On this day, 24 January, in 1979, as The Shining moved into its later months at EMI Elstree Studios, a fire broke out in Stage 3 — home to the vast Colorado Lounge set. Cast and crew were working nearby on Stage 4 when word came through, and within minutes thick black smoke was filling the service corridors between the stages.

We interviewed Ray Merrin, Doug Milsome and Steven Spielberg who all had memories of the fire.

Sound re-recording mixer Ray Merrin remembered how quickly the rumour of “a little fire” turned into something else entirely — punctuated by one of the most surreal details of the night. The dubbing studio door opened and in walked Norman Gay, an actor still in costume: “all dressed up with a bow tie, blood pouring down his face… ‘Please, can I stay in here?… The paramedics are trying to take me away.’” The blood, of course, was make-up — but the emergency services didn’t know that, and all he wanted was to get his suitcase back before the place went up.

Merrin also recalled the moment the structure gave way: “Stanley was there when the brick wall blew in… it was like a clap of thunder.”

In the middle of the chaos, Kubrick’s attention snapped to what mattered for finishing the film: “We’ve got to get the sound rushes out before they get burned.” Merrin remembered him making sure the material was rescued from the sound transfer bay.

Cinematographer Doug Milsome also spoke about the fire in our Elstree Project interview: “A lot of smoke… Stanley asked me to [go in and save the cameras]. Can you imagine?” He also remembered the moment the fight was effectively lost: “By that time, the roof had gone completely, burnt through.”

The Daily Production Report noted, with almost comic simplicity: “STAGE 3, INT. LOUNGE, BURNED DOWN.”

Amazingly, the fire caused remarkably little delay. Filming continued soon after, and the stage was rebuilt — and Steven Spielberg later told The Elstree Project something we love: that the rebuilt stage’s increased height turned out to be a gift for Raiders of the Lost Ark, because he needed every inch of headroom he could get for the Well of the Souls.

More stories like this live inside The Elstree Project oral histories — the lived memory of the crews who built British cinema in Borehamwood and Elstree.