The earliest film we’ve yet found was made in 1944 and can be seen at https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/197711/ . There’s shots of Little Hall near the beginning and briefly, towards the end.
Little Hall has been a popular backdrop for films for over 50 years. Released in December 2020 was an adaptation by Pelham Elliott of Anthony Trollope’s novel The Warden. Under Pelham’s direction actors from the Sudbury Dramatic Society brought this drama to life. It was filmed at Little Hall in August 2020, finding corners of Little Hall for each of seven different locations. It is available here for you to enjoy for yourselves. See if you can identify the backdrops. Here’s a few clues from pictures of the film-making in progress.
However, The Warden was not the first film to be set against the backdrop of Little Hall. Here’s one of the earlier ones.
Directed by Michael Reeves, 1968
| Vincent Price | … | Matthew Hopkins | |
| Ian Ogilvy | … | Richard Marshall | |
| Rupert Davies | … | John Lowes | |
| Hilary Heath | … | Sara (as Hilary Dwyer) |
You can watch the film here.
Little Hall has also been a setting for more factual programmes.
About Anglia: Lavenham,1960
David Dimbleby reported for Anglia Television from Lavenham on preserving the village’s historic buildings.
This was shortly after the Colonel died. Who was the lady who emerged from Little Hall?
Pubs, Ponds and Power
Made by the BBC and first broadcast in November 2018, archaeologist Ben Robinson explores the rise, fall and rise of Lavenham, “the best-preserved medieval village in the country”. Not currently available online but when we’re open you can see it at Little Hall. See an overview here.
Tony Robinson’s History of Britain
Made by Channel 5 in 2019, this episode focussed on the history of costume. Not currently available, as far as we know.
We’ve still got a way to go to match the other Gayer-Anderson restoration, the Gayer-Anderson Museum in Cairo. It was the backdrop to these scenes in the James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me, made in 1977 with Roger Moore as 007. Let’s finish with a breathtaking tour of our exotic cousin.
Finally, a music video made at Easter 2022.