It
is not every day that a Cornish ironmonger has two Oscar-winning
actresses hard at work in his shop. But that was the case for Wesley
Bowden when Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith came knocking on his
door.
Bowden's Home Hardware in Market Place, Helston, was one of the locations this week for the film Ladies in Lavender.
Scripted and directed by Charles Dance, it is based on an enchanting story by British author William J Locke and is set in Cornwall.
Dame Judi plays Miss Jane Widdington and Dame Maggie her sister Ursula, who share a clifftop retreat on a wild, storm-lashed coastline.
The story is about a handsome young man being shipwrecked and swept up in a cove below, where he is spotted by these spinsters.
This human jetsam, played by rising German star Daniel Bruehl, cannot speak English and turns out to be a gifted Polish violinist.
For debutant director Mr Dance, last seen on television as a killer in Lynda La Plante's TV drama Trial and Retribution, Ladies in Lavender makes a pleasant change.
He said: "It is a beautiful story with no sex, no violence and no bad language. It is a kind of grown-up fairy story."
Also starring in this production are Michael Gambon, American Oscar-winning actress Angelica Huston and two Cornish boys.
They are Truro-based Playrite Theatre Projects stablemates Tom Hill and Jack Callow.
At present drama student Tom, 17, and Jack, 10, are also rehearsing for the Playrite production of Les Miserables which is due to be staged in early April next year.
When Mr Dance and his illustrious dames went to work in Helston on Monday, accompanied by a film production crew around 100 strong, a large crowd gathered.
The spotlight was on Bowden's ironmongery which has served the people of Helston with household essentials since the 1930s - the period of Ladies in Lavender.
Mr Bowden said: "Two months ago we were approached by a film location manager and we were asked not to tell anyone.
"Then late last week they arrived to turn the front part of our shop into Penhaligon's the Outfitters.
"As far as I could gather, Dame Judi and Dame Maggie did not have to say too much in this scene.
"They came in, made purchases and returned down the steps to an Austin car where they waited for a boy to hand them their parcels.
"They had to do this sequence a couple of dozen times. They were here for several hours.
"I had a nice chat with Dame Judi. It was her first time back in this area since she was at Helford in 1975."
Film executives require their settings to be just so, and one item required was a cannon from HMS Anson - a frigate wrecked at nearby Loe Bar in 1807 with the loss of 120 lives. The ancient cannon, which is normally displayed outside Helston Folk Museum, was lifted and taken away last week by a Royal Navy team from RNAS Culdrose.
When the 1930s film shoot in Helston is over and the 200-year-old cannon has been refurbished it will be returned to its usual place.
Yesterday craftsmen hired by the film company were also busy restoring Bowden's back from its temporary guise.
Mr Bowden said: "We were changed from our normal livery of yellow and blue to a sort of mossy blue and green. They are very clever, the way they do these things.
"It must have cost many thousands of pounds just for this scene.
"But everyone was delighted to see them here. It is a good way of promoting Cornwall and Helston.
"Our customers were still able to come in through our main entrance because the film people preferred to use our old front door."
Yesterday the Ladies in Lavender stars, who are staying at St Ives, were busy filming at Cadgwith Cove.
Thanks very much to Jan M for sending me this article, which appeared in the Western Morning News ( a part of the this is network -- this is Devon) on Sept. 17, 2003.