MGM-London purchased the former Amalgamated Studios,
Borehamwood, in April 1944, and changed its name to
MGM British Studios Ltd in 1946. After improvements, the studio contained seven stages with over of floor space. MGM's
Edward, My Son (1949), with
Spencer Tracy and
Deborah Kerr, was the first film to be produced at the studio. Films made at the MGM-British Studios for the parent company included
Ivanhoe (1952) and
The Dirty Dozen (1967). Production designer
Alfred Junge's castle setting for the former was to dominate the Borehamwood skyline for some years afterwards. The facilities were hired by other companies;
20th Century Fox shot the films
Anastasia (1956) and
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), for which a large set of a Chinese town, complete with artificial lakes, covering some 500,000 square feet, was constructed. When
Ealing Studios sold its own studios in 1956, the company moved production of their last few films to MGM-British (with their logo now reading Ealing Films rather than Ealing Studios). Lawrence Bachmann was head of British MGM in the early 1960s.
Lew Grade's
ITC used it for filmed television series, including
The Prisoner (1967–68). One of the last films shot there, MGM's
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), has been cited as one of the primary causes behind the closure of the studio, owing to
Stanley Kubrick's production occupying more and more of the available studio space—eventually using all of it—for almost two years. The studio facility was in operation until 1970, one of the last productions being ITC's
UFO television series. At that time, MGM made a production and distribution deal with
EMI, and began to use its facility (
EMI-Elstree Studios, formerly Associated British Elstree Studios) becoming
MGM-EMI, an arrangement which only lasted until 1973, with MGM having a financial interest in only a few films." MGM's own Borehamwood site was cleared and redeveloped for industrial use and housing. ==Selected productions==