J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry

by Macnab

• ISBN13: 9780415072724
• ISBN10: 0415072727
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-05-21
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Presiding over the "golden era" of the British film industry from the mid to late 1940s, J. Arthur Rank financed such classic movies as Oliver Twist, The Red Shoes, Brief Encounter, Caesar and Cleopatra, and Black Narcissus Having started out with relatively litle knowledge of the cinema, Rank's sponsorship brought about astounding progress within the industry. He invested millions in a radical new technique, "Independent Frame," commissioned newsreels and children's film, set up a "B" Feature training studio, and opened an animation department to rival Disney. By establishing an organization comparable in size to any of the major Hollywood studios, Rank briefly managed to reconcile and consolidate competing demands of "art" and "business." J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry charts every aspect of the robust film culture that Rank helped to create. It goes on to explain the eventual collapse of the Rank experiment amidst the economic andpolitical maelstrom of post-war Britain, highlighting the problems still facing the industry today. Combining archival research with interviews with Rank's contemporaries and members of his family, this definitive study firmly restores Rank to his rightful place at the center of British film history.

Table of Contents

List of plates
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Of Flour and Film	p. 1
On the Way to an Empire	p. 17
War and Monopoly	p. 35
Tilting at the World Market	p. 51
Rank and His Producers	p. 82
Research and Innovation: From Kids and Cartoons to the Charm School	p. 121
The Bogart Or Bacon Debate: British Cinema and Society, 1946-50	p. 162
ET: The Entertainment Tax	p. 188
Retrenchment and Economy: Davis Prunes	p. 199
Rank and the 1950s: The Xerox Years	p. 214
Glossary: Some Rank Figures	p. 231
Notes	p. 240
Bibliography	p. 258
Index	p. 263
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