Inside Wayne Manor | Treasure Hunt on Osterley Mansion’s cinematic double life

The location shooting at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham drew more scrutiny, as the stately home was being used as the exterior of Bruce Wayne’s ancestral home Wayne Manor in the third and final Christopher Nolan Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises.  Interiors were shot at Osterly Park, and while we know Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman) and Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle/Catwoman) were involved, and we assume Michael Caine as Wayne’s butler Alfred Pennyworth was on hand, the set was more hidden than any other location shooting that has gone on, so much so that one of the rooms used is not even known.

Fortunately, while we can’t know details of the script, the mansion at Osterly Park has a cinematic history which blogger Little Augury has recently explored, allowing us a peak at the breathtaking interiors designed by Robert Adam, the most famous Neoclassic architect and designer.

The Entrance Hall at Osterley ©NTPL/Dennis Gilbert

Prolific blogger Little Augury recently posted about the 1960 Stanley Donen film The Grass Is Greener, starring Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons. Osterley Park, on the western outskirts of London, was used for some of the exterior shots.

Some of the interiors at Osterley, designed by Robert Adam in the 1760s and 1770s, were also used as inspiration for the sets (as was, apparently, the Long Gallery at nearby Syon House, also by Adam).

A view through the Corinthian columns on the piano nobile of the Great Stair designed by Robert Adam at Osterley Park, Middlesex

The story revolves around the Earl and Countess of Rhyall (Grant and Kerr), who have been forced by straightened circumstances to open their stately home to the public. The Countess is flattered by the attentions of an American oil tycoon (Mitchum), and in revenge the Earl invites his former girlfriend, an American heiress (Simmons). Cue a romantic comedy that has over time become a minor classic.

via Osterley’s cinematic double life « Treasure Hunt.

See related:
The Dark Knight Rises on location: Wayne Manor at Wollaton Hall
The Dark Knight Rises Production Updates: Photos and Video from Wollaton Hall/Wayne Manor
Bruce Wayne’s latest hot ride: The Lamborghini Aventador
The Dark Knight Rises on location: Wayne Manor at Wollaton Hall