List Of British National Films
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List Of British National Films
This is a list of films released by the British studio British National Films between 1935 and 1948. The company was financially backed by Lady Yule, and during the 1940s production was overseen by John Baxter and subsequently by Louis H. Jackson. Many of the films produced by the company were made at the British National Studios at Elstree. 1930s 1940s {, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! Title ! Release Date ! Director ! Notes , - , '' Laugh It Off'', , March 1940 , , John Baxter , , , - , ''The Second Mr. Bush'' , , April 1940, , John Paddy Carstairs , , , - , ''Contraband'' , , May 1940 , , Michael Powell , , , - , ''Gaslight'' , , June 1940 , , Thorold Dickinson , , , - , ''Old Mother Riley in Society'' , , July 1940 , , John Baxter , , , - , ''Love on the Dole'' , , April 1941 , , John Baxter , , , - , ''Old Mother Riley in Business'' , , April 1941 , , John Baxter , , , - , ''Crook's Tour'' , , May 1941 , , John Baxter , , , - , ''Old ...
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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 withi ...
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Spies Of The Air
''Spies of the Air'' (also known as ''Spies in the Air'' and ''The Fifth Column'') is a 1939 British adventure film directed by David MacDonald and based on the play ''Official Secret'' by Jeffrey Dell. The film stars Barry K. Barnes, Roger Livesey, Basil Radford, Edward Ashley and Felix Aylmer. ''Spies of the Air'' involves espionage in the period just before the outbreak of war in Europe that spawned a number of similar propaganda films linking aeronautics and spies. Films in both Great Britain and the United States centred on "... spies and fifth columnists (as) the staple diet of films made during the first year of the war." Plot Before the outbreak of the Second World War, British test pilot Peter Thurloe ( Barry K. Barnes) is involved in an illicit love affair with his employer's wife, Dorothy Houghton ( Joan Marion). He is caught up in an elaborate scheme to steal secrets from Charles Houghton's (Roger Livesey) aviation company. Peter is suspected of betraying his c ...
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Old Mother Riley In Business
''Old Mother Riley in Business'' is a 1941 British comedy film directed by John Baxter and starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane and Cyril Chamberlain. It was the sixth in the long-running Old Mother Riley series of films. Old Mother Riley's pub faces competition from a large chain store nearby, causing her to declare war on it. Plot summary Old Mother Riley comes to the rescue of local shopkeepers after a ruthless chain, "Golden Stores" makes its aggressive presence felt. The boisterous Irish washerwoman gives the chain stores boss a push into the river and soon finds herself a wanted woman, donning a nurse's outfit to escape from the hospital in which she is hiding. Cast * Arthur Lucan as Mrs. Riley * Kitty McShane as Kitty Riley * Cyril Chamberlain as John Halliwell * Ernest Butcher * O. B. Clarence * Edgar Driver * Morris Harvey * Roddy Hughes * Ruth Maitland * Edie Martin * Wally Patch * Ernest Sefton * Charles Victor Charles Victor (10 February 1896 – 23 Decembe ...
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Love On The Dole (film)
''Love on the Dole'' is a 1941 British drama film starring Deborah Kerr and Clifford Evans. It was adapted from the novel of the same name by Walter Greenwood. It was the first English-made feature film to show English police wielding batons against a crowd. Plot The film is set in Hanky Park, part of Salford, in 1930 at the height of the Great Depression. The film centres on the Hardcastle family. Mr Hardcastle is a miner; his son, Harry, is an apprentice at a local engineering firm and Sally, his daughter, works at a cotton mill. As the depression takes hold, Mr Hardcastle's mine is put on a three-day week and Harry becomes unemployed when his apprenticeship ends. The family’s plight is made worse by reductions in means tested unemployment benefits (the dole), whilst the unexpected pregnancy of Harry’s girlfriend, Helen, causes further tensions. Sally is courting factory worker and Labour Party activist Larry Meath, but their marriage plans are put in doubt when Lar ...
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Old Mother Riley In Society
''Old Mother Riley in Society'' is a low budget 1940 black and white British comedy film, directed by John Baxter, and starring Arthur Lucan and Kitty McShane. It is the fifth in the long running Old Mother Riley series, and features the screen debut of Jimmy Clitheroe as the boot boy in a high society household. Plot Old Mother Riley does the laundry for the dancers in the pantomime "Aladdin", where her daughter Kitty works as a chorus girl. Sneaking a peek at the show one day, Mother Riley accidentally pops up through a trap door onto the stage. Accosted by the angry star, Mother Riley’s belligerent responses have the audience in stitches. Outraged, the star walks out, leaving Kitty to take over the leading role, to great success. Kitty is congratulated after the show by wealthy high society boy Tony Morgan, and the couple start to fall in love. Tony and Kitty eventually marry and move into the Morgan family mansion, taking Mother Riley with them, as Kitty’s personal maid ...
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Thorold Dickinson
Thorold Barron Dickinson (16 November 1903 – 14 April 1984) was a British film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. Dickinson's work received much praise, with fellow director Martin Scorsese describing him as "a uniquely intelligent, passionate artist... They're not in endless supply." Early life Of Norwegian descent,David Thomso"Creator and critic" ''New Statesman'', 23 October 2009 his father was the Archdeacon of Bristol from 1921 to 1927, Dickinson was educated at Clifton College and Keble College, Oxford where he read theology, history and French. He was sent down from Oxford in his last year because his interest in theatre and film caused him to neglect his studies; he was inspired by lectures given by Edward Gordon Craig. During his time at Oxford he interrupted his studies to observe the film industry in France where he worked with George Pearson, the father of an Oxford friend.Philip Horn"Something ...
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Gaslight (1940 Film)
''Gaslight'' (released in the United States as ''Angel Street'') is a 1940 British psychological thriller film directed by Thorold Dickinson which stars Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard, and features Frank Pettingell. The film adheres more closely to the original play upon which it is based – Patrick Hamilton's ''Gas Light'' (1938) – than does the 1944 MGM remake. The play had been performed on Broadway as ''Angel Street'', so when the MGM remake was released in the United States, it was given the same title as the American production. Plot In Pimlico, London, Alice Barlow ( Marie Wright) is murdered by an unknown man, who then ransacks her house, ripping her furniture apart as if desperately searching for something. The house remains empty for many years, until newlyweds Paul and Bella Mallen move in. Bella (Diana Wynyard) soon finds herself misplacing small objects; and, before long, Paul (Anton Walbrook) has her believing she is losing her sanity. B. G. Rough (Frank P ...
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Michael Powell
Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a series of classic British films, notably ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' (1943), ''A Canterbury Tale'' (1944), ''I Know Where I'm Going!'' (1945), '' A Matter of Life and Death'' (1946, also called ''Stairway to Heaven''), ''Black Narcissus'' (1947), '' The Red Shoes'' (1948), and ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (1951). His later controversial 1960 film ''Peeping Tom'', while today considered a classic, and a contender as the first " slasher", was so vilified on first release that his career was seriously damaged. Many filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and George A. Romero have cited Powell as an influence. In 1981, he received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award along with his partner Pressburger, the highest honour th ...
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Contraband (1940 Film)
''Contraband'' (1940) is a wartime spy film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, which reunited stars Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson after their earlier appearance in ''The Spy in Black'' the previous year. On this occasion, Veidt plays a hero, something he did not do very often, and there is also an early (uncredited) performance by Leo Genn. The title of the film in the United States was ''Blackout''. Powell writes in his autobiography, ''A Life in Movies'', as saying that the U.S. renaming was a better title and he wished he had thought of it. Plot It is November 1939: the Phoney War-stage of the World War II. Denmark is still neutral, but (Danish) Captain Andersen (Conrad Veidt) and his freighter ''Helvig'' are stopped in the English Channel by Lt. Commanders Ashton (Joss Ambler) and Ellis (Harold Warrender) for a cargo inspection in a British Contraband Control Port. He receives two shore passes for himself and his First Offic ...
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The Second Mr
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pron ...
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Laugh It Off (1940 Film)
''Laugh It Off'' is a 1940 British musical comedy film directed by John Baxter and Wallace Orton, and starring Tommy Trinder, Jean Colin, Anthony Hulme and Marjorie Browne. It was filmed at Walton Studios starting in November 1939, just after the outbreak of war. Plot At the start of World War II, Concert party entertainer Tommy Towers is drafted into service. He immediately gets on the wrong side of commanding officer Sergeant Major Slaughter, but after saving the camp show with his show business expertise Tommy is granted a commission. Cast * Tommy Trinder as Tommy Towers * Jean Colin as Sally * Anthony Hulme as Somers * Marjorie Browne as Peggy * Edward Lexy as Sergeant Major Slaughter * Ida Barr as Mrs McNab * Charles Victor as Colonel * Peter Gawthorne as General * Wally Patch as Sergeant * Warren Jenkins as Pat * John Laurie as Jock * Henry Lytton, Jr. as George Critical reception ''TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television ...
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Maclean Rogers
Maclean Rogers (13 July 1899 – 4 January 1962) was a British film director and screenwriter. Selected filmography Director * '' The Third Eye'' (1929) * ''The Mayor's Nest'' (1932) * ''Up for the Derby'' (1933) * ''The Crime at Blossoms'' (1933) * ''Trouble'' (1933) * ''Summer Lightning'' (1933) * ''It's a Cop'' (1934) * '' Virginia's Husband'' (1934) * ''The Scoop'' (1934) * '' The Feathered Serpent'' (1934) * ''The Right Age to Marry'' (1935) * ''Old Faithful'' (1935) * '' Marry the Girl'' (1935) * '' A Little Bit of Bluff'' (1935) * ''All That Glitters'' (1936) * ''Twice Branded'' (1936) * '' A Wife or Two'' (1936) * ''Nothing Like Publicity'' (1936) * '' Not So Dusty'' (1936) * '' Busman's Holiday'' (1936) * ''Strange Adventures of Mr. Smith'' (1937) * ''The Heirloom Mystery'' (1937) * '' Why Pick on Me?'' (1937) * ''Farewell to Cinderella'' (1937) * '' Racing Romance'' (1937) * '' Father Steps Out'' (1937) * ''His Lordship Regrets'' (1938) * ''Easy Riches'' (1938) * ''Da ...
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