filmlover
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I've come to believe that the best blogging requires -- good bloggers! A good blogger in my book is one who approaches it with the attitude of sharing, not ranting! (Either one wants to give to others, or one wants to dump on them!) Sharing historic materials and research that can enhance the readers knowledge of vintage films represents a great purpose and endeavor. I've enjoyed the contributions of many here and have been enriched by their knowledge!
ThelmaTodd, thank you very much for your nice words. One can only do what one can, and hope others like it. Thanks again.
p.s. -- The one I am doing for today won't be up until very late tonight. -
Hi, Rey,
My last word (I hope) on the subject, in reply to your post, I am not so sure that the original poster didn't intend it to take a political turn, being as he/she focused specifically on the last three years.
Now we return to our regularly scheduled movie.
"Hey, Marty, been following that "Rule, Britannia" thread?"
"Yeah, Angie, as good as his 1939 thread."
"Boy, that filmlover sure can write."
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Here you go, Fred, a film made just for you. "All The Young Men" is on right now and you have cannons going off in the first seconds.
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The British Cinema: 1946-1950
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Movie attendance by the end of the war in 1945 had reached an all-time high of 30 million per week on average. 1946 outdid that, averaging nearly 31.5 million per week. But that was not indicative of what was to come. Yet come the change did, and quickly.
There was an attempt to keep British content dominant in theaters, continuing to restrict American films from overpowering that of Great Britain (America had a lot of films they wanted to get into this lucrative marketplace). And many film producers were nervous by the constant acquirement of studios by a fellow countryman named J. Arthur Rank, whom we will discuss in greaterv detail in a few days. Plus they were now facing a problem film producers in the United States were having to deal with...television.
The government also needed money for their depleted reserves after the war. They saw that American films playing in the UK in 1947 earned approximately £18 million. And Britain wanted a share of that. American film producers offered a compromise of keeping a portion of the money earned in England there for future productions. Instead, Great Britain made a very big mistake. They introduced a tax on all American films that amounted to 75% of earnings...and not of what theatres actually took in but what the government guessed ahead of time a film was likely to make before it opened!
American producers fought back immediately, announcing that no new films would be sent to Great Britain. England was cut off. One of the producers hardest hit was Rank, who also owned a chain of theaters in addition to his film studios, for he now not only would be without new films to fill up his many picture houses, he was now cut off from showing his films in America. The government called upon him to increase film production output in the UK to make up the lost fims from America, but the government wasn't paying for it. Rank organized a merger between several companies and put into work a plan to greatly increase the number of films.
However, Rank and other producers knew there wasn't enough income from just UK audiences to survive, and America was greatly limiting their films from playing in the States. So, in 1948, a deal was signed by the UK's Harold Wilson, President of the Board of Trade, and Eric Johnston, representing the Motion Pictures Association of America. The tax was repealed. America immediately started shipping over all of their product to UK distributors that they could, much more than England's film producers had thought. The increase in home production by Rank and other producers would now have to compete with a greatly-increased flow of American films.
In addition, England film producers were getting taxed enormously by their own government through the "Entertainments Tax." From box-office receipts of £70 million (net), after taxes the producers got £7.5 million. But their production costs had been £14 million.
Could things get worse? Yes, people were not going to the movies as much as before. 1946 had been great but since then attendance had fallen off 200 million tickets per year.
A number of studios closed.
Will there always be an England?
More about these events soon, but at the beginning of this post I quoted Charles Dickens in saying it was the best of times and the worst of times. Certainly, you have seen how for film producers it was the worst of times...but now look at the fifteen films below that they made during this five-year period, pictures of a quality to equal our own great 1939 period.
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Mon., Sept. 11th, 1939
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As one poster on this board wisely made mention to me, we should steer clear of politics here on this message board.
Edited by: filmlover on Sep 11, 2011 6:17 PM
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*Sir Michael Redgrave*
I just came across an excellent article about Sir Michael Redgrave right here on TCM as part of tonight's Redgrave festival.
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/430519%7C430611/Michael-Redgrave-Profile.html
So instead of putting in my profile of Redgrave, I will devote more space in this post to pictures and posters from his films.
2 photos from The Lady Vanishes
Mourning Becomes Electra
The Browning Version
The Importance of Being Earnest
Mr. Arkadin
The Quiet American
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On the female side, it would be Bette Davis.
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mr6666, I'm recommending all of the films for tonight: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, The Innocents, Dead of Night (especially Dead of Night), Shake Hands With the Devil, and The Browning Version. All star Sir Michael Redgrave.
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Sunday, Sept. 10th, 1939
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cinemafan, thank you very much for your post. Made my day. I am also glad today is only the 10th because there is a lot of great stuff to come. (Today's post will be up shortly, and if you look at tonight's movies, you will know who it will be about.)
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Well, there is TCM Underground.
But my choice would be Friday nights because that was the night horror films were run on a Seattle station with a horror host. Besides, Friday is best because of a possible 13th in a month.
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re: Caine Mutiny -- actually, I did mention this title for September...way back in April, lol. My copy just came today from Amazon, coincidentally enough
Harryhousen? ; )
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"The Apartment" on Blu has been slipped into the schedule for NEXT WEEK, Sept. 13th.
Up on Amazon for $13.99
And just a reminder that Citizen Kane comes out on Blu on the 13th. Amazon has the collector's edition, plus an exclusive Amazon release that comes with The Magnificent Ambersons on DVD.
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Edge must be on vacation, so here are some new titles:
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Alex in Wonderland (remastered)
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
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ThelmaTodd wrote: "As you can see, I have returned after a long hiatus."
You've come back at a good time. We have an excellent new moderator named Michael.
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EugeniaH said:
"Hi Thelma,
I'm really enjoying reading your informative posts, very articulate and in-depth, and looking forward to reading whatever you create in "Favorites" (or wherever else!).
(Update): Sorry, filmlover, you too. I've been reading your '1939' thread since the first day. "
Hi, Eugenia,
Ha ha, I was just about to say thanks for your email and then stop and say, "Oh. Thelma, it's for you."
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To be honest, it surprises me, too, how fast in just 24 hours the thread disappears from the top to the middle of the second page.
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GREAT BRITAIN GOES TO WAR
The first German bombs fell in September 1939, and output of movies fell off, of course, due to several reasons. The money wasn't there to produce movies, being instead taken up by the war effort, and many workers creating the films and in running the movie theaters were called up for military service.
Actually, at the very beginning of the war all the movie theaters were closed by the government, fearing what would happen if they were bombed with people still inside. Eventually, though, Britain knew that it had to have entertainment in order to have a more industrious public. Sanctions did apply whereby marquee lights, etc., could not be lit due to blackout conditions and this continued through the end of the war. A number of theaters did close due to lack of manpower, and some from German bombing runs.
The number of films being released fell from 108 in 1940 to only 46 two years later. Paradoxically, attendance in theaters grew enormously. By war's end in 1945, attendance was at 30 million people per week.
Another interesting factor is that the quality of product increased. Though budgets were smaller, films got better. And, perhaps, out of pride of their country, English films took on a distinctive English style.
Alexander Korda was the first producer to get a war film into movie theatres, The Lion Has Wings. Other producers started turning out war films as fast as they could for the next several years. Among the titles were Freedom Radio, Convoy, Spy in Black, Contraband, Gestapo, In Which We Serve, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, Went The Day Well?, and Desert Victory.
Pimpernel Smith:
49th Parallel:
They Flew Alone:
The First of the Few:
Escapism did still exist, and picturegoers were still able to indulge a few hours with Major Barbara, Gaslight (yes, the same story that was made later in America with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman), Jeannie, Thunder Rock, Fanny by Gaslight, The Wicked Lady, Champagne Charlie, Blithe Spirit, The Seventh Veil, Caesar and Cleopatra (though not completed until after the war), Brief Encounter, Dead of Night, The Saint Meets The Tiger, The Saint's Vacation, and Henry V. And, sigh, yes, many Old Mother Riley films. And some of these films were made under trying conditions, with bombs falling nearby.
The Ghost Train:
Gaslight:
These pictures were not lacking in star power: Jack Hawkins, Rex Harrison, Margaret Lockwood, Laurence Olivier, Glynis Johns, Leslie Howard, Raymond Massey, Michael Wilding, Wendy Hiller, John Mills, Noel Coward, Celia Johnson, James Mason, Stewart Granger, Beatrice Lillie, Stanley Holloway, Richard Greene, David Niven, Leo Genn, Trevor Howard, Margaret Rutherford, Jean Simmons, Michael Redgrave, Claude Rains, Vivien Leigh, and Paul Robeson. And though not all made it to our shores, performers very popular with the British public: George Formby, Anton Walbrook, Patricia Roc, Will Hay, Tommy Handley, Sidney Keith, Gordon Jackson, The Crazy Gang, Sally Ann Howes, Tommy Trinder, Arthur Lucan, Cecil Parker, and Jean Kent.
Regrettably, Leslie Howard, Annette Sutherland, and other British actors on a public relations junket were casualties of World War II when the plane they were on was shot down by the German Luftwaffe on June 1st, 1943.
When the war came to an end, clear skies opened up over England.
Except in the movie business, as you will discover.
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Fred, you never told us you do reviews on IMDB.
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Saturday, September 9, 1939
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{font:Calibri}Okay, we have to talk about Hitchcock. Sorry, I know every detail of his career has been placed under a microscope and there is nothing you don’t know about his movies. However, it is impossible to not include him in this British history. The very first all-talking British-made movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. {font}
{font:Calibri}The name of the movie was Blackmail. Hitchcock had been making movies, quite a lot of them, prior to this in the silent days. Among these were The Pleasure Garden, The Mountain Eagle, The Lodger, Downhill, Easy Virtue, The Ring, The Farmer's Wife, and Champagne, so he certainly established his ability in thrilling the audience. Blackmail, though, showed that he was ready to take the use of sound and incorporate it in exciting his audience. (Note: there are two versions of Blackmail, one silent with the regular screen cards, and the other all talking (except for the opening few minutes).
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Remember, this was the first movie in the country to have dialogue. Hitchcock, even then the master showman, took a section of dialogue around a table and transformed what could have been tense dialogue into a scene with suspenseful, white-knuckle intensity. The woman sitting at the table has only a short time before been forced to defend herself from a man **** her by killing him with a nearby knife (could anyone but Hitchcock have been chosen to direct “Dial M For Murder” a few decades later?).
Later, while all the streets are abuzz with the news of the murder, the unsuspected woman is sitting at a table, in shell-shocked guilt and horror…while all the time a busybody neighbor keeps talking about the grisly murder and the use of the word “knife” comes up about a dozen times, each time with more intensity. The young woman drowns out the sound of the voice, except when “knife” comes up, the repetition grows swifter, until finally the young woman jumps up from the table in horror. Hitchcock played with sound in that way in his very first talking feature. Here is that sequence, take a look and a listen:
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Blackmail also has wonderful touches, such as when the young woman walks dazed from the scene of the crime. Along the street, she moves in slow motion, while people passerby move by her at such speed that half the time they appear transparent. A brilliant move by Hitchcock. (Of course, manages to amuse us, too, by his cameo in the film.){font}
{font:Calibri}Films to follow Blackmail were Juno and the Paycock, Skin Game, Rich and Strange, and others. But he really got going with the 1934 version of the Man Who Knew Too Much, followed by my favorite, The 39 Steps.
Then came Secret Agent, Sabotage, and The Lady Vanishes.
Is it any wonder that America came calling for his successful talent? Movies took Alfred Hitchcock all around the world, but he returned to England to film 1972's Frenzy, which relied on Hitch’s trademark gimmick of an innocent man on the run because of a murder he did not commit.
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Before I forget, while I am still workingon today's post, be sure to catch "Hobson's Choice" tonight! Delightful film from David Lean starring Charles Laughton and John Mills. And produced by Korda.
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I think that Hitch probably did have something to do with picking some of the music, at least. If you take a listen to -- no, wait, I will be getting in to that -- but I think he was always looking at all aspects of what would be the complete movie he wanted you to see.
[B]1939: HOLLYWOOD'S GREATEST YEAR - DAY BY DAY - as it happens!!![/B]
in Your Favorites
Posted
Tuesday, Sept. 12th, 1939