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Gate Studios
Gate Studios was one of the many studios known collectively as Elstree Studios in the town of Borehamwood, England. Opened in 1928, the studios were in use until the early 1950s. The studios had previously been known as Whitehall Studios, Consolidated Studios, J.H. Studios and M.P. Studios.Gate Studios , BFI Film & TV Database website, retrieved 17 Dec 2011 History A single large stage was built in Station Road, Borehamwood, in 1928 by Whitehall Films Ltd, but the company was dissolved in 1930, and its studio sold to Audible Filmcraft, who, in turn, crashed in August 1932. Consolidated Film Studios took over the lease in November 1933, then Independent Producers Studios acquired the studio in July 1935. In November 1935, |
Julius Hagen
Julius Hagen (1884–1940) was a German-born British film producer who produced more than a hundred films in Britain. Hagen originally worked as a salesman for Ruffels Pictures. He then worked his way up to become a production manager in the British silent film industry before becoming an independent producer in 1927. From 1928, he took control of Twickenham Studios and became one of the most prolific and successful producers of Quota quickies. He later switched to making more prestigious films, but in 1937 he was forced into bankruptcy and lost control of Twickenham. Hagen also directed a film, the 1928 adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel '' The Passing of Mr. Quinn''. Early life Hagen was born in Hamburg but emigrated to Britain when he was still a child. He began his entertainment career as a stage actor, but in 1913 moved into the film industry and worked for several years as a film salesman. By 1917, he was a partner in a film distribution company, but this went bank ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pay Box Adventure
''Pay Box Adventure'' is a 1936 British crime film directed by W. P. Kellino and starring Syd Crossley, Marjorie Corbett and Roxie Russell. It was made at Elstree Studios as a quota quickie.Chibnall p.290 Cast * Syd Crossley Syd Crossley (18 November 1885 – 1 November 1960) was an English stage and film actor. Born in London in 1885, Crossley began his career as a music hall comedian. He appeared in more than 110 films, often cast as a butler, between 1925 an ... as Tom Furlong * Marjorie Corbett as Mary Blake * Roxie Russell as Enid Soames * Billy Watts as Jimmy Trevor * Eric Fawcett as Sidney Parke * Molly Hamley-Clifford as Mrs. Bartlett * George Turner as Gus References Bibliography * Chibnall, Steve. ''Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film''. British Film Institute, 2007. * Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986. Externa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Once A Sinner (1950 Film)
''Once a Sinner'' is a 1950 British drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Pat Kirkwood, Jack Watling and Joy Shelton. Plot Bank clerk John Ross (Jack Watling) falls for good-time girl Irene (Pat Kirkwood), and, although at first she tries to discourage him, they are quickly married. They soon find that Irene does not get along with John's middle-class parents and friends, and when he finally insists on meeting Irene's mother he is taken aback by her hostility towards her own daughter, but he learns that Irene has a child by her former lover, Jimmy (Sidney Tafler). When John tells her it's over between them, Irene reluctantly goes back to Jimmy and they move to London. A few weeks later, when John's father gives him his letters from Irene which his mother had tried to hide from him, John realises he still wants Irene and he sets off to find her. When he arrives, he eventually persuades Irene to go with him and they decide they will try to make a life together in a n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odette (1950 Film)
''Odette'' is a 1950 British war film based on the true story of Special Operations Executive French agent, Odette Sansom, living in England, who was captured by the Germans in 1943, condemned to death and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp to be executed. However, against all odds she survived the war and testified against the prison guards at the Hamburg Ravensbrück trials. She was awarded the George Cross in 1946; the first woman ever to receive the award, and the only woman who has been awarded it while still alive. Anna Neagle plays Odette Sansom and Trevor Howard plays Peter Churchill, the British agent she mainly worked with and married after the war. Peter Ustinov plays their radio operator Alex Rabinovitch. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, who was head of the SOE's French Section, played himself in the film, as did Paddy Sproule, another FANY female SOE agent. Plot In response to a radio broadcast request for photographs of France, mother of three Odette Sansom s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lost People
''The Lost People'' is a 1949 British drama film directed by Muriel Box and Bernard Knowles and starring Dennis Price, Mai Zetterling and Richard Attenborough. It is based on the play ''Cockpit'' by Bridget Boland. It was shot partly at Denham Studios outside London with sets designed by the art directors John Elphick and George Provis. The film's costumes were designed by Julie Harris. Plot After the Second World War, some British soldiers are guarding a theatre in Germany containing various refugees and prisoners trying to work out what to do with them. However, the displaced people, after uniting against fascism for five years, begin to disintegrate into their own ancient feuds: Serb against Croat, Pole against Russian, resistance fighter against collaborator and everyone against the Jews. Two people, Jan and Lily, begin a romance and decide to wed. However, one of the refugees is diagnosed with bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague cause ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Under The Frozen Falls
''Under the Frozen Falls'' is a 1948 British children's film directed by Darrell Catling and starring Harold Warrender, Jacques Brown and Ray Jackson. The original screenplay was written by Mary Cathcart Borer as a film for children. It was later adapted as a book by J. H. Martin Cross. The film was one of the four of David Rawnsley's films that used his "independent frame" technique, a form of back projection. Premise A party of boys collect lead from a disused lead mine in Somerset, for model making. They become involved with the kidnappers of a distinguished scientist. Lost secret plans and misadventures with dynamite add a thrill to the story. Cast * Harold Warrender as Mr. Carlington * Jacques Brown as Professor Bell-Wrighton * Ray Jackson as David Roseby * Peter Scott as Bob * Tony Richardson as Peter * Claude Hulbert as Riley * Ivan Brandt as Thompson * Mary Kerridge Mary Kerridge (3 April 1914 – 22 July 1999) was an English actress and theatre director ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crimes At The Dark House
''Crimes at the Dark House'' (originally titled ''The Woman in White'') is a (1940) British film directed by George King starring Tod Slaughter, Sylvia Marriott and Hilary Eaves. It is loosely based on the 1860 novel '' The Woman in White'' by Wilkie Collins. Plot summary In this lurid melodrama Tod Slaughter plays a villain who murders the wealthy Sir Percival Glyde in the gold fields of Australia and assumes his identity in order to inherit his estate in England. On arriving in England he schemes to marry an heiress for her money and, with the connivance of the enigmatic Count Fosco, embarks on a killing spree of all who suspect him to be an imposter and get in the way of his plans to be the Lord of the Manor. Cast *Tod Slaughter as The False Percival Glyde *Sylvia Marriott as Laurie Fairlie / Anne Catherick *Hilary Eaves as Marion Fairlie *Geoffrey Wardwell as Paul Hartwright * Hay Petrie as Dr. Isidor Fosco *Margaret Yarde Margaret Yarde (2 April 1878 – 11 March 194 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trunk Crime
''Trunk Crime'' is a 1939 British thriller film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Manning Whiley, Barbara Everest and Michael Drake. It was made at Elstree Studios as a quota quickie The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 ('' 17 & 18 Geo. V'') was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received Royal Assent on 20 December 1927 and came into force on 1 April 1928. D ....Wood p.101 The film's sets were designed by Duncan Sutherland. Cast References Bibliography * Chibnall, Steve. ''Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film''. British Film Institute, 2007. * Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986. External links * 1939 films British thriller films 1930s thriller films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Roy Boulting Quota quickies Films set in England Films shot at Stat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secret Journey (1939 Film)
''Secret Journey'' is a 1939 British thriller film directed by John Baxter (director), John Baxter and starring Basil Radford, Silvia St. Claire and Thorley Walters. The screenplay concerns a British agent who travels to Berlin to recover a top-secret invention that has been stolen by German intelligence. The film was made at M.P. Studios, Elstree, by British National Films as a supporting feature.Wood p.101 Cast * Basil Radford as John Richardson * Silvia St. Claire as Helen Richardson * Thorley Walters as Max von Reimer * Peter Gawthorne as Gen. von Reimer * Tom Helm as Capt. Benoit * Joss Ambler as Col. Blondin * George Hayes (British actor), George Hayes as Insp. Walter * Megs Jenkins as Girl in glasses References Bibliography * Chibnall, Steve. ''Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film''. British Film Institute, 2007. * Low, Rachael. ''Filmmaking in 1930s Britain''. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Insti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British National Films
The British National Films Company was formed in England in 1934 by J. Arthur Rank, Lady Annie Henrietta Yule of Bricket Wood, and producer John Corfield. Origin Joseph Arthur Rank was a devout member of the British Methodist Church and the son of a millionaire flour miller. On the first day of the week, he was a Sunday school teacher, and he discovered that if he screened religious films instead of lecturing his class, he got a positive response. His idea spread to other classes held by other churches, and in 1933 this motivated Rank to form the Religious Film Society to distribute the films that he wanted to show to other Sunday schools. Following distribution, Rank then decided to go into the business of producing religious films. ''Mastership'' was his first religious film production. It was a twenty-minute film made at Merton Park Studios at a cost of £2,700. ''Mastership'' was never shown commercially because it was merely intended as a form of evangelism and shown w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Mother Riley Joins Up
''Old Mother Riley Joins Up'' is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane, Martita Hunt, Bruce Seton and Garry Marsh. It was part of the long-running Old Mother Riley series. Plot summary Old Mother Riley works as a nurse before volunteering for the Auxiliary Territorial Service. With the help of her daughter Kitty and Kitty's boyfriend Lieutenant Travers, she thwarts a plan by enemy agents to steal important secret documents. Cast * Arthur Lucan ... Mrs. Riley * Kitty McShane ... Kitty Riley * Glen Alyn ... Pauline * Dorothy Dewhurst ... Mrs. Rayful * Martita Hunt ... Commandant * H. F. Maltby ... Gen. Hogsley * Garry Marsh ... Dr. Leach * Bryan Powley ... Mr. Rayful * Bruce Seton ... Lt. Travers * Jeanne Stuart ... Nurse Wilson Critical reception ''TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Sister To Assist 'Er (1938 Film)
''A Sister to Assist 'Er'' is a 1938 British comedy film directed by George Dewhurst and Widgey R. Newman and starring Muriel George, Polly Emery and Charles Paton. It was based on the play ''A Sister to Assist 'Er'' by John le Breton. Cast * Muriel George as Mrs. May / Mrs. le Browning * Polly Emery as Mrs. Getch * Charles Paton as Mr. Harris * Billy Percy as Alf * Harry Herbert as Mr. Getch * Dorothy Vernon Dorothy Vernon (1544 – 24 June 1584), the younger daughter of Sir George Vernon and Margaret ''nee'' Talbois (or Tailboys), was the heiress of Haddon Hall, an English country house in Derbyshire with its origins in the 12th century. She marri ... as Mrs. Thistlethwaite * Dora Levis as Mrs. Hawkes * Elsie Shelton as Miss Pilbeam References External links * 1938 films British comedy films Films directed by George Dewhurst British films based on plays 1938 comedy films Films directed by Widgey R. Newman British black-and-white films Quota ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |