Royal Courts of Justice, the Strand, WC2
On the Strand, east of Aldwych ++on the north side, stands a startling burst of Victorian mock-Gothicism, the Royal Courts of Justice, housing the High Court and Court of Appeal, which preside over the most serious civil cases – such as libel and divorce hearings. Alan McKim (John Gregson) works as a barrister at the courts in Fifties comedy Genevieve, and it’s outside on the Strand that the eponymous Darracq is first seen.
Bridget (Renée Zellweger) covers an extradition case here for TV show Sit Up Britain in Bridget Jones’s Diary, but the view of the building as a backdrop to the Lord Mayor’s Show in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1936 film Sabotage was no more than an enormous photographic blow-up. The interior is as elaborate as the facade suggests, and (depending on the case being heard) Courts are open to the public.
By the way, if you want to grab a packet of fags like Bridget, the newsagent is BK News, 212 Strand at Essex Street.
Genevieve (1953, dir: Henry Cornelius)
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001, dir: Sharon Maguire)
Sabotage (1936, dir: Alfred Hitchcock)
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