Fred Thomas (film executive)

Fred L. Thomas was a British film executive who was Managing Director of Rank Organisation Film Distributors.

Thomas succeeded Earl St John as the executive essentially in charge of film production at Rank, although he was answerable to the board and John Davis, Rank's chairman. ^[1] Under Thomas, Rank made a series of films in conjunction with the NFFC. ^{[2] [3]}

Producer Hugh Stewart called Thomas "a Wall Street man, quite unable to cope with production matters, and would never say anything to John Davis." ^[4]

In March 1966 Rank announced it would make nine films with a total cost of £7.5 million of which it would provide £4 million. Two films were financed by Rank completely, a Norman Wisdom movie and a "doctor" comedy (Doctor on Toast which became Doctor in Trouble ). The others were The Quiller Memorandum , Deadlier than the Male, Maroc Seven, Red Hot Ferrari (never made), The Fifth Coin (never made), The Battle of Britain and The Long Duel. ^[5]

Head of Rank Organisation Film Production was Eric Herren.

Select films

• I Was Happy Here (1966)
• The Sandwich Man (1966)
• They’re a Weird Mob (1966)
• Romeo and Juliet (1966)
• Maroc 7 (1967)
• The Magnificent Two (1967)
• Press for Time (1967)
• The Quiller Memorandum (1967)
• Don't Lose Your Head (1967)
• Two Weeks in September (1967)
• The Long Duel (1967)

References

1. Annakin, Ken (2001). So you wanna be a director?. p. 200.
2. Ahmed, Michael (January 2013). "Corrupted, Tormented and Damned:Reframing British Exploitation Cinema and The films of Robert Hartford-Davis" (PDF). University of Anglia.
3. Petrie, Duncan James (2016). "Resisting Hollywood Dominance in Sixties British Cinema: The NFFC/Rank Joint Financing Initiative" (PDF). Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television.
4. "Interview with Hugh Stewart". British Entertainment History Project. 22 June 1989.
5. "Rank Organisation plans nine new films". Thanet Times. 29 March 1966. p. 3.