British Lion Films: Difference between revisions

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Evans, Kay. The Observer 16 Oct 1966: 14. </ref>
Evans, Kay. The Observer 16 Oct 1966: 14. </ref>


In late 1966 Sir Michael Balcon led a take over attempt of the company. However by December this had been rejected. That month the company announced a half yearly jump of profits from £82,000 to £218,000, mostly on the strength of ''Morgan'' and ''The Great St Trinians Train Robbery''/<ref>WILL BRITISH LION EVER ROAR AGAIN?
In late 1966 Sir Michael Balcon led a take over attempt of the company. However by December this had been rejected. That month the company announced a half yearly jump of profits from £82,000 to £218,000, mostly on the strength of ''Morgan'' and ''The Great St Trinians Train Robbery''/<ref>WILL BRITISH LION EVER ROAR AGAIN? Eglin, Roger. The Observer 11 Dec 1966: 7. </ref><ref>British Lion turns down offer
Eglin, Roger. The Observer 11 Dec 1966: 7. </ref><ref>British Lion turns down offer
The Guardian 3 Dec 1966: 10. </ref>
The Guardian 3 Dec 1966: 10. </ref>


Line 68: Line 67:
Barker, Dennis. The Guardian 19 Mar 1973: 1. </ref><ref>Fight to keep film studios
Barker, Dennis. The Guardian 19 Mar 1973: 1. </ref><ref>Fight to keep film studios
Our own Reporter. The Guardian 11 Nov 1972: 4. </ref>
Our own Reporter. The Guardian 11 Nov 1972: 4. </ref>
===Spikings and Deeley===
In June 1975 the company was bought by [[Michael Deeley]] and [[Barry Spikings]].<ref>£1m. bid for studio likely
The Irish Times 11 June 1975: 14. </ref> They made ''Conduct Unbecoming'' and ''The Man Who Fell to Earth''.<ref>British money is suddenly big in Hollywood,'right up with Fox and Warne r.'
Mills, Bart. The Guardian 2 Sep 1977: 8. </ref>
===EMI===
===EMI===
In 1976 EMI Films paid £739,000 in cash and shares for the company. In May 1977 British Lion officially ceased to trade. Deeley and Spikings were appointed to the board of EMI.<ref>The final fade-out for British Lion
In May 1976 EMI Films paid £739,000 in cash and shares for the company.<ref>Acquisitionof B Lion
The Guardian 19 May 1976: 18. </ref> In May 1977 British Lion officially ceased to trade. Deeley and Spikings were appointed to the board of EMI.<ref>The final fade-out for British Lion
Barker, Dennis. The Guardian 14 May 1977: 2. </ref>
Barker, Dennis. The Guardian 14 May 1977: 2. </ref>


Revision as of 15:42, 4 May 2019

Opening logo, 1971

British Lion Films is a film production and distribution company active under several forms since 1919. Originally known as British Lion Film Corporation Ltd, it went into receivership of 1 June 1954.[1] From 29 January 1955[2] to 1976 the company was known as British Lion Films Ltd, and was a pure distribution company with a filmography of 232 films. As a production company, they are still active and have produced over 170 films.[3]

British Lion was founded in November 1927 by Sam .W. Smith (brother of Herbert Smith). By the end of World War II, 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.[4]

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

NFFC

In 1949 the British government loaned Alex Korda $9 million and set up the National Film Finance Corporation to monitor that investment and loan money to other producers. The entire $9 million would be lost.[5]

In 1950 the NFFC loaned £500,000 to British Lion. The following year it was £500,000. In 1954 it was £1 million. In 1955 it was £969,000.[6]

In 1955 the Conservative government effectively baled out the company by putting it into 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. [7]In 1956 the Conservative government invested an extra $1.68 million in the company and lost half of that within two years.[8][9]

New Management

In 1958, five producers were invited to run it - Launder and Gilliat, John and Roy Boulting and John Woolf. David Kingsley, former managing director of the NFFC, was managing director. The NFFC had voting control and £600,000 in shares. The producers were allowed to buy 180,000 deferred shares.[10][11] James Woolf retired. The government invested an extra $1.8 million.[5]

The new management was successful making over 80 films and paying back most of the $1.8 million.[5]

In March 1960 British Lion recorded a profit of £126,771. The following year this was £318,285 then £426,000. In March 1963 the company had profits of £468,910.[12]

Forced Sale

In December 1963 the Conservative government bought a controlling interest in British Lion by forcing the private directors to either sell their interest in the company (for $420,000 for shares they bought for $5,000) or pay out the government by offering $4.2 million (£1.6 million). The argument was the company should be run privately not by the government.[8][10]

A variety of buyers were interested including Sir Michael Balcon, Lew Grade, Sydney Box and Sam Spiegel.[13] The forced sale was very controversial at the time because management of British Lion was generally held to have been successful and profitable, and 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.[14][15] The original directors made a capital gain of £741,000.[6] 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.

Boultings Take Over

In March 1964 a syndicate acquired a controlling interest in the company from the National Film Finance Corporation for $4,452,000. This consisted of Michael Balcon, Woodfall Films, the Boultings, Launder and Gilliat, Joseph Janni and John Schlesinger, and Walter Reade.[16][17][18]

Several months later the company started making movies again, such as Joey Boy, Rotten to the Core and Modesty Blaise.[19]

In August 1965 the company announced that pretax profits fell from £280,543 to £194,741.[20] The company asked for the government to buy it back but this was refused. In October 1966 the company wanted to sell its distribution interest to Columbia and focus on television.[21]

In late 1966 Sir Michael Balcon led a take over attempt of the company. However by December this had been rejected. That month the company announced a half yearly jump of profits from £82,000 to £218,000, mostly on the strength of Morgan and The Great St Trinians Train Robbery/[22][23]

The Family Way was the only film made in Britain over a 12 month period financed entirely by British capital. The Boultings bought back a one-fifth interest in the company.[24]

In October 1967 five sixths of the company was owned by Max Rayne (who recently bought a one sixth interest from Walter Reade), the Boultings (who bought out a one eighth holding once owned by Tiberian Films), Launder and Gilliat, and Lord Goodman, with institutional investors owning the rest.[25]

In December 1968 British Lion Holdings went public with the Boulting Brothers on its board. The company made a profit that year of £247,000.[26] In 1969 the company made a profit of £575,679.[27] In January 1970 John Boulting was optimistic about the company but wanted an injection of government money of £5 million.[28] For the year ended March 1971 the company made a profit of £137,273.[27]

In November 1971 British Lion, then valued £2.7 million, attempted a take over of the Star Cinema chain, valued £9.2 million.[27] The bid was unsuccessful.[29]

Barclay Securities

In April 1972 Barclay Securities bid £5.4 million for British Lion and the board - by that stage consisting of Lord Goodman, Sir Max Rayne, John and Roy Boulting and Sidney Gilliat - accepted. It owned a considerable amount of property including Shepperton. [30] By this stage Shepperton was losing money and Barclay wanted to sell off part of the land for real estate development.[31][32] The unions protested this, threatening to black ban the Boulting Brothers who were then making the film Soft Beds, Hard Battles.[33][34]

Spikings and Deeley

In June 1975 the company was bought by Michael Deeley and Barry Spikings.[35] They made Conduct Unbecoming and The Man Who Fell to Earth.[36]

EMI

In May 1976 EMI Films paid £739,000 in cash and shares for the company.[37] In May 1977 British Lion officially ceased to trade. Deeley and Spikings were appointed to the board of EMI.[38]

Selected films produced or distributed by British Lion

Main article: List of British Lion films

A = The Archers
I = Individual Pictures
LF = London Films

References

  1. ^ Hansard, 1 June 1954: British Lion Film Corporation (Appointment of Receiver) Linked 2014-07-25
  2. ^ Hansard, 25 January 1955: British Lion Films Ltd. Linked 2014-07-25
  3. ^ https://www.imdb.com/company/co0103038/
  4. ^ https://www.imdb.com/company/co0105973/
  5. ^ a b c HOW IT IS TO BE OR NOT TO BE IN BRITISH PRODUCTION By STEPHEN WATT New York Times 2 Feb 1964: X7.
  6. ^ a b British Lion-A Solution Davenport, Nicholas. The Spectator; London Vol. 212, Iss. 7073, (Jan 17, 1964): 85.
  7. ^ The Robert Clark account: Films released in Britain by Associated British Pictures, British Lion, MGM, and Warner Bros., 1946-1957 Porter, Vincent. Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television; Dorchester-on-Thames Vol. 20, Iss. 4, (Oct 2000): 469-511.
  8. ^ a b Britain Buys Film Distributor; Independent Producers Protest By JAMES FERON Special to The New York Times. New York Times 21 Dec 1963: 14.
  9. ^ The Years of the Lion-I John; BOULTING, ROY. The Spectator; London Vol. 212, Iss. 7071, (Jan 3, 1964): 5.
  10. ^ a b Carving up the Lion: FILMS Gilliatt, Penelope. The Observer 29 Dec 1963: 20.
  11. ^ CURRENT ACTION ON BRITISH SCREEN FRONTS: British Lion's New Blood New York Times 23 Mar 1958: X5.
  12. ^ The Years of the Lion-2 John; BOULTING, ROY. The Spectator; London Vol. 212, Iss. 7072, (Jan 10, 1964): 41
  13. ^ British Lion rival may be formed Ardagh, John. The Observer 19 Jan 1964: 2.
  14. ^ Battle for the Lion's share (2): FILMS GILLIANTT, PENELOPE. The Observer 5 Jan 1964: 23.
  15. ^ Sixth bid made for British Lion: NFFC could retain interest Our own Reporter. The Guardian 6 Jan 1964: 2.
  16. ^ Walter Reade Sterling Joins The British Lion Syndicate New York Times 20 Mar 1964: 27.
  17. ^ British Lion-curing the mange Davenport, Nicholas. The Spectator; London Vol. 228, Iss. 7506, (May 6, 1972): 709.
  18. ^ Walter Reade Acquires Share of British Lion Wall Street Journal20 Mar 1964: 12.
  19. ^ ENGLAND'S FILMMAKERS TAKE OFF IN NEW DIRECTIONS By STEPHEN WATT New York Times 6 Sep 1964: X5.
  20. ^ Sharp setback for British Lion Films The Guardian 6 Aug 1965: 11.
  21. ^ British Lion turns to TV Evans, Kay. The Observer 16 Oct 1966: 14.
  22. ^ WILL BRITISH LION EVER ROAR AGAIN? Eglin, Roger. The Observer 11 Dec 1966: 7.
  23. ^ British Lion turns down offer The Guardian 3 Dec 1966: 10.
  24. ^ Bowling Over Mr. Boulting Los Angeles Times 17 July 1967: c19.
  25. ^ Where does British Lion go from here? BOULTING, JOHN. The Guardian 4 Oct 1967: 14
  26. ^ British Lion easily beats forecast The Guardian 5 July 1969: 12.
  27. ^ a b c British Lion takeover of Star cinema chain Davenport, Andrew. The Guardian 3 Nov 1971: 17.
  28. ^ The very last laugh? Barker, Dennis. The Guardian 7 Jan 1970: 8.
  29. ^ City comment: Oriental adventure Slater, Walker; The Guardian 10 Mar 1972: 15.
  30. ^ British Lion board backs £5M offer Davenport, Andrew. The Guardian 25 Apr 1972: 19.
  31. ^ Local Residents May Take Over Shepperton Lot Variety; Los Angeles Vol. 268, Iss. 11, (Oct 25, 1972): 31
  32. ^ Talks on studios' future Barker, Dennis. The Guardian 12 Apr 1972: 10
  33. ^ Boulting threat to halt films Barker, Dennis. The Guardian 19 Mar 1973: 1.
  34. ^ Fight to keep film studios Our own Reporter. The Guardian 11 Nov 1972: 4.
  35. ^ £1m. bid for studio likely The Irish Times 11 June 1975: 14.
  36. ^ British money is suddenly big in Hollywood,'right up with Fox and Warne r.' Mills, Bart. The Guardian 2 Sep 1977: 8.
  37. ^ Acquisitionof B Lion The Guardian 19 May 1976: 18.
  38. ^ The final fade-out for British Lion Barker, Dennis. The Guardian 14 May 1977: 2.
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