Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to restrict blind booking and advance booking of cinematograph films, and to secure the renting and exhibition of a certain proportion of British films, and for purposes connected therewith. |
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Citation | 17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 29 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 22 December 1927 |
Commencement | 1 April 1928 |
Other legislation | |
Amended by | Cinematograph Films Act 1938 |
Repealed by | Films Act 1960 |
Status: Repealed |
The Cinematograph Films Act 1927 (17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 29) was an act of the UK Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry. It received royal assent on 22 December 1927 [1] and came into force on 1 April 1928.
The act introduced a requirement for British cinemas to show a quota of British films for a duration of 10 years. Its supporters believed that it would promote the emergence of a vertically integrated film industry, with production, distribution and exhibition infrastructure controlled by the same companies. As the vertically integrated American film industry had rapid growth in the years immediately following the end of World War I, the intention was to counter Hollywood's perceived economic and cultural dominance by promoting similar business practices among British studios, distributors and cinema chains.
By creating an obligatory market-section for British films, it was hoped that the increased economic activity in the production sector would lead to the growth of a self-sustaining industry. The quota was initially set at 7.5% for exhibitors but was raised to 20% in 1935. The films included those shot in British dominions such as Canada and Australia.
A British film was defined according to the following criteria:
Hollywood studios had to comply with the quota if they wanted their productions shown in Britain. Rather than forfeiting the lucrative British market, the studios contracted with British producers to make low-budget features for them, so their American productions could be distributed alongside them in Britain. These cheap, homegrown features became known as quota quickies. [4]
The act is generally considered unsuccessful. It fostered speculative investment in lavishly budgeted features for which production costs could not have been recouped on the domestic market, and it was criticised for the emergence of the inferior "quota quickies".
Cinematograph Films Act 1938 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to make further provision for securing the renting and exhibition of a certain proportion of British cinematograph films, and for restricting blind booking and advance booking of cinematograph films; to make provision as to the wages and conditions of employment of persons employed by makers of cinematograph films; and to provide for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid. |
Citation | 1 & 2 Geo. 6. c. 17 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 30 March 1938 |
Commencement | 1 April 1938 |
Other legislation | |
Amends | Cinematograph Films Act 1927 |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
The act was modified by the Cinematograph Films Act 1938, which removed films shot in British Empire countries from the quota. It was, in turn, amended by further acts, and it was eventually repealed by the Films Act 1960.
In recent years, an alternative view has arisen among film historians, such as Lawrence Napper, who have argued that the quota quickie has been too casually dismissed, and is of particular cultural and historical value because such films often contained performances unique to British popular culture, such as music hall and variety acts, that would not have been filmed under normal circumstances.[ citation needed ]
British cinema has significantly influenced the global film industry since the 19th century.
Twickenham Film Studios is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph Jupp on the site of a former ice rink. At the time of its original construction, it was the largest film studio in the United Kingdom.
Anna Lee, MBE was a British actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell".
The Last Journey is a 1936 British drama film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and starring Godfrey Tearle, Hugh Williams and Judy Gunn.
A screen quota is a country's legislated policy that enforces a minimum number of days each year for the cinematic screening of that country's own films in order to protect the status of those films, primarily as a method of preventing foreign markets from making inroads into the country's domestic film market. The screen quota system originated with the United Kingdom's 1927 Cinematograph Films Act, with other countries such as Brazil, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, and Spain subsequently enforcing their own screen quotas.
Money for Speed is a 1933 British sports drama film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and starring John Loder, Ida Lupino, Cyril McLaglen and Moore Marriott. It is centered on the sport of speedway racing, which was at its peak of popularity at the time.
Lord Edgware Dies is a 1934 British mystery film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Austin Trevor, Jane Carr, and Richard Cooper. The film was based on the 1933 Agatha Christie novel Lord Edgware Dies.
The Cinematograph Films Council was established by the Cinematograph Films Act 1938 as a result of a Board of Trade report by a committee chaired by Lord Moyne, which recommended that such a statutory body should be created to advise the UK government on matters relating to the film industry. Among its specific functions was the monitoring of a so-called 'quality test' that was to be applied under the Act to films which sought registration as British under the screen quota to eliminate quota quickies.
Guy Newall was a British actor, screenwriter and film director in a career that encompassed the silent era of film-making to the early years of sound films.
Money Means Nothing is a 1932 British comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring John Loder, Irene Richards and Miles Malleson. It was shot at Elstree Studios as a quota quickie for release by Paramount British.
Julius Hagen (1884–1940) was a German-born British film producer who produced more than a hundred films in Britain.
Adrian Brunel was an English film director and screenwriter. Brunel's directorial career started in the silent era, and reached its peak in the latter half of the 1920s. His surviving work from the 1920s, both full-length feature films and shorts, is highly regarded by silent film historians for its distinctive innovation, sophistication and wit.
The Ghost Camera is a 1933 British mystery film directed by Bernard Vorhaus, starring Henry Kendall, Ida Lupino and John Mills. It was written by H. Fowler Mear based on "A Mystery Narrative", a short story by Joseph Jefferson Farjeon.
Blind Folly is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Reginald Denham and starring Clifford Mollison, Lilli Palmer, and Leslie Perrins. The screenplay concerns a man who inherits a nightclub that belonged to his brother but soon discovers that it is the headquarters for a dangerous criminal gang.
This Week of Grace is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Gracie Fields, Henry Kendall and John Stuart. The screenplay concerns a poor, unemployed woman who is made housekeeper at the estate of a wealthy duchess. It was promoted with the tagline "Cinderella in modern dress". It includes songs written by Harry Parr-Davies, including "My Lucky Day" and "Happy Ending".
Naughty Cinderella is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Jean Daumery and starring John Stuart, Winna Winifried and Betty Huntley-Wright. It was produced as a quota quickie by Warner Bros. at the company's Teddington Studios in London.
Cricklewood Studios, also known as the Stoll Film Studios, were British film studios located in Cricklewood, London which operated from 1920 to 1938. Run by Sir Oswald Stoll as the principal base for his newly formed Stoll Pictures, which also operated Surbiton Studios, the studio was the largest in the British Isles at that time. It was later used for the production of "quota quickies". In 1938, the studios were sold off for non-film use.
Auld Lang Syne is a 1937 British historical drama film directed by James A. FitzPatrick and starring Andrew Cruickshank, Christine Adrian and Marian Spencer. It portrays the life of the eighteenth century Scottish poet Robert Burns. The film was a quota quickie, produced at Shepperton Studios for distribution by MGM. Quota costume films were rare, as the costs generally exceeded the limited budgets allowed for productions.
John Maxwell (1879–1940) was a British film producer. Maxwell was the co-owner of British International Pictures, which emerged as the largest British studio following the Film Act of 1927. Maxwell was a Scottish lawyer who first came into contact with the film industry in 1912. In 1927 he took over the newly constructed British National Studios in Elstree after its founders ran into financial problems. Maxwell built a vertically integrated company incorporating film production, film distribution, initially through Wardour Films, and a large network of cinemas that enabled the company to compete with the leading German and Hollywood firms. Along with the facilities in Elstree, the company also acquired Welwyn Studios in Welwyn Garden City.