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The History of British Cinema: 1936

20/2 -

Things to Come, adapted for the screen by H. G. Wells from his own novel, is released.   Directed by William Cameron Menzies, the film features some spectacular set designs and an impressive British cast including Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson, Margaretta Scott and Cedric Hardwicke. [ADD]

Feb -

British and Dominion Film Corporation’s Imperial Studios at Elstree are destroyed by fire. [ADD]

Mar -

J Arthur Rank and C. M Woolf form the General Cinema Finance Corporation with capital of £1,225,000 to gain control of General Film Distributors; it also acquires a 25% stake in Universal. [ADD]

Mar -

Lord Moyne is appointed by the Board of Trade ‘to advise whether any, and if so what, measures are still required in the public interest to promote the production, renting and exhibition of films.’ [ADD]

Apr -

The National Film Archives requests prints of recently released films for permanent preservation. [ADD]

May -

Denham Studios, built for Alexander Korda’s London Film Productions, opens.   With seven sound stages and full production facilities including a Technicolor laboratory it is the largest studio in Britain. [ADD]

20/7 -

20^th Century-Fox’s attempts to gain financial control of British Gaumont fail, and they relinquish half of their shares in the company to MGM. [ADD]

30/9 -

Pinewood Studios, situated on the 156-acre grounds of Heatherden Hall in Iver Heath near London, opens. [ADD]

29/10 -

The Metropolitan Film Studios are burned to the ground.   The studios are later rebuilt with three stages. [ADD]

6/11 -

Rembrandt, Alexander Korda’s biographical account of the Dutch painter’s life, in which Charles Laughton takes the title role, is released. [ADD]

Nov -

The Moyne Report recommends that steps should be taken by the Government to prevent the control of British film interests from being transferred overseas. [ADD]

– Michael Balcon leaves Gaumont-British to join MGM-British as Head of Production. [ADD]

– The Pennine Film Studio is founded in a disused cotton factory in Blackburn to make regional films. [ADD]

– Douglas Fairbanks Jr’s Criterion Film Productions acquires Worton Hall Studios in Islesworth. [ADD]

– Fox-British Studios buy the Wembley Studios, which they have leased to make quota quickies since 1934. [ADD]

– Associated British Cinemas acquires 130 cinemas in 1936. [ADD]

– Walt Disney offers to screen two Mickey Mouse cartoons each day on the BBC, becoming the first film company to supply films to British television. [ADD]

– Night Mail, Harry Watt and Basil Wright’s documentary about Britain’s overnight mail trains, which incorporates the poem by W. H. Auden is released. [ADD]

– Britone Studios changes its name to the Metropolitan Film Studios. [ADD]

Other Key British Films of 1936

And So to Work (Richard Massingham) [ADD]

The Birth of the Robot (Len Lye) [ADD]

Rainbow Dance (Len Lye) [ADD]

Sabotage (Alfred Hitchcock) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1936