/item page, "Jamie Cullum – Live At Blenheim Palace [DVD]", retrieved 25 July 2012
  7. BBC page for 2004 Blenheim Palace Music Festival, retrieved 25 July 2012.
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