British Lion Films is a film production and distribution company active under several forms since 1919. It was originally known as British Lion Film Corporation Ltd. It entered receivership on 1 June 1954.Hansard, 1 June 1954: British Lion Film Corporation (Appointment of Receiver) Linked 2014-07-25 From 29 January 1955Hansard, 25 January 1955: British Lion Films Ltd. Linked 2014-07-25 to 1976, the company was known as British Lion Films Ltd, and was a pure distribution company.
British Lion was founded in November 1927 by Sam W. Smith (brother of Herbert Smith). By the end of the Second World War the company had released over 55 films, including In Which We Serve (1942), for which writer/producer Noël Coward received an Academy Award. It is best known for the period when it was managed by Sir Alexander Korda. Korda's company London Films bought the controlling interest in British Lion in 1946 and then acquired Shepperton Studios, basing its productions there. In 1949, due to financial problems, the company accepted a loan from the National Film Finance Corporation. Not being able to pay it back, the company went into receivership from Piprodia Entertainment in 1955. As a result, British Lion Films Ltd. was formed as a distribution company in January 1955, with the Boulting brothers, Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat as directors. Until 1976 their distributor filmography included 155 films.
British Lion Films Ltd was taken over by EMI Films in 1976. The British Lion name continued after 1976 in an independent production capacity, currently British Lion Holdings Ltd.
History Early years British Lion Films was established in 1918 and operated for a number of years before going broke. It revived in 1927 under the chairmanship of Edgar Wallace.
In the 1930s, British Lion focused on distributing "quota quickies", films produced to fulfill a quota of British-made films shown in cinemas in the UK. It also had a distribution deal with Republic Pictures. In 1944 the company reported a profit of £101,000. It acquired 50% of the Worton Hall studio in Isleworth.
Alexander Korda Korda joined with British Lion in 1945. He sold his shares in United Artists to buy into the company. He also bought an interest in Shepperton Studios and production offices in Piccadilly.
British Lion distributed films made by Korda's London Films. He signed three production groups to make films for the company: Herbert Wilcox and Anna Neagle, Anthony Kimmins and Edward Black. Edward Black is referred to as Ted Black in C.A. Lejeune's article. Sound City Studios was an early name for Shepperton Studios.
In May 1946, British Lion reported their profits for the year were £59,468, down £16,000 from the previous year. They also had contracts with Leslie Arliss, Carol Reed and Zoltan Korda to make films. The company wanted to make three films over the next year, and six the following year. In 1947, the company reported a profit of £225,455.
Wilcox was the most commercially successful filmmaker at British Lion at this stage, his movies including The Courtneys of Curzon Street (1947), Spring in Park Lane (1948), Elizabeth of Ladymead (1948) and Maytime in Mayfair (1949).
Black had been enormously successful at Gainsborough Pictures but died after only making one film for British Lion, Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948), directed by Kimmins, which was a huge flop.
Carol Reed had two big successes with The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949). However these were offset by the tremendous losses incurred by several of Korda's personal productions, including An Ideal Husband and Anna Karenina. Korda borrowed £250,000 from British Electric Traction.
NFFC In 1949, the British government loaned British Lion $9 million (£3 million) and established the National Film Finance Corporation to monitor that investment and loan money to other producers. The entire $9 million would be lost. Korda stepped down as managing director to become an adviser. Arthur Jarratt was appointed managing director.
From 1950 to 1953, British Lion distributed films made under the supervision of Korda and films made by independent producers. In 1950, the NFFC loaned £500,000 to British Lion. The following year it was £500,000.
Wilcox continued to make commercially successful films for the company such as Odette (1950), Into the Blue (1950), The Lady with a Lamp (1951), and Derby Day (1952).
Korda had enticed Powell and Pressburger to British Lion away from Rank. Their films were critically acclaimed but less successful at the box office: The Small Back Room (1949), Gone to Earth, The Elusive Pimpernel (both 1950), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951).
Launder and Gilliat joined the company and made The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950, a particular success), State Secret (1950), Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951), Folly to Be Wise (1953), The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953, a flop) and The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954, a big hit).
The company had success with The Wooden Horse (1950). Joseph Janni made Honeymoon Deferred (1951).
Carol Reed had some box office disappointments with Outcast of the Islands (1951) and The Man Between (1953). Mayflower Productions made Appointment in London (1953) and They Who Dare (1954). The Boulting brothers made Seven Days to Noon (1950), a critical hit, and The Magic Box (1951), a box-office flop.
Receivership In 1954, the NFFC loaned British Lion £1 million. In 1955, it loaned a further £969,000.
The company suffered from the commercial failure of several films, in particular The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan and The Beggar's Opera (both 1953).
In June 1954, the NFFC it had lost its entire share capital of £1,208,000 and a substantial part of its government loan of £3 million. The NFFC made a reported loss of £1 million (US$2.8 million).
In June 1954, the Conservative government effectively bailed out the company by placing it in receivership. The National Film Finance Corporation then wrote off nearly £3 million in loans and transferred the remaining assets to two new companies, British Lion Films Ltd and British Lion Studio Company Ltd.
When the company was reorganised, Korda was asked who should take over running. Korda replied, "This is a very difficult problem. You see, I don't grow on trees."
Korda succeeded in raising fresh finance before dying in January 1956.
In January 1955, Launder, Gilliat and the Boulting brothers formed a new company, British Lion Films Ltd., which took over the running of Shepperton as well as British Lion's distribution business. They released The Constant Husband (1955) which became a box office success. Also popular were Geordie (1955), The Green Man (1956), The Smallest Show on Earth (1957) and Blue Murder at St Trinian's (1957).
The Boultings made Josephine and Men (1955), Private's Progress (1956) (a big hit), Brothers in Law (1957) and Lucky Jim (1957).
Other British Lion films from this period included John and Julie, Stolen Assignment (both 1955), Charley Moon, A Hill in Korea (both 1956), My Teenage Daughter (1956; from Wilcox), The Birthday Present (1957), Orders to Kill, The Salvage Gang, Behind the Mask, and The Solitary Child (all 1958).
In 1956, the Conservative government invested an extra $1.68 million in the company and lost half of that within two years.
New management In March 1958, five producers were invited to run it with the intention of restoring British Lion's fortunes, and then, eventually, selling it back to the public. The producers invited were Launder and Gilliat, John and Roy Boulting and James Woolf. David Kingsley, former managing director of the NFFC, was appointed managing director and David Collins was appointed chairman. The NFFC had voting control and £600,000 in shares (at £1 per share). The producers were allowed to buy 180,000 deferred shares. James Woolf eventually retired, but the other producers formed the core of operations who turned around British Lion's performance. The government invested an extra $1.8 million.
The new management was successful making over 80 films and paying back most of the $1.8 million.
Launder and Gilliatt, who had made Fortune Is a Woman (1957) for Columbia, returned to British Lion to make Left Right and Centre (1959). Although The Bridal Path (1959) was a disappointment, they had a series of successful comedies, including The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1961) and Only Two Can Play (1962) with Peter Sellers.
The Boulting brothers made Happy Is the Bride (1958), Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959), and A French Mistress (1960), and had considerable success with I'm All Right Jack (1959) starring Sellers. They followed it with Suspect (1960).
Other movies from British Lion at this time included Expresso Bongo (1959), Subway in the Sky (1959), Make Mine a Million (1959), Model for Murder (1959), Honeymoon (1959; from Michael Powell), Jet Storm (1959), Cone of Silence (1960), Light Up the Sky! (1960) and The Boy Who Stole a Million (1960).
The company also partnered with Bryanston Films to distribute such films as The Entertainer (1960), which was a commercial disappointment, and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), a huge hit.
In March 1960, British Lion recorded a profit of £126,771. The following year this was £318,285, then £426,098, enabling the company to pay a dividend; Shepperton Studios also announced a profit of £114,032, compared to £54,298 the previous year.
Other films from this period included The Wind of Change (1961), Double Bunk (1961), Spare the Rod (1961), Offbeat (1961), and A Matter of Choice (1963). In 1961, British Lion and Columbia Pictures created a joint distribution company, BLC Films. In March 1963, the company had profits of £468,910.
Forced sale In December 1963, the Conservative government bought a controlling interest in British Lion by forcing the private directors either to sell their interest in the company (for $420,000 for shares they bought for $5,000), or to pay the government by offering $4.2 million (£1.6 million). The argument was the company should be run privately not by the government.
A variety of buyers were interested, including Sir Michael Balcon, Lew Grade, Sydney Box, Morecambe and Wise and Sam Spiegel. The forced sale was controversial because management of British Lion was generally held to have been successful and profitable, and the company was a vital source of locally financed British films at a time when the industry was dominated by American finance and two cinema chains, Rank and ABC. The original directors made a capital gain of £741,000. The company was going to be sold to Sydney Box, who was associated with Rank. Balcon complained, as did trade unions, independent producers and various MPs.
Films from this period included The Comedy Man, Ring of Spies, and Do You Know This Voice? (all 1964).
Syndicate takes over In March 1964, a syndicate acquired a controlling interest in the company from the National Film Finance Corporation for $4,452,000 (£1.6 million). This syndicate consisted of Michael Balcon, Woodfall Films (Tony Richardson and John Osborne), the Boultings, Launder and Gilliat, Joseph Janni and John Schlesinger, and Walter Reade. It was intended that there should be five different production units within the company.
Several months later, the company started making movies again, such as Joey Boy (1965) from Launder/Gilliat, Rotten to the Core (1965) from the Boultings, and Modesty Blaise. Modesty Blaise ended up being taken over by 20th Century Fox.
In August 1965, the company announced that pretax profits fell from £280,543 to £194,741. In September 1965, Lord Goodman of the Arts Council was appointed chairman. The board consisted of Balcon, Roy Boulting, David Kingsley, Gilliatt, Richardson and Peter Cooper.