The Cinematograph Films Council was established by the

Cinematograph Films Act 1938 The Cinematograph Films Act 1927 (17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 29) was an Act of parliament, act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament designed to stimulate the declining Cinema of the United Kingdom, British film industry. It received roy ...

as a result of a

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

report by a committee chaired by

Lord Moyne Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, DSO & Bar, TD, PC (29 March 1880 – 6 November 1944), was a British Conservative politician, soldier and businessman. He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 19 ...

, which recommended that such a statutory body should be created to advise the UK government on matters relating to the film industry. Among its specific functions was the monitoring of a so-called 'quality test' (based on cost per foot of finished film) that was to be applied under the Act to films which sought registration as British under the screen quota to eliminate

quota quickies Quota may refer to: Economics * Import quota, a restriction on the quantity of goods that can be imported into a country * Market Sharing Quota, an economic system used in Canadian agriculture * Milk quota, a quota on milk production in Europe * ...

. In the

1977 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1977 are appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1977. The awards were announced on 30 December 1976 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: Australia,Australia: N ...

John Wingett Davies John Wingett Davies (1908 – 11 September 1992) was a British company director in the fields of ship broking, aviation, and films, whose main interest was as an exhibitor in the world of cinema. He was managing director of Davies Cinemas Ltd an ...

was appointed

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to the Cinematograph Films Council.''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'', known generally as ''The Gazette'', is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, i ...

'' (Supplement) dated 31 December 1976
p. 10
/ref> The Council was abolished in 1985 by the government of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, which requested that some of its members should be absorbed into the newly created British Screen Advisory Council.

References

* ''Cinema and State: The Film Industry and the Government, 1927-1984'', Margaret Dickinson & Sarah Street, London, British Film Institute, 1985. Film organisations in the United Kingdom {{film-org-stub