British Cinema
Yes, This Does Exist. And Jolly Good It Is Too!!
| The British film industry had the same
beginnings and innovations as its counterparts in Europe and America. Britain
had William Friese-Green, the photographer who devoted his time and finances
on inventing a camera that could photograph moving images. He also dabbled
with stereo images, colour and a method of applying sound to film. Unfortunately
his technology was not successfully incorporated into any practical application.
G.A.Smith devised the first colour system, Kinemacolor, in 1908. Britain had foreign influences practically from the start. Leon Gaumont and Charles Pathe had both opened film companies by 1909 and there were many films flooded onto the British market from Europe. The British Board Of Film Censors was founded in 1912 primarily to keep the foreign imports 'genteel', or rather, to be able to control their numbers on the pretext of unsuitability. Home grown productions had an easier time passing the censors. It was now that the certificates U, for universal and A, for Adult were introduced. There was a minor invasion from the United States in 1913. Dr Ralph Jupp's London Film Company and the American star, Florence Turner, both began making films in the UK using American actors and technicians. This was halted by the WW1 in 1914. It left behind fully active, feature length film production in some thirty studios up and down the country. Leading film makers of the time were Cecil Hepworth and Will Barker, who made 'Sixty Years A Queen' and 'Jane Shore' in which he used 5,000 extras. He also paid Beerbohm Tree $1500 for one days work as Wolsey in a film about Henry VIII. There was also G.B.Samuleson, Maurice Elvey and George Pearson. The problem with the British film industry was it
did not keep pace with the advances being made abroad and quickly became
technically out of date. The films also remained very theatre orientated,
filming a play exactly as it had been performed on stage and with the same
actors and sets. The advent of the First World War caused more problems.
The British public wanted to see American films, by 1918, there was no
money left for home production. Even with private sponsorship, the decline
continued until in 1924 all production had ceased. Fortunately, before
this occurred, several notable careers had been launched. Ronald Coleman,
Clive Brook, Victor McLaglen, Lesie Howard, Charles Laughton andElsa Lanchester
and a small group of men anxious to rebuild the industry. They were Herbert
Wilcox, Graham Cutts, Michael Balcon, Victor Saville and a very young man
called Alfred Hitchcock. They joined forces to make the Korda had failed in Hollywood, and when the boom
started in the UK, he decided to try his luck there. He founded London
Films and built, reputedly, the finest studios in the world at Denham.
Here he made 'Katherine the Great'; 'Don Juan', with Douglas Fairbanks
jr., 'The Scarlet Pimpernel', Raymond Massey and Leslie Howard; 'Things
to Come" Massey and Ralph Richardson; 'The Man Who Could Work Miracles';
'Rembrandt' with Laughton; 'The Elephant Boy' and "The Four Feathers'.
Merl Oberon, Korda's second wife, appeared in many of them. John Maxwell's
British International Studios trained many of the period's notable directors,
writers and cameramen. Among them were Sidney Gilliat, J. Lee Thompson,
Ronald Neame, Jack Cardif and Charles Frend. He also had some high caliber
artists appearing with him, including Richard Tauber, Douglas Fairbanks
jr, Will Hays, John Mills and Carol Reed was one of The Second World War caused a small miracle to happen
to movie making in the UK. A new spirit of austerity and strenuous work
led to the abandonment of the stupidity and extravagance of the past decade.
With many of the employees being engaged in war work, available manpower
was reduced to one third and half of the studio space was requisitioned,
only sixty films were produced annually. New realism in wartime pictures
and a demand for In post war Britain, during the period 1945-1955,
the Rank Organization, with Michael Balcon at the helm, was the dominant
force in film production and distribution. Their rivals, Korda's London
films continued to expand. Taking over the British Lion Film Corporation
in 1946 and Shepperton Studios the following year. 1949 was a bad year
financially partly due to a speight of good, but big budget movies. 'The
Red Shoes'; 'Hamlet'; 'Fallen Idol'; 'Great Expectations' and 'Oliver Twist'.
Smaller budget productions also left there mark with "Passport to
Pimlico'; 'Whiskey Galore' and the very successful 'Kind Hearts and Coronets'
that established Alec Guiness as a star. It was symptomatic of the changing
entertainment habits of the general public that Rank sold their Lime Grove
Studios in West London to the BBC in 1949. Television was just beginning
to have an effect on the film industry. During the 1950' and early 60's
Films had to learn to be more exportable and welcome to foreign audiences.
Many achieved both of these criteria among them worksby David Lean, Carol
Reed and the Ealing Comedies. There were important newcomers in the acting
field that had international appeal, JackHawkins, Keneth More, Richard
Todd, Laurence Harvey, Richard Burton and Peter Finch. British actresses
of this caliber remained scarce. Films like 'The Lady Killers'; Genevieve';
'The Cruel Sea' and 'The Colditz Story' helped to keep the UK's reputation
high. Funding was also kept up by well made popular, but erring on schoolboy
bathroom humour series. Which included the The competition from television that had insidiously
been creeping up on the movie industry really took hold in the mid 60's.
The Majority of people owned T.V.'s and preferred to watch their entertainment
from the comfort of home. Cinemas were turned into ballrooms and Bingo
halls or simply torn down. The younger generation of moviemakers was turned
to for inspiration and new actors who would appeal to the new, young audiences
of the 60's. Film censorship discarded some of its old prohibitions, now
freer speech was allowed as well as previously taboo subjects like homosexuality,
illegitimacy and abortion. The new movies challenged British society and
it's conventions with 'Room at the Top'; 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning';
'Look Back In Anger'; 'A Taste Of Honey' and 'The Killing Of Sister George'.
The boundaries were pushed further by 'Alfie'; 'Up The Junction' and 'Women
in Love'. New, young Television was really biting hard and many films
were made specifically for the T.V. market. Some of the more notable stage
productions also made a the transfer onto the big screen, 'Othello'; 'King
Lear'; 'A Midsummers Nights Dream'; 'The Three Sisters'; 'The Caretaker'
and Inadmissible Evidence'. The 80's saw the British film industry deep
in the doldrums with all the studios split up, either being closed used
for T.V. production or hired out for independent film
Britain, eager to take Hollywood on at its own game, launched an ambitious program Wednesday to finance, market and export its films more effectively. Films like the Oscar-winning ``The Full Monty'' and ``Four Weddings and a Funeral'' have been international blockbusters but executives conceded that industry triumphs had been patchy. ``At the moment our success is precarious. We do very well in some years and less well in others. We need to ratchet up our performance,'' said the report from a government-sponsored panel of industry leaders. Britain is to set up a film office in Los Angeles to attract more Hollywood productions to London. Culture Secretary Chris Smith, who first gave news of the new Californian office last weekend, said: ``It sends a big message to Hollywood that we are not a quaint film suburb but a big block on High Street Tinseltown.'' The industry is to finance a $25 million fund to boost development and distribution. A special marketing agency is being set up and more funds from the national lottery channelled into scriptwriting. ``You cannot survive on small-budget films...we need to do it bigger and better,'' said Stewart Till, president of International, Polygram Filmed Entertainment whose box office hits have included ``Trainspotting.'' ``The Full Monty,'' the tale of five jobless steelworkers who become male strippers, has now become the highest-earning British film, taking $87 million. British movie audiences have reached new peaks in the last year but three out of every four films they see are still U.S.-made. ``The U.S. film industry is strikingly successful, both in its domestic market, where the majors take 80 percent of box office, and abroad,'' the report concluded. It acknowledged the professionalism of Hollywood studios where development, production and distribution are all financed and carried out under one roof. Although British films are hailed for their artistic merit and acting talent, they are consistently undercapitalized. Director Anthony Minghella had to turn to Hollywood to finance ``An English Patient'' which won nine Oscars last year. Tom Clarke, Britain's first films minister, insisted there was room for all in the British industry but it must be more effectively marketed and financed. ``The big and small are all in our mind beautiful,'' he said at the launch of the report entitled ``A Bigger Picture.'' ^REUTERS@ |