The Rank Organisation

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The Rank Organisation
Company typePublic
IndustryEntertainment
Founded1937
Defunct1995
FateAcquired
SuccessorThe Rank Group
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Key people
J. Arthur Rank (Chairman)

The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment company, eventually a conglomerate, formed during 1937 and folded in 1996 by The Rank Group Plc. It was the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities.

The company logo, the Gongman, remains a familiar emblem (and would be parodied at various times, including an episode of Gilligan's Island and Chuck Jones' Bugs Bunny cartoon, "Bunny Hugged"). The gong itself, seen in the opening titles of the movies, is a genuine artifact. A prop, formed from molded plaster on a plywood base and sprayed gold. When struck, with the beater, it gave only a dull 'thud', which was overdubbed with the sound of a Tam-Tam (Chinese gong). The 'Gongman' himself, is widely credited to have been the well known boxer, (Bombadier) Billy Wells.

Origin

J. Arthur Rank was already a wealthy industrialist through his father's flour milling business, Joseph Rank Ltd, when he made his somewhat unlikely start in film-making, financing short religious subjects in line with his Methodist beliefs. From these modest origins, the British film company emerged in 1937 as Rank sought to consolidate his film-making interests.

Growth

The company grew quickly, largely through acquisition. Significant developments included:

By the late 1940s J Arthur Rank (or the Rank Organisation as it was now called), owned:

Film making

A loose collective of film makers was established under the banner of Independent Producers Ltd. employed some of Britain's greatest directors, such as Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, I Know Where I'm Going!), David Lean (Brief Encounter, Great Expectations), Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat (I See a Dark Stranger, The Happiest Days of Your Life), Ken Annakin (Holiday Camp) and Muriel Box (The Seventh Veil).

The Company of Youth, the Rank Organisation acting school often referred to as "The Charm School", was founded in 1945. It launched several careers including those of Donald Sinden, Dirk Bogarde, Diana Dors and Christopher Lee. Although she was not a member of the school, Petula Clark was under contract to Rank for a period of time and starred in a number of films released by the studio, including London Town (1946), one of the costliest flops in British film history. Also under contract to Rank was the Canadian actor Philip Gilbert.

From 1959 to 1969: the company made over 500 weekly short cinema films in a series entitled Look At Life, each film depicting an area of British life.

From the 1950s fewer adventurous films were attempted and solidly commercial ventures, largely aimed at the family market, were made instead. These include the popular Norman Wisdom comedies, the Doctor films series and later on, the Carry On films. However some films of note were produced during this era including Carve Her Name with Pride, Sapphire and Victim, as well as a clutch of prestige topics such as the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and filmed performances by The Royal Ballet.

From 1971 to 1976 Rank only invested around £1.5 million a year into film production. In 1977 they appointed Anthony Williams head of production and made a number of movies worth £10 million. Few of these performed well at the box office, losing £1.5 million. In 1980 Rank withdrew from production.[1] The following year they reported a record pre-tax profit of £102 million.[2]

Diversification

In 1949 the company suffered a financial crisis which resulted in Rank reporting an annual loss of £3,500,000[3], forcing the Organisation to sell its Lime Grove and Islington studios. Beginning that same year, the company bought the Bush Radio manufacturing facility and began to diversify its interests. In the early 1960s Rank took over Murphy Radio to form the Rank Bush Murphy Group, which was eventually sold to Great Universal Stores in 1978.

During the 1950s the British photographer Cornel Lucas set up the Pool Studio at Pinewood Studios where he photographed many of the movie stars of this era of cinema, such as Marlene Dietrich and David Niven[4].

J. Arthur Rank stepped down as Managing Director of the Rank Organisation in 1952, but remained as Chairman until 1962. Under the management of Sir John Davis the Rank Organisation closed Independent Producers Ltd. and Denham Studios, and consolidated all of its film production at Pinewood Studios. In 1956 Rank began a partnership with the Haloid Corporation to form Rank Xerox. Rank was also a significant shareholder in the consortium which became Southern Television, the first ITV television contract holder for the south of England.

In the late 1950s, Rank set up Rank Records Ltd. (the record label was named Top Rank) and Jaro Records (a jazz subsidiary). In 1961, Top Rank was taken over by EMI, and in 1962 they replaced it with Stateside Records.

Rank Audio Visual was created in 1960, bringing together Rank's acquisitions in multimedia, including Bell and Howell (acquired with Gaumont British in 1941), Andrew Smith Harkness Ltd (1952) and Wharfedale Ltd (1958). Subsequent acquisitions included Strand Electric Holdings (1968) and H.J. Leak & Co. (1969). In the mid and late 1970s Rank Audio Visual made a 3-in-1 stereo music centre, as well as TV sets in conjunction with NEC of Japan. The production of the "classic" Rank TV ran in the mid to late 70s, some interim models appeared and the "modern" Rank TV appeared in the early 80s. The NEC badge did not appear in the PAL/ 220/ 240 volt countries until the mid 1980s.

Later years

Main article: The Rank Group

In 1995, The Rank Group acquired all the outstanding shares of The Rank Organisation.

Select filmography

A = The Archers
BB Betty E. Box-Ralph Thomas Productions
C = Cineguild Productions
GB = Gainsborough Pictures
H = Hammer Studios
I = Individual Pictures
TC = Two Cities Films

See also

References

  1. ^ Alexander Walker, National Heroes: British Cinema in the Seventies and Eighties, Harrap, 1985 p 207-208
  2. ^ Alexander Walker, Icons in the Fire: The Rise and Fall of Practically Everyone in the British Film Industry 1984-2000, Orion Books, 2005 p4
  3. ^ "Film Industry Slipping Out Of The Big Money". The Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1953). Sydney, NSW: National Library of Australia. 1 January 1950. p. 7 Supplement: Features. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Cornel Lucas Collection website". Cornellucascollection.com. 1920-09-12. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  • Geoffrey Macnab, J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry, London, Routledge (1993), ISBN 0-415-07272-7.
  • Alan Wood, Mr. Rank, London, Hodder & Stoughton (1951).

External links

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