Tower Bridge

One of London's most recognisable landmarks must be Tower Bridge ñ its picture postcard mock-Gothicism contrived to sit alongside the much older Tower of London. When the bridge was opened in 1894, the bogus Medieval cladding (which hides a sophisticated metal frame construction) infuriated architectural purists, who believed that the state-of-the-art technology should speak for itself.

The roadway of the bridge (not to be confused with the much plainer London Bridge) is split in the middle, and can be raised to allow shipping to pass through.

In 1939, Tower Bridge featured as a backdrop to Dark Eyes of London, with Bela Lugosi running an insurance company whose well-insured clients just keep on drowning.

Evacuees board boats at Tower Pier as nuclear disaster looms in the Boulting brothersí excellent 1950 low-key chiller Seven Days to Noon, and titular boat The Magic Christian, in Joseph McGrathís anarchic adaptation of Terry Southernís novel, remains moored here while its upper-crust passengers are duped into believing theyíre crossing the Atlantic. Earlier in the Sixties, the bridge formed a picturesque backdrop as Alfie (Michael Caine) photographed formidable maneater Shelley Winters in front of the Tower of London.

Hitchcockís 1972 Frenzy ñ the directorís first London-based movie since Stage Fright in 1950 ñ opens with a triumphant helicopter shot along the Thames and under the upper walkway of Tower Bridge, with composer Ron Goodwinís stirring score apparently less concerned with creating atmosphere than with celebrating the Masterís return to his birthplace.

The bridge was also on display in the spoofy 1986 movie Biggles and in The Mummy Returns. Rupert Penry-Jones takes Laura Fraser for a magic carpet ride ñ sort of ñ across the bridge in Virtual Sexuality, Angelina Jolie rides her bike across it on the way to the auction house in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Tammy and Andy make a break for freedom on a stolen bike in 28 Weeks Later...

But the bridgeís most famous screen appearance must be in Brannigan, as the frantic chase climaxes with John Wayneís car leaping the gap of the raising roadway.

You can tour the interior of the towers, marvel at the feat of Victorian engineering and enjoy breathtaking views of the Thames from its now-covered walkway (a favoured hangout for prostitutes in the bridgeís early days).

Brannigan (1975, dir: Douglas Hickox)
Dark Eyes of London (1939, dir: Walter Summers)
Seven Days To Noon (1950, dir: John Boulting, Roy Boulting)
Alfie (1966, dir: Lewis Gilbert)
The Magic Christian (1969, dir: Joseph McGrath)
Frenzy (1972, dir: Alfred Hitchcock)
Biggles (1986, dir: John Hough)
Virtual Sexuality (1999, dir: Nick Hurran)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001, dir: Simon West)
The Mummy Returns (2001, dir: Stephen Sommers)
28 Weeks Later... (2007, dir: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)