101 Dalmatians|St James's Park — The Soaking That Started a Marriage

This is where the film stops being a chase and becomes a story. Roger comes down the steps below the Duke of York Column, is hauled into the water, and ends up sitting on wet grass beside a woman who is just as soaked and just as undone, while two dalmatians settle the matter between themselves. Buckingham Palace sits in the background doing what it does in every London film.

Be honest about one thing before you go looking. Film units rarely get free run of St James's Park, and much of what reads as St James's on screen was shot in Battersea Park, where paths can be closed without inconveniencing the government. The Duke of York steps and the palace sightline are the real thing. The particular stretch of lawn and lake where the couple land is a stand-in on the other side of the river.

The view is still worth the walk. Stand in the middle of the Blue Bridge and look west: the palace at the end of the water, the wooded island behind you where the pelicans keep to themselves, deckchairs out on the grass all summer. It is the most filmed park view in Britain, and the reason becomes obvious the moment you stop on the bridge and everyone behind you has to go around.