Joseph Arthur Rank was born on December 23, 1888 at
Kingston upon Hull in England. His father, Joseph, had built a substantial
flour milling business.
Rank was a devout member of the Methodist Church and
taught Sunday School. When the Methodist Times newspaper began to complain
about the negative influence that British and American films shown in Britain
were having on family life, the London Evening News answered, suggesting
that instead of complaining, the Methodist Church should provide a solution.
Rank took up the challenge.
Through the church, Rank met with Lady Yule, widow
of Sir David Yule, and John Corefield, a young film producer. Together,
in 1934, they formed British
National Films Company with the purpose of making religous films.
In 1935, British National released Mastership,
filmed at Merton Park at a cost of £2,700, which was a 20 minute film
shown primarily in churches. Pleased with the results, British National
produced their first feature film, Turn
of the Tide. Distributors wouldn't handle the film, and the few
that finally did, attached it as the back of a double feature. Frustrated
with the film industry, Rank approached C. M. Woolf with the purpose of
creating the General Cinema Finance Corporation. Rank then used GCFC to
buy out General Film Distributors who were the UK distributors for Universal
Pictures.
Also in 1935, Rank was approached by Charles
Boot, a building contractor, who acquired an estate grounds and
mansion called Heatherden Hall at an auction. It was a magnificent 156 acre
estate near Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire, 25 miles west of London. Rank
liked the idea about turning the estate into a film studio. British National
Films, Rank's new film company, purchased the property and Boot had it remodeled.
The studio opened for production September 30, 1936 under the name Pinewood
Studios.
Shortly afterwards, British
and Dominions, studio burned down in mid production of London Melody.
Rank offered the new Pinewood Studio to complete the film, which was the
first film completed at Pinewood. After completing the film, Herbert
Wilcox, owner of British and Dominions, used his insurance money to
invest and become part owner of Pinewood, giving Rank a lot more production
expertise on the board.
In 1938, Rank acquired Alex Korda's financially troubled
Denham Studios and in 1939, Rank bought Amalgamated
Studios while John Maxwell
from ABPC
was negiotiating to take them over, giving Rank 3 of the largest studios
in England.
As the war began in 1939, the government requisitioned
the studios for various needs, stopping all production.
The war brought a tremendous amount of changes, but
Rank agressively continued acquiring more in hopes of reviving the British
film industry after the war. In 1940, John Maxwell from ABPC, which was
Rank's major rival, died. In 1941, Herbert Wilcox left for America, and
Rank also bought Lady Yule's interest in Pinewood, giving Rank complete
control and giving Yule complete control of British National Films. (She
bought the old Neptune
Studio in Elstree
and continued production).
Also in 1941, Oscar Deutsch died, and Rank bought
his Odeon Cinema Circuit. AND 1941 brought the retirement of Isidore Ostrer,
and Rank acquired British-Gaumont
(with their 251 cinemas), Gainsborough
AND Shepherd's Bush Studios.
At the end of the war, while the British film industry
struggled to get back on their feet, American films were dominating British
screens. To try to slow down this trend, the British government imposed
a 75% tax on the box office earnings for American films shown in the UK.
Instead of helping, it angered the US government who put an embargo on any
releases of UK films in America. This crippled the British film industry
even more.
By 1946, Rank owned over 650 cinemas and the 5 largest
studios in the country. In an attempt to start creating more talent within
the UK, Rank opened the Company of Youth, or 'the Charm School' as it was
called. This acting and charm school produced a variety of talent including
Diana Dors and Christopher Lee.
By 1949, Rank was in debt over £16,000,000 and
knew that he had to reorganize his holdings. John Davis, Rank's accountant
and primary confidant, was told to slash budgets. Most of the studios were
closed and Pinewood became the primary focus of film production. Davis's
cuts proved extremely efficient and Pinewood began producing
a stream of quality films.
Rank also started to diversify buying Bush Radio manufacturing.
This led to investments in vacation resorts and other entertainment oriented
businesses like bowling alleys and night clubs.
In 1952, Rank's older brother Jimmy died and Rank
had to take over the operations of the families very profitable flour milling
business. Rank placed his lieutenant and accountant, John Davis over the
Rank Organisation.
As Rank continued to diversify, in 1956, Rank began
a partnership with the Haloid Corporation to form Rank Xerox.
In 1962, Rank retired.. He died March 29, 1972 at
the age of 83. Rank tried his best to give the British people British entertainment
and create a British film industry equivalent to Hollywood. A TRUE British
Pioneer......
