Rank Film Distributors of America was a short lived distribution company established in the USA by the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

to distribute its films. The company only lasted a few years before collapsing.

History

In 1956 Rank established Rank Film Distributors of America to distribute its films in the USA. It would distribute fifteen Rank films plus some non Rank movies. John Davis of Rank declared "it was not a gamble but a reasonable business risk... We know that in our line up product we have stories, stars, backgrounds that cannot fail to appeal." The company lost a reported $1 million in its first year with its only success being ''The Pursuit of the Graf Spee'', which made over $500,000. However some high-profile films such as ''Reach for the Sky'' made just $100,000 and most films grossed between $50,000 and $75,000. Irv Sochin, general sales manager, left the company in October 1958 which was seen as a sign trouble within the company. The company had high hopes for the US success of ''Night to Remember'' but this film also underperformed.''Filmink'' called the film "a tribute to the whole Rank Organisation" and its poor "financial performance must have shattered the studio." The company closed on 28 March 1959, its movies being handed over to Lopert Films. The company was called a "fiasco".

Select films distributed

*''

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) *'' Battle of the River Plate'' (1956) *'' A Night to Remember'' (1958)

References

{{reflist Film production companies of the United Kingdom Film distributors of the United Kingdom Mass media companies established in 1956