Trafalgar Square, SW1

Trafalgar Square isnít the most elegant of European city squares ñ it sprawls too much, and itís constantly overwhelmed by the swirl of traffic. Incidentally, the hygiene-conscious powers, who want to turn the entire city into a squeaky-clean, family-friendly theme park, are bent on driving out the ubiquitous scruffy pigeons ñ you canít buy corn to feed them any more.

Big enough to accommodate filming without disrupting traffic, the square is one of the few central London landmarks to feature regularly in movies.

Sylvia Sidney meets with undercover cop John Loder in Trafalgar Square in Sabotage, Alfred Hitchcockís 1936 adaptation of Joseph Conradís The Secret Agent. 14 years later, Jules Dassin shot wannabe-wrestling promoter Richard Widmark meeting up with club owner Francis L Sullivan here in the excellent film noir Night and the City.

During the opening of The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Ingrid Bergman gazes up at Edwin Landseerís enormous bronze lions. Sophia Loren picks up on-the-run Gregory Peck in the square in Stanley Donenís convoluted 1966 comedy thriller Arabesque. A fraught David Naughton tries to get himself arrested here in An American Werewolf in London. Jeff Daniels is ñ naturally ñ dragged through Trafalgar Square by Pongo the dog during the geographically incomprehensible chase near the beginning of 101 Dalmatians.

In David A Stewartís legendary turkey Honest, Nicole Appleton and Peter Facinelli trip out in the fountains. 1961ís The Day the Earth Caught Fire saw the square filled with CND protesters. In another sci-fi movie, Brian Donlevy sees something suspicious being driven through the square in Quatermass II, past Admiralty Arch.

Most incongruously, the square is decked out with swastikas for the fascist rally in Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Molloís disturbingly convincing fake documentary of life under Nazi occupation, It Happened Here.

Sabotage (1936, dir: Alfred Hitchcock)
Night And The City (1950, dir: Jules Dassin)
The Inn Of The Sixth Happiness (1958, dir: Mark Robson)
Arabesque (1966, dir: Stanley Donen)
An American Werewolf In London (1981, dir: John Landis)
101 Dalmatians (1996, dir: Stephen Herek)
Honest (2000, dir: David A Stewart)
The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961, dir: Val Guest)
Quatermass II (1957, dir: Val Guest)
It Happened Here (1965, dir: Kevin Brownlow, Andrew Mollow)