HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The United Kingdom has had a significant film industry for over a century. While film production reached an all-time high in 1936, the "golden age" of British cinema is usually thought to have occurred in the 1940s, during which the directors
David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...
, Michael Powell, (with Emeric Pressburger) and Carol Reed produced their most critically acclaimed works. Many British actors have accrued critical success and worldwide recognition, such as
Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen ...
,
Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...
, Glynis Johns,
Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...
,
Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...
, Michael Caine,
Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
,
Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primeti ...
,
Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
,
Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy F ...
, Daniel Day-Lewis,
Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy F ...
,
Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
,
Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...
and
Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films, particularly period dramas, and for her portrayals of headstrong and complicated women, she has received numerous accolades, inc ...
. Some of the films with the largest ever box office returns have been made in the United Kingdom, including the third and sixth highest-grossing film franchises (''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...
'' and ''
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
''). The identity of the British film industry, particularly as it relates to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
, has often been the subject of debate. Its history has often been affected by attempts to compete with the American industry. The career of the producer
Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...
attempted to do so in the 1940s, and Goldcrest in the 1980s. Numerous British-born directors, including
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
,
Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&nb ...
and
Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...
, and performers, such as
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...
and
Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...
, have achieved success primarily through their work in the United States. In 2009, British films grossed around $2 billion worldwide and achieved a market share of around 7% globally and 17% in the United Kingdom. UK box-office takings totalled £1.1 billion in 2012, with 172.5 million admissions. The
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
has produced a poll ranking what they consider to be the 100 greatest British films of all time, the BFI Top 100 British films. The annual
BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
hosted by the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
are considered to be the British equivalent of the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
.


History


Origins and silent films

The world's first moving picture was shot in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...
by Louis Le Prince in 1888 and the first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in
Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Gre ...
in 1889 by British inventor William Friese Greene, who patented the process in 1890. The first people to build and run a working 35 mm
camera A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with ...
in Britain were Robert W. Paul and
Birt Acres Birt Acres (23 July 1854 – 27 December 1918) was an American and British photographer and film pioneer. Among his contributions to the early film industry are the first working 35 mm camera in Britain (Wales), and ''Birtac'', the firs ...
. They made the first British film ''
Incident at Clovelly Cottage ''Incident at Clovelly Cottage'', also known as ''Incident Outside Clovelly Cottage, Barnet'', shot by Birt Acres and produced by Acres and his collaborator Robert W. Paul in March 1895, was the "first successful motion picture film made in Br ...
'' in February 1895, shortly before falling out over the camera's patent. Soon several British film companies had opened to meet the demand for new films, such as Mitchell and Kenyon in
Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
. Although the earliest British films were of everyday events, the early 20th century saw the appearance of narrative shorts, mainly comedies and melodramas. The early films were often melodramatic in tone, and there was a distinct preference for story lines already known to the audience, in particular, adaptations of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
plays and
Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
novels. The Lumière brothers first brought their show to London in 1896. In 1898 American producer Charles Urban expanded the London-based
Warwick Trading Company The Warwick Trading Company was a British film production and distribution company, which operated between 1898 and 1915. History The Warwick Trading Company had its origins in the London office of Maguire and Baucus, a firm run by two American ...
to produce British films, mostly documentary and news. In 1898 Gaumont-British Picture Corp. was founded as a subsidiary of the French
Gaumont Film Company The Gaumont Film Company (, ), often shortened to Gaumont, is a French film studio headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Founded by the engineer-turned-inventor Léon Gaumont (1864–1946) in 1895, it is the oldest extant film company in ...
, constructing
Lime Grove Studios Lime Grove Studios was a film, and later television, studio complex in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The complex was built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, a ...
in
West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...
in 1915 in the first building built in Britain solely for film production. Also in 1898
Hepworth Studios Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area e ...
, South London by
Cecil Hepworth Cecil Milton Hepworth (19 March 1874 – 9 February 1953) was a British film director, producer and screenwriter. He was among the founders of the British film industry and continued making films into the 1920s at his Hepworth Studios. In ...
, the Bamforths began producing films in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, and
William Haggar William Haggar (10 March 1851 – 4 February 1925) was a British pioneer of the cinema industry. Beginning his career as a travelling entertainer, Haggar, whose large family formed his theatre company, later bought a Bioscope show and earned his ...
began producing films in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. Directed by
Walter R. Booth Walter Robert Booth (12 July 1869 – 1938) was a British magician and early pioneer of British film. Collaborating with Robert W. Paul and then Charles Urban mostly on "trick" films, he pioneered techniques that led to what has been descri ...
in 1901, '' Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost'' is the earliest film adaptation of Charles Dickens's festive novella ''
A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...
''. Booth's '' The Hand of the Artist'' (1906) has been described as the first British animated film. In 1902
Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...
was founded by
Will Barker William George Barker (18 January 1868, in Cheshunt – 6 November 1951, in Wimbledon) was a British film producer, director, cinematographer, and entrepreneur who took film-making in Britain from a low budget form of novel entertainment to t ...
, becoming the oldest continuously-operating film studio in the world. In 1902 the earliest colour film in the world was made; like other films made at the time, it is of everyday events. In 2012 it was found by the National Science and Media Museum in
Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
after lying forgotten in an old tin for 110 years. The previous title for earliest colour film, using Urban's inferior
Kinemacolor Kinemacolor was the first successful colour motion picture process, used commercially from 1908 to 1914. It was invented by George Albert Smith in 1906. He was influenced by the work of William Norman Lascelles Davidson and, more directly, E ...
process, was thought to date from 1909. The re-discovered films were made by pioneer
Edward Raymond Turner Edward Raymond Turner (1873 – 9 March 1903) was a pioneering British inventor and cinematographer. He produced the earliest known colour motion picture film footage. Biography Turner was born in 1873 in Clevedon, North Somerset, UK. In late ...
from London who patented his process on 22 March 1899. In 1903 Urban formed the
Charles Urban Trading Company The Charles Urban Trading Company specialised in travel, educational and scientific films. It was formed in 1903 in London by the Anglo-American film producer Charles Urban, who struck out on his own after five years at the Warwick Trading Company. ...
, which produced early colour films using his patented Kinemacolor process. This was later challenged in court by Greene, causing the company to go out of business in 1915. In 1903,
Cecil Hepworth Cecil Milton Hepworth (19 March 1874 – 9 February 1953) was a British film director, producer and screenwriter. He was among the founders of the British film industry and continued making films into the 1920s at his Hepworth Studios. In ...
and
Percy Stow Percy Stow (1876 – 10 July 1919) was a British director of short films. He was also the co-founder of Clarendon Film Company. He was born in Islington, London, England. He was previously associated with Cecil Hepworth from 1901 to 1903, where ...
directed ''Alice in Wonderland'', the first film adaptation of
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...
's children's book ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...
''. In 1903
Frank Mottershaw Frank Mottershaw (1850–1932) (often confused with his second son, Frank Storm Mottershaw) was an early English cinema director based in Sheffield, Yorkshire. His films, ''A Daring Daylight Burglary'' and ''The Robbery of the Mail Coach'' (featur ...
of
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
produced the film '' A Daring Daylight Robbery'', which launched the chase genre. In 1911 the Ideal Film Company was founded in Soho, London, distributing almost 400 films by 1934, and producing 80. In 1913 stage director
Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...
began directing British films, becoming Britain's most prolific film director, with almost 200 by 1957. In 1914
Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...
was founded, and acquired in 1928 by German-born Ludwig Blattner, who invented a magnetic steel tape recording system that was adopted by the BBC in 1930. In 1915, the Kinematograph Renters’ Society of Great Britain and Ireland was formed to represent the
film distribution Film distribution (also known as Film exhibition or Film distribution and exhibition) is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marke ...
companies. It is the oldest film trade body in the world. It was known as the Society of Film Distributors until it changed its name again to the Film Distributors’ Association (FDA). In 1920 Gaumont opened Islington Studios, where
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
got his start, selling out to Gainsborough Pictures in 1927. Also in 1920 Cricklewood Studios was founded by Sir Oswald Stoll, becoming Britain's largest film studio, known for
Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, co ...
and
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
film series. In 1920 the short-lived company Minerva Films was founded in London by the actor
Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and ''Vanity Fair'' and was one o ...
(also producer and director) and his friend and story editor Adrian Brunel. Some of their early films include four written by A. A. Milne including '' The Bump'', starring C. Aubrey Smith; ''
Twice Two ''Twice Two'' is a 1933 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy short film. It is the second of only three films where the pair each play a dual role: the first is '' Brats'' and the third and last is '' Our Relations''. Plot A year prior to the fir ...
''; '' Five Pound Reward''; and '' Bookworms''. By the mid-1920s the British film industry was losing out to heavy competition from the United States, which was helped by its much larger home market – in 1914 25% of films shown in the UK were British, but by 1926 this had fallen to 5%. The Slump of 1924 caused many British film studios to close, resulting in the passage of the Cinematograph Films Act 1927 to boost local production, requiring that cinemas show a certain percentage of British films. The act was technically a success, with audiences for British films becoming larger than the quota required, but it had the effect of creating a market for poor quality, low cost films, made to satisfy the quota. The "quota quickies", as they became known, are often blamed by historians for holding back the development of the industry. However, some British film makers, such as Michael Powell, learnt their craft making such films. The act was modified with the Cinematograph Films Act 1938 assisted the British film industry by specifying only films made by and shot in Great Britain would be included in the quota, an act that severely reduced Canadian and Australian film production. Ironically, the biggest star of the silent era, English comedian
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...
, was
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
-based.


The early sound period

Scottish solicitor John Maxwell founded British International Pictures (BIP) in 1927. Based at the former
British National Pictures Studios Elstree Studios on Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire is a British film and television production centre operated by Elstree Film Studios Limited. One of several facilities historically referred to as Elstree Studios, the Shenley Road st ...
in Elstree, the facilities original owners, including producer-director
Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wif ...
, had run into financial difficulties. One of the company's early films,
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's ''
Blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
'' (1929), is often regarded as the first British sound feature. It was a part-talkie with a synchronised score and sound effects. Earlier in 1929, the first all-talking British feature, '' The Clue of the New Pin'' was released. It was based on a novel by
Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...
, starring Donald Calthrop, Benita Home and Fred Raines, which was made by British Lion at their Beaconsfield Studios. John Maxwell's BIP became the Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) in 1933. ABPC's studios in Elstree came to be known as the "porridge factory", according to Lou Alexander, "for reasons more likely to do with the quantity of films that the company turned out, than their quality".
Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...
(strictly speaking almost all the studios were in neighbouring
Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...
) became the centre of the British film industry, with six film complexes over the years all in close proximity to each other. By 1927, the largest cinema chains in the United Kingdom consisted of around 20 cinemas but the following year Gaumont-British expanded significantly to become the largest, controlling 180 cinemas by 1928 and up to 300 by 1929. Maxwell formed
ABC Cinemas ABC Cinemas (Associated British Cinemas) was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. Originally a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), it operated between the 1930s and the 1980s. The brand name was reused in ...
in 1927 which became a subsidiary of BIP and went on to become one of the largest in the country, together with
Odeon Cinemas Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name ...
, founded by
Oscar Deutsch Oscar Deutsch (12 August 1893 – 5 December 1941)Allen Eyles, ‘Deutsch, Oscar (1893–1941)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200accessed 29 April 2011/ref> was a British-Hungarian businessman. He was the fou ...
, who opened his first cinema in 1928. By 1937, these three chains controlled almost a quarter of all cinemas in the country. A booking by one of these chains was indispensable for the success of any British film. With the advent of sound films, many foreign actors were in less demand, with English
received pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the accent traditionally regarded as the standard and most prestigious form of spoken British English. For over a century, there has been argument over such questions as the definition of RP, whether it is geo ...
commonly used; for example, the voice of Czech actress Anny Ondra in ''Blackmail'' was substituted by an off-camera Joan Barry during Ondra's scenes. Starting with
John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Fl ...
's '' Drifters'' (also 1929), the period saw the emergence of the school of realist Documentary Film Movement, from 1933 associated with the GPO Film Unit. It was Grierson who coined the term " documentary" to describe a non-fiction film, and he produced the movement's most celebrated early films, '' Night Mail'' (1936), written and directed by
Basil Wright Basil Wright (12 June 1907, Sutton, Surrey – 14 October 1987, Frieth, Buckinghamshire, England) was a documentary filmmaker, film historian, film critic and teacher. Biography After leaving Sherborne School, a well known independent schoo ...
and Harry Watt, and incorporating the poem by W. H. Auden towards the end of the short.
Music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...
s also proved influential in
comedy films A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the olde ...
of this period, and a number of popular personalities emerged, including
George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...
,
Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was an English actress, singer, comedian and star of cinema and music hall who was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...
,
Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, Ma ...
and
Will Hay William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film '' O ...
. These stars often made several films a year, and their productions remained important for morale purposes during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Many of the British films with larger budgets during the 1930s were produced by
London Films London Films Productions is a British film and television production company founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda and from 1936 based at Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire, near London. The company's productions included ''The Private Life ...
, founded by Hungarian ''emigre''
Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933), made at
British and Dominions Elstree Studios Imperial Studios were the studios of the British and Dominions Film Corporation, a short-lived British film production company located at Imperial Place, Elstree Way, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The studios (one of several facilities historical ...
, persuaded
United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...
and The Prudential to invest in Korda's
Denham Film Studios Denham Film Studios was a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952, founded by Alexander Korda. Notable films made at Denham include ''Brief Encounter'' and David Lean's ''Great Expectations''. From the 1950s to the 1970s th ...
, which opened in May 1936, but both investors suffered losses as a result. Korda's films before the war included '' Things to Come'', ''
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...
'' (both 1936) and ''
Knight Without Armour ''Knight Without Armour'' (styled as ''Knight Without Armor'' in some releases) is a 1937 British historical drama film starring Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat. It was directed by Jacques Feyder and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenpl ...
'' (1937), as well as the early Technicolour films '' The Drum'' (1938) and '' The Four Feathers'' (1939). These had followed closely on from '' Wings of the Morning'' (1937), the UK's first three-strip Technicolour feature film, made by the local offshoot of
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
. Although some of Korda's films indulged in "unrelenting pro-Empire flag waving", those featuring Sabu turned him into "a huge international star"; "for many years" he had the highest profile of any actor of Indian origin.
Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...
was also cast in leading roles when "there were hardly any opportunities" for African Americans "to play challenging roles" in their own country's productions. In 1933, the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
was established as the lead organisation for film in the UK. They set up the
National Film Library The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the ...
in 1935 (now known as the BFI National Archive), with
Ernest Lindgren Ernest Lindgren (3 October 1910 – 22 July 1973) was a British film archivist and writer. Career Lindgren joined the British Film Institute in February 1934 as Information Officer, and became the first curator of the National Film Library ...
as its curator. In 1934, J. Arthur Rank became a co-founder of British National Films Company and they helped create
Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
, which opened in 1936. Also in 1936, Rank took over General Film Distributors and in 1937, Rank founded
The Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...
. In 1938, General Film Distributors became affiliated with Odeon Cinemas. Rising expenditure and over-optimistic expectations of expansion into the American market caused a financial crisis in 1937, after an all-time high of 192 films were released in 1936. Of the 640 British production companies registered between 1925 and 1936, only 20 were still active in 1937. Moreover, the 1927 Films Act was up for renewal. The replacement Cinematograph Films Act 1938 provided incentives, via a " quality test", for UK companies to make fewer films, but of higher quality, and to eliminate the "quota quickies". Influenced by world politics, it encouraged American investment and imports. One result was the creation of
MGM-British MGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established (as MGM London Films Denham) at Denham Film Studios in 1936. It was in limbo during the Second World War; however, following the end of hostilities, a facility was acquired ...
, an English subsidiary of the largest American studio, which produced four films before the war, including '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939). The new venture was initially based at Denham Studios. Korda himself lost control of the facility in 1939 to the Rank Organisation. Circumstances forced Korda's '' The Thief of Bagdad'' (1940), a spectacular fantasy film, to be completed in California, where Korda continued his film career during the war. By now contracted to Gaumont British, Alfred Hitchcock had settled on the thriller genre by the mid-1930s with '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1934), '' The 39 Steps'' (1935) and '' The Lady Vanishes'' (1938). Lauded in Britain where he was dubbed "Alfred the Great" by '' Picturegoer'' magazine, Hitchcock's reputation was beginning to develop overseas, with a ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' feature writer asserting; "Three unique and valuable institutions the British have that we in America have not.
Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by t ...
, the
Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...
and Alfred Hitchcock, the greatest director of screen melodramas in the world." Hitchcock was then signed up to a seven-year contract by Selznick and moved to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
.


Second World War

Published in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'' on 5 September 1939, two days after Britain declared war on Germany,
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
’s letter protested against a government order to close all places of entertainment, including cinemas. ‘What agent of Chancellor
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
is it who has suggested that we should all cower in darkness and terror “for the duration”?’. Within two weeks of the order cinemas in the provinces were reopened, followed by
central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...
within a month. In 1940, cinema admissions figures rose, to just over 1 billion for the year, and they continued rising to over 1.5 billion in 1943, 1944 and 1945.
Humphrey Jennings Frank Humphrey Sinkler Jennings (19 August 1907 – 24 September 1950) was an English documentary filmmaker and one of the founders of the Mass Observation organisation. Jennings was described by film critic and director Lindsay Anderson in 19 ...
began his career as a documentary film maker just before the war, in some cases working in collaboration with co-directors. '' London Can Take It'' (with Harry Wat, 1940) detailed
the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
while '' Listen to Britain'' (with Stewart McAllister, 1942) looked at the home front. The
Crown Film Unit The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during the Second World War. Formerly the GPO Film Unit it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in ...
, part of the Ministry of Information took over the responsibilities of the GPO Film Unit in 1940. Paul Rotha and
Alberto Cavalcanti Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti (February 6, 1897 – August 23, 1982) was a Brazilian-born film director and producer. He was often credited under the single name "Cavalcanti". Early life Cavalcanti was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of ...
were colleagues of Jennings. British films began to make use of documentary techniques; Cavalcanti joined
Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was his ...
for '' Went the Day Well?'' (1942), Many other films helped to shape the popular image of the nation at war. Among the best known of these films are ''
In Which We Serve ''In Which We Serve'' is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by Noël Coward and David Lean. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom), Ministry of Information. The scree ...
'' (1942), ''
We Dive at Dawn ''We Dive at Dawn'' is a 1943 war film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring John Mills and Eric Portman as Royal Navy submariners in the Second World War. It was written by Val Valentine and J. B. Williams with uncredited assistance from Fra ...
'' (1943), ''
Millions Like Us ''Millions Like Us'' is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It starred Patricia Roc, Gordon Jackson, Anne Crawford, Eric Portman and Megs Jenkins. It was co-written and co-directed ...
'' (1943) and '' The Way Ahead'' (1944). The war years also saw the emergence of
The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural set ...
partnership between director Michael Powell and the Hungarian-born writer-producer Emeric Pressburger with films such as '' The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' (1943) and ''
A Canterbury Tale ''A Canterbury Tale'' is a 1944 British film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger starring Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price and Sgt. John Sweet; Esmond Knight provided narration and played two small roles. For the post-war Americ ...
'' (1944). Two Cities Films, an independent production company releasing their films through a Rank subsidiary, also made some important films, including the
Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
and David Lean collaborations '' This Happy Breed'' (1944) and ''
Blithe Spirit Blithe Spirit may refer to: * ''Blithe Spirit'' (play), a 1941 comic play written by Noël Coward * ''Blithe Spirit'' (1945 film), a British comedy film based on the play * ''Blithe Spirit'' (2020 film), a British-American comedy film based on th ...
'' (1945) as well as
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...
's ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
'' (1944). By this time, Gainsborough Studios were releasing their series of critically derided but immensely popular period melodramas, including ''
The Man in Grey ''The Man in Grey'' is a 1943 British film melodrama made by Gainsborough Pictures; it is considered to be the first of a series of period costume dramas now known as the "Gainsborough melodramas". It was directed by Leslie Arliss and produc ...
'' (1943) and '' The Wicked Lady'' (1945). New stars, such as
Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938), ''Night Train to Munich' ...
and
James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...
, emerged in the Gainsborough films.


Post-war cinema

Towards the end of the 1940s, the Rank Organisation became the dominant force behind British film-making, having acquired a number of British studios and the Gaumont chain (in 1941) to add to its Odeon Cinemas. Rank's serious financial crisis in 1949, a substantial loss and debt, resulted in the contraction of its film production. In practice, Rank maintained an industry duopoly with ABPC (later absorbed by EMI) for many years. For the moment, the industry hit new heights of creativity in the immediate post-war years. Among the most significant films produced during this period were
David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...
's ''
Brief Encounter ''Brief Encounter'' is a 1945 British romantic drama film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play ''Still Life''. Starring Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, and Joyce Carey, ...
'' (1945) and his Dickens adaptations ''
Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...
'' (1946) and ''
Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...
'' (1948),
Ken Annakin Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE (10 August 1914 – 22 April 2009) was an English film director. His career spanned half a century, beginning in the early 1940s and ending in 2002, and in the 1960s he was noticed by critics with large-scale adventu ...
's comedy '' Miranda'' (1948) starring Glynis Johns, Carol Reed's thrillers '' Odd Man Out'' (1947) and ''
The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten ...
'' (1949), and Powell and Pressburger's '' A Matter of Life and Death'' (1946), ''
Black Narcissus ''Black Narcissus'' is a 1947 British psychological drama film written, produced, and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and starring Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, Sabu, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Esmond Knight, and Jean Si ...
'' (1947) and '' The Red Shoes'' (1948), the most commercially successful film of its year in the United States. Laurence Olivier's ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' (also 1948), was the first non-American film to win the
Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only categ ...
. Ealing Studios (financially backed by Rank) began to produce their most celebrated comedies, with three of the best remembered films, '' Whisky Galore'' (1948), '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' and '' Passport to Pimlico'' (both 1949), being on release almost simultaneously. Their
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsDead of Night'' (1945) is also particularly highly regarded. Under the Import Duties Act 1932,
HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government ...
levied a 75%
tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...
on all film imports on 6 August 1947 which became known as Dalton Duty (after
Hugh Dalton Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton, (16 August 1887 – 13 February 1962) was a British Labour Party economist and politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 to 1947. He shaped Labour Party foreign policy in the 19 ...
then the
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Ch ...
). The tax came into effect on 8 August, applying to all imported films, of which the overwhelming majority came from the United States; American film studio revenues from the UK had been in excess of US$68 million in 1946. The following day, 9 August, the
Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
announced that no further films would be supplied to British cinemas until further notice. The Dalton Duty was ended on 3 May 1948 with the American studios again exported films to the UK though the
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
prohibited US film companies from taking foreign exchange out of the nations their films played in. Following the Cinematograph Film Production (Special Loans) Act 1949, the National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC) was established as a British film funding agency. The
Eady Levy The Eady Levy was a tax on box-office receipts in the United Kingdom, intended to support the British film industry. It was introduced in 1950 as a voluntary levy as part of the Eady plan, named after Sir Wilfred Eady, a Treasury official. The lev ...
, named after Sir Wilfred Eady was a tax on
box office A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is fre ...
receipts in the United Kingdom in order to support the British Film industry. It was established in 1950 coming into effect in 1957. A direct governmental payment to British-based producers would have qualified as a
subsidy A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
under the terms of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pr ...
, and would have led to objections from American film producers. An indirect levy did not qualify as a subsidy, and so was a suitable way of providing additional funding for the UK film industry whilst avoiding criticism from abroad. In 1951, the National Film Theatre was initially opened in a temporary building at the
Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...
. It moved to its present location on the
South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...
in London for the first
London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
on 16 October 1957 run by the BFI. During the 1950s, the British industry began to concentrate on popular comedies and World War II dramas aimed more squarely at the domestic audience. The war films were often based on true stories and made in a similar low-key style to their wartime predecessors. They helped to make stars of actors like
John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...
,
Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...
and
Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy '' Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this per ...
. Some of the most successful included '' The Cruel Sea'' (1953), '' The Dam Busters'' (1954), ''
The Colditz Story ''The Colditz Story'' is a 1955 British prisoner of war film starring John Mills and Eric Portman and directed by Guy Hamilton. It is based on the 1952 memoir written by Pat Reid, a British army officer who was imprisoned in Oflag IV-C, Coldit ...
'' (1955) and ''
Reach for the Sky ''Reach for the Sky'' is a 1956 British biographical film about aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award fo ...
'' (1956). The Rank Organisation produced some comedy successes, such as '' Genevieve'' (1953). The writer/director/producer team of twin brothers John and Roy Boulting also produced a series of successful satires on British life and institutions, beginning with ''
Private's Progress ''Private's Progress'' is a 1956 British comedy film based on the novel by Alan Hackney. It was directed and produced by John and Roy Boulting, from a script by John Boulting and Frank Harvey. Plot During the Second World War, young underg ...
'' (1956), and continuing with (among others) '' Brothers in Law'' (1957), ''
Carlton-Browne of the F.O. ''Carlton-Browne of the F.O.'' (U.S. title: ''Man in a Cocked Hat'') is a 1959 British comedy film made by the Boulting Brothers and starring Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, and Luciana Paluzzi. It centres on an inept Foreign Office (F.O.) diplom ...
'' (1958), and '' I'm All Right Jack'' (1959). Starring in '' School for Scoundrels'' (1960), the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
thought
Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...
was "outstanding as a classic British bounder". Popular comedy series included the "Doctor" series, beginning with '' Doctor in the House'' (1954). The series originally starred
Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as '' Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Org ...
, probably the British industry's most popular star of the 1950s, though later films had Michael Craig and
Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. ...
in leading roles. The Carry On series began in 1958 with regular instalments appearing for the next twenty years. The Italian director-producer Mario Zampi also made a number of successful black comedies, including '' Laughter in Paradise'' (1951), ''
The Naked Truth The Naked Truth may refer to: Literature * ''The Naked Truth'' (novel), a 1993 fictional memoir by Leslie Nielsen * ''The Naked Truth'' (book), a 2007 commentary on film ratings Film * ''The Naked Truth'' (1914 film), a silent Italian film * ...
'' (1957) and ''
Too Many Crooks ''Too Many Crooks'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Mario Zampi. The plot concerns a bunch of inept crooks who kidnap the wife of a shady businessman, only for him to decide he doesn’t want her back. It stars George Cole, Sidney J ...
'' (1958).
Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever ...
had continued its run of successful comedies, including ''
The Lavender Hill Mob ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T. E. B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass. The title refers to Lavend ...
'' (1951) and '' The Ladykillers'' (1955), but the company ceased production in 1958, after the studios had already been bought by the BBC. Less restrictive censorship towards the end of the 1950s encouraged film producer
Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...
to embark on their series of commercially successful horror films. Beginning with adaptations of
Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Scr ...
's BBC science fiction serials '' The Quatermass Experiment'' (1955) and '' Quatermass II'' (1957), Hammer quickly graduated to '' The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957) and ''
Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...
'' (1958), both deceptively lavish and the first gothic horror films in colour. The studio turned out numerous sequels and variants, with English actors
Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...
and
Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultim ...
being the most regular leads. ''
Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...
'' (1960), a now highly regarded thriller, with horror elements, set in the contemporary period, was badly received by the critics at the time, and effectively finished the career of Michael Powell, its director.


Social realism

The
British New Wave The British New Wave is a style of films released in Great Britain between 1959 and 1963. The label is a translation of '' Nouvelle Vague'', the French term first applied to the films of François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard among others. Styli ...
film makers attempted to produce
social realist Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...
films (see also '
kitchen sink realism Kitchen sink realism (or kitchen sink drama) is a British cultural movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose protagonists usually could be described as "angry young men" w ...
') attempted in commercial feature films released between around 1959 and 1963 to convey narratives about a wider spectrum of people in Britain than the country's earlier films had done. These individuals, principally
Karel Reisz Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are '' Saturday Night and S ...
,
Lindsay Anderson Lindsay Gordon Anderson (17 April 1923 – 30 August 1994) was a British feature-film, theatre and documentary director, film critic, and leading-light of the Free Cinema movement and of the British New Wave. He is most widely remembered for ...
and
Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones''. Early ...
, were also involved in the short lived Oxford film journal ''
Sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called ...
'' and the " Free Cinema" documentary film movement. The 1956 statement of Free Cinema, the name was coined by Anderson, asserted: "No film can be too personal. The image speaks. Sounds amplifies and comments. Size is irrelevant. Perfection is not an aim. An attitude means a style. A style means an attitude." Anderson, in particular, was dismissive of the commercial film industry. Their documentary films included Anderson's '' Every Day Except Christmas'', among several sponsored by
Ford of Britain Ford of Britain (officially Ford Motor Company Limited)The Ford 'companies' or corporate entities referred to in this article are: * Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, incorporated 16 June 1903 * Ford Motor Company Limited, incorporat ...
, and Richardson's '' Momma Don't Allow''. Another member of this group,
John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...
, made documentaries for the BBC's ''
Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...
'' arts series. Together with future James Bond co-producer Harry Saltzman, dramatist
John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play '' Look Back in Anger'' tr ...
and Tony Richardson established the company Woodfall Films to produce their early feature films. These included adaptations of Richardson's stage productions of Osborne's ''
Look Back in Anger ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...
'' (1959), with
Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
, and '' The Entertainer'' (1960) with
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...
, both from Osborne's own screenplays. Such films as Reisz's '' Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' (also 1960), Richardson's ''
A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...
'' (1961), Schlesinger's '' A Kind of Loving'' (1962) and ''
Billy Liar ''Billy Liar'' is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse that was later adapted into a play, a film, a musical and a TV series. The work has inspired and been featured in a number of popular songs. The semi-comical story is about William Fisher, ...
'' (1963), and Anderson's '' This Sporting Life'' (1963) are often associated with a new openness about working-class life or previously taboo issues. The team of
Basil Dearden Basil Dearden (born Basil Clive Dear; 1 January 1911 – 23 March 1971) was an English film director. Early life and career Dearden was born at 5, Woodfield Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex to Charles James Dear, a steel manufacturer, and his wife, Fl ...
and Michael Relph, from an earlier generation, "probe into the social issues that now confronted social stability and the establishment of the promised peacetime consensus".Tim O'Sullivan
"Dearden, Basil (1911-1971)"
BFI screenonline, citing the ''Reference Guide to British and Irish Film Directors''.
''
Pool of London The Pool of London is a stretch of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Limehouse. Part of the Tideway of the Thames, the Pool was navigable by tall-masted vessels bringing coastal and later overseas goods—the wharves there were th ...
'' (1950). and ''
Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sa ...
'' (1959) were early attempts to create narratives about racial tensions and an emerging multi-cultural Britain. Dearden and Relph's '' Victim'' (1961), was about the blackmail of homosexuals. Influenced by the
Wolfenden report The Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (better known as the Wolfenden report, after Sir John Wolfenden, the chairman of the committee) was published in the United Kingdom on 4 September 1957 after a suc ...
of four years earlier, which advocated the decriminalising of homosexual sexual activity, this was "the first British film to deal explicitly with homosexuality". Unlike the New Wave film makers though, critical responses to Dearden's and Relph's work have not generally been positive.


The 1960s

As the 1960s progressed, American studios returned to financially supporting British films, especially those that capitalised on the "
swinging London The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mu ...
" image propagated by ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine in 1966. Films like '' Darling'', '' The Knack ...and How to Get It'' (both 1965), '' Alfie'' and '' Georgy Girl'' (both 1966), all explored this phenomenon. '' Blowup'' (also 1966), and later ''
Women in Love ''Women in Love'' (1920) is a novel by English author D. H. Lawrence. It is a sequel to his earlier novel '' The Rainbow'' (1915) and follows the continuing loves and lives of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gudrun Brangwen, an artist, ...
'' (1969), showed female and then male full-frontal nudity on screen in mainstream British films for the first time. At the same time, film producers Harry Saltzman and
Albert R. Broccoli Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...
combined sex with exotic locations, casual violence and self-referential humour in the phenomenally successful
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
series with
Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
in the leading role. The first film '' Dr. No'' (1962) was a
sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little prom ...
in the UK and the second, '' From Russia with Love'' (1963), a hit worldwide. By the time of the third film, '' Goldfinger'' (1964), the series had become a global phenomenon, reaching its commercial peak with '' Thunderball'' the following year. The series' success led to a spy film boom with many Bond imitations. Bond co-producer Saltzman also instigated a rival series of more realistic spy films based on the novels of
Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air ...
. Michael Caine starred as bespectacled spy Harry Palmer in '' The Ipcress File'' (1965), and two sequels in the next few years. Other more downbeat espionage films were adapted from
John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
novels, such as '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' (1965) and '' The Deadly Affair'' (1966). American directors were regularly working in London throughout the decade, but several became permanent residents in the UK. Blacklisted in America,
Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Blacklisted ...
had a significant influence on British cinema in the 1960s, particularly with his collaborations with playwright
Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...
and leading man
Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as '' Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Org ...
, including '' The Servant'' (1963) and ''
Accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...
'' (1967). Voluntary exiles
Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and '' Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ' ...
and
Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
were also active in the UK. Lester had major hits with
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
film ''A Hard Day's Night (film), A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and '' The Knack ...and How to Get It'' (1965) and Kubrick with ''Dr. Strangelove'' (1963) and ''2001: A Space Odyssey (film), 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968). While Kubrick settled in Hertfordshire in the early 1960s and would remain in England for the rest of his career, these two films retained a strong American influence. Other films of this era involved prominent filmmakers from elsewhere in Europe, ''Repulsion (film), Repulsion'' (1965) and ''Blowup'' (1966) were the first English language films of the Polish director Roman Polanski and the Italian Michelangelo Antonioni respectively. Historical films as diverse as ''Lawrence of Arabia (film), Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), ''Tom Jones (1963 film), Tom Jones'' (1963), and ''A Man for All Seasons (1966 film), A Man for All Seasons'' (1966) benefited from the investment of American studios. Major films like ''Becket (1964 film), Becket'' (1964), ''Khartoum (film), Khartoum'' (1966) and ''The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film), The Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1968) were regularly mounted, while smaller-scale films, including ''
Accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...
'' (1967), were big critical successes. Four of the decade's Academy Awards, Academy Award winners for best picture were British productions, including six Academy Awards, Oscars for the film musical ''Oliver! (film), Oliver!'' (1968), based on the Charles Dickens novel ''Oliver Twist''. After directing several contributions to the BBC's ''The Wednesday Play, Wednesday Play'' anthology series, Ken Loach began his feature film career with the social realist ''Poor Cow'' (1967) and ''Kes (film), Kes'' (1969). Meanwhile, the controversy around Peter Watkins ''The War Game'' (1965), which won the Best Documentary Film Oscar in 1967, but had been suppressed by the BBC who had commissioned it, would ultimately lead Watkins to work exclusively outside Britain.


1970s

American studios cut back on British productions, and in many cases withdrew from financing them altogether. Films financed by American interests were still being made, including Billy Wilder's ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' (1970), but for a time funds became hard to come by. More relaxed censorship also brought several controversial films, including Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell's ''Performance (film), Performance'', Ken Russell's ''The Devils (film), The Devils'' (1971), Sam Peckinpah's ''Straw Dogs (1971 film), Straw Dogs'' (1971), and
Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
's ''A Clockwork Orange (film), A Clockwork Orange'' (1971) starring Malcolm McDowell as the leader of a gang of thugs in a dystopian future Britain. Other films during the early 1970s included the Edwardian drama ''The Go-Between (1971 film), The Go-Between'' (1971), which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Nicolas Roeg's Venice-set supernatural thriller ''Don't Look Now'' (1973) and Mike Hodges' gangster drama ''Get Carter'' (1971) starring Michael Caine.
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
returned to Britain to shoot ''Frenzy'' (1972), Other productions such as Richard Attenborough's ''Young Winston'' (1972) and ''A Bridge Too Far (1977 film), A Bridge Too Far'' (1977) met with mixed commercial success. The British horror film cycle associated with Hammer Film Productions, Amicus Productions, Amicus and Tigon British Film Productions, Tigon drew to a close, despite attempts by Hammer to spice up the formula with added nudity and gore. Although some attempts were made to broaden the range of British horror films, such as with ''The Wicker Man (1973 film), The Wicker Man'' (1973), these films made little impact at the box office, In 1976, British Lion, who produced ''The Wicker Man'', were finally absorbed into the film division of EMI Films, EMI, who had taken over ABPC in 1969. The duopoly in British cinema exhibition, via Rank and now EMI, continued. In the early 1970s, the government reduced its funding of the National Film Finance Corporation so the NFFC started to operate as a consortium, including with banks, which led to them using more commercial criteria for funding British films rather than focusing on quality or new talent, moving to fund films based on TV shows such as ''Up Pompeii (film), Up Pompeii'' (1971). Some other British producers, including Hammer, turned to television for inspiration, and big screen versions of popular sitcoms like ''On the Buses (film), On the Buses'' (1971) and ''Steptoe and Son (film), Steptoe and Son'' (1972) proved successful with domestic audiences, the former had greater domestic box office returns in its year than the Bond film, ''Diamonds Are Forever (film), Diamonds Are Forever'' and in 1973, an established British actor Roger Moore was cast as Bond in, ''Live and Let Die (film), Live and Let Die'', it was a commercial success and Moore would continue the role for the next 12 years. Low-budget British sex comedy, sex comedies included the ''Confessions of ...'' series starring Robin Askwith, beginning with ''Confessions of a Window Cleaner'' (1974). More elevated comedy films came from the Monty Python team, also from television. Their two most successful films were ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975) and ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979), the latter a major commercial success, probably at least in part due to the controversy at the time surrounding its subject. Some American productions did return to the major British studios in 1977–79, including the original ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'' (1977) at Elstree Studios (Shenley Road), Elstree Studios, ''Superman (1978 film), Superman'' (1978) at Pinewood Studios, Pinewood, and ''Alien (film), Alien'' (1979) at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton. Successful adaptations were made in the decade of the Agatha Christie novels ''Murder on the Orient Express (1974 film), Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974) and ''Death on the Nile (1978 film), Death on the Nile'' (1978). The entry of Lew Grade's company ITC Entertainment, ITC into film production in the latter half of the decade brought only a few box office successes and an unsustainable number of failures


1980s

In 1980, only 31 British films were made, a 50% decline from the previous year and the lowest number since 1914, and production fell again in 1981 to 24 films. The industry suffered further blows from falling cinema attendances, which reached a record low of 54 million in 1984, and the elimination of the 1957
Eady Levy The Eady Levy was a tax on box-office receipts in the United Kingdom, intended to support the British film industry. It was introduced in 1950 as a voluntary levy as part of the Eady plan, named after Sir Wilfred Eady, a Treasury official. The lev ...
, a tax concession, in the same year. The concession had made it possible for an overseas based film company to write off a large amount of its production costs by filming in the UK – this was what attracted a succession of big-budget American productions to British studios in the 1970s. These factors led to significant changes in the industry, with the profitability of British films now "increasingly reliant on secondary markets such as video and television, and Channel 4 ... [became] a crucial part of the funding equation." With the removal of the levy, Multiplex (movie theater), multiplex cinemas were introduced to the United Kingdom with the opening of a ten-screen cinema by AMC Cinemas at The Point, Milton Keynes, The Point in Milton Keynes in 1985 and the number of screens in the UK increased by around 500 over the decade leading to increased attendances of almost 100 million by the end of the decade. The 1980s soon saw a renewed optimism, led by smaller independent production companies such as Goldcrest, HandMade Films and Merchant Ivory Productions. Handmade Films, which was partly owned by George Harrison, was originally formed to take over the production of ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'', after EMI's Bernard Delfont (Lew Grade's brother) had pulled out. Handmade also bought and released the gangster drama ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), produced by a Lew Grade subsidiary, after its original backers became cautious. Members of the Python team were involved in other comedies during the decade, including Terry Gilliam's fantasy films ''Time Bandits'' (1981) and ''Brazil (1985 film), Brazil'' (1985), the black comedy ''Withnail & I'' (1987), and John Cleese's hit ''A Fish Called Wanda'' (1988), while Michael Palin starred in ''A Private Function'' (1984), from Alan Bennett's first screenplay for the cinema screen. Goldcrest producer David Puttnam has been described as "the nearest thing to a mogul that British cinema has had in the last quarter of the 20th century." Under Puttnam, a generation of British directors emerged making popular films with international distribution. Some of the talent backed by Puttnam — Hugh Hudson,
Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...
, Alan Parker, and Adrian Lyne — had shot commercials; Puttnam himself had begun his career in the advertising industry. When Hudson's ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981) won 4 Academy Awards in 1982, including Best Picture, its writer Colin Welland declared "the British are coming!". When ''Gandhi (film), Gandhi'' (1982), another Goldcrest film, picked up a Best Picture Oscar, it looked as if he was right. It prompted a cycle of period films – some with a large budget for a British film, such as
David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...
's final film ''A Passage to India (film), A Passage to India'' (1984), alongside the lower-budget Merchant Ivory Productions, Merchant Ivory adaptations of the works of E. M. Forster, such as ''A Room with a View (1985 film), A Room with a View'' (1986). But further attempts to make 'big' productions for the US market ended in failure, with Goldcrest losing its independence after ''Revolution (1985 film), Revolution'' (1985) and ''Absolute Beginners (film), Absolute Beginners'' (1986) were commercial and critical flops. Another Goldcrest film, Roland Joffé's ''The Mission (1986 film), The Mission'' (also 1986), won the 1986 Palme d'Or, but did not go into profit either. Joffé's earlier ''The Killing Fields (film), The Killing Fields'' (1984) had been both a critical and financial success. These were Joffé's first two feature films and were amongst those produced by Puttnam. Mainly outside the commercial sector, film makers from the new commonwealth countries had begun to emerge during the 1970s. Horace Ové's ''Pressure (1976 film), Pressure'' (1975) had been funded by the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
as was ''A Private Enterprise'' (1974), these being the first Black British and Asian British films, respectively. The 1980s however saw a wave of new talent, with films such as Franco Rosso's ''Babylon (1980 film), Babylon'' (1980), Menelik Shabazz's ''Burning an Illusion (1981), Burning an Illusion'' (1981) and Po-Chih Leong's ''Ping Pong (1986 film), Ping Pong'' (1986; one of the first films about Britain's Chinese community). Many of these films were assisted by the newly formed Channel 4, which had an official remit to provide for "minority audiences." Commercial success was first achieved with ''My Beautiful Laundrette'' (1985). Dealing with racial and gay issues, it was developed from Hanif Kureishi's first film script. ''My Beautiful Laundrette'' features Daniel Day-Lewis in a leading role. Day-Lewis and other young British actors who were becoming stars, such as
Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy F ...
, Colin Firth, Tim Roth and Rupert Everett, were dubbed the Brit Pack (actors), Brit Pack. With the involvement of Channel 4 in film production, talents from television moved into feature films with Stephen Frears (''My Beautiful Laundrette'') and Mike Newell (director), Mike Newell with ''Dance with a Stranger'' (1985). John Boorman, who had been working in the US, was encouraged back to the UK to make ''Hope and Glory (film), Hope and Glory'' (1987). Channel Four also became a major sponsor of the British Film Institute's Production Board, which backed three of Britain's most critically acclaimed filmmakers: Derek Jarman (''The Last of England (film), The Last of England'', 1987), Terence Davies (''Distant Voices, Still Lives'', 1988), and Peter Greenaway; the latter of whom gained surprising commercial success with ''The Draughtsman's Contract'' (1982) and ''The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover'' (1989). Stephen Woolley's company Palace Pictures also produced some successful films, including Neil Jordan's ''The Company of Wolves'' (1984) and ''Mona Lisa (1986 film), Mona Lisa'' (1986), before collapsing amid a series of unsuccessful films. Amongst the other British films of the decade were Bill Forsyth's ''Gregory's Girl'' (1981) and ''Local Hero (film), Local Hero'' (1983), Lewis Gilbert's ''Educating Rita (film), Educating Rita'' (1983), Peter Yates' ''The Dresser (1983 film), The Dresser'' (1983) and Kenneth Branagh's directorial debut, ''Henry V (1989 film), Henry V'' (1989).


1990s

Compared to the 1980s, investment in film production rose dramatically. In 1989, annual investment was a meagre £104 million. By 1996, this figure had soared to £741 million. Nevertheless, the dependence on finance from television broadcasters such as the BBC and Channel 4 meant that budgets were often low and indigenous production was very fragmented: the film industry mostly relied on Hollywood inward investment. According to critic Neil Watson, it was hoped that the £90 million apportioned by the new National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lottery into three franchises (The Film Consortium, Pathé Pictures, and DNA) would fill the gap, but "corporate and equity finance for the UK film production industry continues to be thin on the ground and most production companies operating in the sector remain hopelessly under-capitalised." These problems were mostly compensated by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, a film studio whose British subsidiary Working Title Films released a Richard Curtis-scripted comedy ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' (1994). It grossed $244 million worldwide and introduced
Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...
to global fame, led to renewed interest and investment in British films, and set a pattern for British-set romantic comedies, including ''Sliding Doors'' (1998) and ''Notting Hill (film), Notting Hill'' (1999). Other Working Titles films included ''Bean (film), Bean'' (1997), ''Elizabeth (film), Elizabeth'' (1998) and ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin (film), Captain Corelli's Mandolin'' (2001). PFE was eventually sold and merged with Universal Pictures in 1999, the hopes and expectations of "building a British-based company which could compete with Hollywood in its home market [had] eventually collapsed." Tax incentives allowed American producers to increasingly invest in UK-based film production throughout the 1990s, including films such as ''Interview with the Vampire (film), Interview with the Vampire'' (1994), ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' (1996), ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1999) and ''The Mummy (1999 film), The Mummy'' (1999). Miramax also distributed Neil Jordan's acclaimed thriller ''The Crying Game'' (1992), which was generally ignored on its initial release in the UK, but was a considerable success in the United States. The same company also enjoyed some success releasing the BBC period drama ''Enchanted April (1992 film), Enchanted April'' (1992) and ''The Wings of the Dove (1997 film), The Wings of the Dove'' (1997). Among the more successful British films were the Merchant Ivory productions ''Howards End (film), Howards End'' (1992) and ''The Remains of the Day (film), The Remains of the Day'' (1993), Richard Attenborough's ''Shadowlands (1993 film), Shadowlands'' (1993), and Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare adaptations. ''The Madness of King George'' (1994) proved there was still a market for British costume dramas, and other period films followed, including ''Sense and Sensibility (film), Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), ''Restoration (1995 film), Restoration'' (1995), ''Emma (1996 theatrical film), Emma'' (1996), ''Mrs. Brown'' (1997), ''Basil (film), Basil'' (1998), ''Shakespeare in Love'' (1998) and ''Topsy-Turvy'' (1999). After a six-year hiatus for legal reasons the James Bond in film, James Bond films returned to production with the 17th Bond film, ''GoldenEye''. With their traditional home
Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
fully booked, a new studio was created for the film in a former Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce aero-engine factory at Leavesden Film Studios, Leavesden in Hertfordshire. Mike Leigh emerged as a significant figure in British cinema in the 1990s, with a series of films financed by Channel 4 about working and middle class life in modern England, including ''Life Is Sweet (film), Life Is Sweet'' (1991), ''Naked (1993 film), Naked'' (1993) and his biggest hit ''Secrets & Lies (film), Secrets & Lies'' (1996), which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Other new talents to emerge during the decade included the writer-director-producer team of John Hodge (screenwriter), John Hodge, Danny Boyle and Andrew Macdonald (producer), Andrew Macdonald responsible for ''Shallow Grave (1994 film), Shallow Grave'' (1994) and ''Trainspotting (film), Trainspotting'' (1996). The latter film generated interested in other "regional" productions, including the Scottish films ''Small Faces (film), Small Faces'' (1996), ''Ratcatcher (film), Ratcatcher'' (1999) and ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998).


2000s

The first decade of the 21st century was a relatively successful one for the British film industry. Many British films found a wide international audience due to funding from BBC Films, Film 4 and the UK Film Council, and some independent production companies, such as Working Title, secured financing and distribution deals with major American studios. Working Title scored three major international successes, all starring Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, with the romantic comedies ''Bridget Jones's Diary (film), Bridget Jones's Diary'' (2001), which grossed $254 million worldwide; the sequel ''Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'', which earned $228 million; and Richard Curtis's directorial debut ''Love Actually'' (2003), which grossed $239 million. The most successful of all, Phyllida Lloyd's ''Mamma Mia! (film), Mamma Mia!'' (2008), grossed $601 million. The new decade saw a major new film series in the Harry Potter films, beginning with ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' in 2001. David Heyman's company Heyday Films has produced seven sequels, with the final title released in two parts – ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' in 2010 and ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2'' in 2011. All were filmed at Leavesden Studios in England. Aardman Animations' Nick Park, the creator of Wallace and Gromit and the Creature Comforts series, produced his first feature-length film, ''Chicken Run'' in 2000. Co-directed with Peter Lord, the film was a major success worldwide and one of the most successful British films of its year. Park's follow up, ''Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' was another worldwide hit: it grossed $56 million at the US box office and £32 million in the UK. It also won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. However it was usually through domestically funded features throughout the decade that British directors and films won awards at the top international film festivals. In 2003, Michael Winterbottom won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for ''In This World''. In 2004, Mike Leigh directed ''Vera Drake'', an account of a housewife who leads a double life as an abortion provider in 1950s London. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. In 2006 Stephen Frears directed ''The Queen (2006 film), The Queen'' based on the events surrounding the death of Princess Diana, which won the Best Actress prize at the Venice Film Festival and Academy Awards and the BAFTA for Best Film. In 2006, Ken Loach won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival with his account of the struggle for Irish Independence in ''The Wind That Shakes the Barley''. Joe Wright's adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel ''Atonement (2007 film), Atonement'' was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Film and won the Golden Globe and BAFTA for Best Film. ''Slumdog Millionaire'' was filmed entirely in Mumbai with a mostly Indian cast, though with a British director (Danny Boyle), producer (Christian Colson), screenwriter (Simon Beaufoy) and star (Dev Patel)—the film was all-British financed via Film4 and Celador. It has received worldwide critical acclaim. It has won four Golden Globes, seven BAFTA Awards and eight Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Film. ''The King's Speech'', which tells the story of King George VI's attempts to overcome his speech impediment, was directed by Tom Hooper (director), Tom Hooper and filmed almost entirely in London. It received four Academy Awards (including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay) in 2011. The start of the 21st century saw Asian British cinema assert itself at the box office, starting with ''East Is East (1999 film), East Is East'' (1999) and continuing with ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002). Other notable British Asian films from this period include ''My Son the Fanatic'' (1997), ''Ae Fond Kiss... (2004)'', ''Mischief Night (2006 film), Mischief Night (2006)'', ''Yasmin (2004 film), Yasmin'' (2004) and ''Four Lions'' (2010). Some argue it has brought more flexible attitudes towards casting Black and Asian British actors, with Robbie Gee and Naomie Harris take leading roles in ''Underworld (2003 film), Underworld'' and ''28 Days Later'' respectively. 2005 saw the emergence of The British Urban Film Festival, a timely addition to the film festival calendar, which recognised the influence of urban and black films on UK audiences and consequently began to showcase a growing profile of films in a genre previously not otherwise regularly seen in the capital's cinemas. Then, in 2006, ''Kidulthood'', a film depicting a group of teenagers growing up on the streets of West London, had a limited release. This was successfully followed up with a sequel ''Adulthood (film), Adulthood'' (2008) that was written and directed by actor Noel Clarke. The success of ''Kidulthood'' and ''Adulthood'' led to the release of several other films in the 2000s and 2010s such as ''Bullet Boy'' (2004), ''Life and Lyrics'' (2006), ''The Intent'' (2016), its sequel ''The Intent 2: The Come Up'' (2018), ''Blue Story'' and ''Rocks (film), Rocks'' (both 2019), all of starred Black-British actors. Like the 1960s, this decade saw plenty of British films directed by imported talent. The American Woody Allen shot ''Match Point'' (2005) and three later films in London. The Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón helmed ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (2004) and ''Children of Men'' (2006); New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion made ''Bright Star (film), Bright Star'' (2009), a film set in 19th century London; Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn made ''Bronson (film), Bronson'' (2008), a biopic about the English criminal Michael Gordon Peterson; the Spanish filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo directed ''28 Weeks Later'' (2007), a sequel to a British horror film; and two
John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
adaptations were also directed by foreigners—''The Constant Gardener (film), The Constant Gardener'' by the Brazilian Fernando Meirelles and ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (film), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' by the Swedish Tomas Alfredson. The decade also saw English actor Daniel Craig became the new James Bond with ''Casino Royale (2006 film), Casino Royale'', the 21st entry in the official Eon Productions series. Despite increasing competition from film studios in Australia and Eastern Europe, British studios such as Pinewood Studios, Pinewood, Shepperton Studios, Shepperton and Leavesden Film Studios, Leavesden remained successful in hosting major productions, including ''Finding Neverland (film), Finding Neverland'', ''Closer (2004 film), Closer'', ''Batman Begins'', ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', ''United 93 (film), United 93'', ''The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film), The Phantom of the Opera'', ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007 film), Sweeney Todd'', ''Fantastic Mr. Fox (film), Fantastic Mr. Fox'', ''Robin Hood (2010 film), Robin Hood'', ''X-Men: First Class'', ''Hugo (film), Hugo'' and ''War Horse (film), War Horse''. In February 2007, the UK became home to Europe's first DCI-compliant fully digital cinema, digital multiplex cinemas with the launch of Odeon Hatfield and Odeon Surrey Quays (in London), with a total of 18 digital screens. In November 2010, Warner Bros. completed the acquisition of Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, Leavesden Film Studios, becoming the first Hollywood studio since the 1940s to have a permanent base in the UK, and announced plans to invest £100 million in the site. A study by the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
published in December 2013 found that of the 613 tracked British films released between 2003 and 2010 only 7% made a profit. Films with low budgets, those that cost below £500,000 to produce, were even less likely to gain a return on outlay. Of these films, only 3.1% went into the black. At the top end of budgets for the British industry, under a fifth of films that cost £10million went into profit.


2010s

On 26 July 2010 it was announced that the UK Film Council, which was the main body responsible for the development of promotion of British cinema during the 2000s, would be abolished, with many of the abolished body's functions being taken over by the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
. Actors and professionals, including James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Pete Postlethwaite, Damian Lewis, Timothy Spall, Daniel Barber (director), Daniel Barber and Ian Holm, campaigned against the Council's abolition. The move also led American actor and director Clint Eastwood (who had filmed ''Hereafter (film), Hereafter'' in London) to write to the British
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Ch ...
George Osborne in August 2010 to protest the decision to close the Council. Eastwood warned Osborne that the closure could result in fewer foreign production companies choosing to work in the UK. A grass-roots online campaign was launched and a petition established by supporters of the Council. Countering this, a few professionals, including Michael Winner and Julian Fellowes, supported the Government's decision. A number of other organisations responded positively. At the closure of the UK Film Council on 31 March 2011, ''The Guardian'' reported that "The UKFC's entire annual budget was a reported £3m, while the cost of closing it down and restructuring is estimated to have been almost four times that amount."Ben Child
"Fade out from the UK Film Council ... to the British Film Institute"
''The Guardian'', 1 April 2011.
One of the UKFC's last films, ''The King's Speech'', is estimated to have cost $15m to make and grossed $235m, besides winning several
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. UKFC invested $1.6m for a 34% share of net profits, a valuable stake that will pass to the British Film Institute. In June 2012, Warner opened the re-developed Leavesden studio for business. The most commercially successful British directors in recent years are Paul Greengrass, Mike Newell (director), Mike Newell,
Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&nb ...
,
Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...
and David Yates. In January 2012, at Pinewood Studios to visit film-related businesses, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said that his government had bold ambitions for the film industry: "Our role, and that of the BFI, should be to support the sector in becoming even more dynamic and entrepreneurial, helping UK producers to make commercially successful pictures that rival the quality and impact of the best international productions. Just as the British Film Commission has played a crucial role in attracting the biggest and best international studios to produce their films here, so we must incentivise UK producers to chase new markets both here and overseas." The film industry remains an important earner for the British economy. According to a UK Film Council press release of 20 January 2011, £1.115 billion was spent on UK film production during 2010. A 2014 survey suggested that British-made films were generally more highly rated than Hollywood productions, especially when considering low-budget UK productions.


2020s

In November 2022, director Danny Boyle expressed a negative sentiment of the British film industry in recent years, stating that "I am not sure we are great filmmakers, to be absolutely honest. As a nation, our two artforms are theatre, in a middle-class sense, and pop music, because we are extraordinary at it."


Art cinema

Although it had been funding British experimental films as early as 1952, the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's foundation of a production board in 1964—and a substantial increase in public funding from 1971 onwards—enabled it to become a dominant force in developing British art cinema in the 1970s and 80s: from the first of Bill Douglas's Trilogy ''My Childhood'' (1972), and of Terence Davies' Trilogy ''Childhood'' (1978), via Peter Greenaway's earliest films (including the surprising commercial success of ''The Draughtsman's Contract'' (1982)) and Derek Jarman's championing of the New Queer Cinema. The first full-length feature produced under the BFI's new scheme was Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's ''Winstanley'' (1975), while others included ''Moon Over the Alley'' (1975), ''Requiem for a Village'' (1975), the openly avant-garde ''Central Bazaar'' (1973), ''Pressure (1976 film), Pressure'' (1975) and ''A Private Enterprise'' (1974) – the last two being, respectively, the first British Black and Asian features. The release of Derek Jarman's ''Jubilee (1978 film), Jubilee'' (1978) marked the beginning of a successful period of UK art film, art cinema, continuing into the 1980s with filmmakers like Sally Potter. Unlike the previous generation of British film makers who had broken into directing and production after careers in the theatre or on television, the Art Cinema Directors were mostly the products of Art Schools. Many of these filmmakers were championed in their early career by the London Film Makers Cooperative and their work was the subject of detailed theoretical analysis in the journal ''Screen Education''. Peter Greenaway was an early pioneer of the use of computer generated imagery blended with filmed footage and was also one of the first directors to film entirely on high definition video for a cinema release. With the launch of Channel 4 and its Film4, Film on Four commissioning strand, Art Cinema was promoted to a wider audience. However, the Channel had a sharp change in its commissioning policy in the early 1990s and Greenaway and others were forced to seek European co-production financing.


Film technology

In the 1970s and 1980s, British studios established a reputation for great special effects in films such as ''Superman (1978 film), Superman'' (1978), ''Alien (film), Alien'' (1979), and ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' (1989). Some of this reputation was founded on the core of talent brought together for the filming of ''2001: A Space Odyssey (film), 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) who subsequently worked together on series and feature films for Gerry Anderson. Thanks to the Bristol-based Aardman Animations, the UK is still recognised as a world leader in the use of stop-motion animation. British special effects technicians and production designers are known for creating visual effects at a far lower cost than their counterparts in the US, as seen in ''Time Bandits'' (1981) and ''Brazil (1985 film), Brazil'' (1985). This reputation has continued through the 1990s and into the 21st century with films such as the
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
series, ''Gladiator (2000 film), Gladiator'' (2000) and the Harry Potter franchise. From the 1990s to the present day, there has been a progressive movement from traditional film opticals to an integrated digital film environment, with special effects, cutting, colour grading, and other post-production tasks all sharing the same all-digital infrastructure. The London-based visual effects company Framestore, with Tim Webber the visual effects supervisor, have worked on some of the most technically and artistically challenging projects, including, ''The Dark Knight (film), The Dark Knight'' (2008) and ''Gravity (2013 film), Gravity'' (2013), with new techniques involved in ''Gravity'' realized by Webber and the Framestore team taking three years to complete.Nick Roddick
"Tim Webber: the man who put Sandra Bullock in space"
''Evening Standard'', 17 September 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
The availability of high-speed internet has made the British film industry capable of working closely with U.S. studios as part of globally distributed productions. As of 2005, this trend is expected to continue with moves towards (currently experimental) digital distribution and projection as mainstream technologies. The British film ''This Is Not a Love Song (film), This Is Not a Love Song'' (2003) was the first to be streamed live on the Internet at the same time as its cinema premiere.


See also

* British Academy Film Awards, hosted by the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, are the British equivalent of the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. *
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
* Cinema of Northern Ireland * Cinema of Scotland * Cinema of Wales * Cine-variety * Hollywood and the United Kingdom – British source material in American films, US studio subsidiaries in the UK, etc. * List of British films * List of British actors * List of British film directors * List of British film studios * List of cinema of the world ** Cinema of Europe * List of highest-grossing films in the United Kingdom * London in film * London Film School * National Film and Television School * World cinema * :Cinema chains in the United Kingdom, UK cinema chains


References


Further reading

;General * Aldgate, Anthony and Richards Jeffrey. 2002. ''Best of British: Cinema and Society from 1930 to the Present''. London: I.B. Tauris * Babington, Bruce; Ed. 2001.''British Stars and Stardom''. Manchester: Manchester University Press * Chibnall, Steve and Murphy, Robert; Eds. 1999. ''British Crime Cinema''. London: Routledge * Cook, Pam. 1996. ''Fashioning the Nation: Costume and Identity in British Cinema''. London BFI * Curran, James and Porter, Vincent; Eds. 1983. ''British Cinema History''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson * * Harper, Sue. 2000. ''Women in British Cinema: Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know''. London: Continuum * Higson, Andrew. 1995. ''Waving the Flag: Constructing a National Cinema in Britain''. Oxford: Oxford University Press * Higson, Andrew. 2003. ''English Heritage, English Cinema''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Hill, John. 1986. ''Sex, Class and Realism''. London: BFI * Landy, Marcia. 1991. ''British Genres: Cinema and Society, 1930–1960''. Princeton University Press * Lay, Samantha. 2002. ''British Social Realism''. London: Wallflower * * Monk, Claire and Sargeant, Amy. 2002. ''British Historical Cinema''. London Routledge * Murphy, Robert; Ed. 2001. ''British Cinema Book 2nd Edition''. London: BFI * Perry, George. 1988. ''The Great British Picture Show''. Little Brown, 1988. * Richards, Jeffrey. 1997. '' Films and British national identity / From Dickens to Dad's Army ''. Manchester University Press * Street, Sarah. 1997. ''British National Cinema''. London: Routledge. * ;Pre–World War II * Low, Rachael. 1985. ''Film Making in 1930s Britain''. London: George, Allen and Unwin * Rotha, Paul. 1973. ''Documentary diary; an informal history of the British documentary film, 1928–1939'', New York: Hill and Wang * Swann, Paul. 2003. ''The British Documentary Film Movement, 1926–1946''. Cambridge University Press ;World War II * Aldgate, Anthony and Richards, Jeffrey 2nd Edition. 1994. ''Britain Can Take it: British Cinema in the Second World War''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press * Barr, Charles; Ed. 1986. ''All Our Yesterdays: 90 Years of British Cinema''. London: British Film Institute * Murphy, Robert. 2000. ''British Cinema and the Second World War''. London: Continuum * [fr] Rousselet, Francis ''Et le Cinéma Britannique entra en guerre ...'', Cerf-Corlet, 2009, 240pp. ;Post-War * Friedman, Lester; Ed. 1992. ''British Cinema and Thatcherism''. London: UCL Press * Geraghty, Christine. 2000. ''British Cinema in the Fifties: Gender Genre and the New Look''. London Routledge * Gillett, Philip. 2003. ''The British Working Class in Postwar Film''. Manchester: Manchester University Press * Murphy, Robert; Ed. 1996. ''Sixties British Cinema''. London: BFI * Shaw, Tony. 2001. ''British Cinema and the Cold War''. London: I.B. Tauris ;1990s * Brown, Geoff. 2000. ''Something for Everyone: British film Culture in the 1990s''. * Brunsdon, Charlotte. 2000. ''Not Having It All: Women and Film in the 1990s''. * Murphy, Robert; Ed. 2000. ''British Cinema of the 90s''. London: BFI ;Cinema and government * Dickinson, Margaret and Street, Sarah. 1985. ''Cinema and the State: The Film industry and the British Government, 1927–84''. London: BFI * Toby Miller, Miller, Toby. 2000. ''The Film Industry and the Government: Endless Mr Beans and Mr Bonds?'' *


External links


British Film Institute

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)

Britmovie, Home of British Films

Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cinema Of The United Kingdom Cinema of the United Kingdom, Cultural history of the United Kingdom