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| Hospitality Today | Winter 2020
HOTELS IN FILM
The Manor Elstree in
‘School for Scoundrels’
One of the best British comedy films
from what many regard as a golden
post-war age, School for Scoundrels
(1960) stars Alastair Sim, Terry-
Thomas and Ian Carmichael. Its most
memorable scenes include a tennis
match between Terry-Thomas and Ian
Carmichael at a country club, during
which Carmichael used all sorts of
underhand ‘gamesmanship’ tricks to
win against Terry-Thomas.
The country club (on the site of an
old Tudor house dating back to 1540)
was then the ‘Edgwarebury Hotel’ and
was used as a location in many films
and TV programmes made at nearby
Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.
Today it is The Manor, Elstree and HT
was delighted to take the opportunity
to visit for our ‘Hotels in Film’ feature
series.
The hotel is set in 10 acres of gardens
and natural woodland, with distant
views across London. Some of the
shrubs and rhododendrons are
thought to be of the same age as the
house itself. Commander Sir Arthur
Trevor Dawson, was the first owner
of “Edgwarebury House” before it was
turned into a private country club in
the early 1930s. In the late 1960s it
became a hotel with a fine restaurant.
In 1989 a new wing with conference
facilities and bedrooms were added.
The building’s original features
some very historic, including
ancient panelling - have been largely
retained as part of a restoration and