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The History of British Cinema: 1947

1/2 -

Odd Man Out, Carol Reed’s first film since the war, is released for Alexander Korda.   James Mason stars as a fatally wounded IRA gunman on the run in Belfast. [ADD]

26/5 -

Michael Powell’s adaptation of Rumer Godden’s Black Narcissus is released.   The film stars Deborah Kerr as one of a group of sexually repressed nuns at a retreat in the Himalayas. [ADD]

6/8 -

The treasury enforces a 75% duty on the value of imported films, the tax payable to be based on projected box-office receipts.   The action prompts an immediate embargo by the major Hollywood studios. [ADD]

Oct -

The country’s pre-war film quota regulations are re-instated with the screen time reserved for British feature films set at 25%. [ADD] 

– The Ministry of Works spends £146,000 on refurbishing the Beaconsfield Studios it leases from Alexander Korda (following London Films takeover of the British Lion Group) to turn it into a production site for the Crown Film Unit. [ADD]

– John E. Blakeley converts a former Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Rusholme into a two-stage film studio from where he produces comedy and musical films of mainly regional interest.   Many of these films star Frank Randall. [ADD]

– The Rank Organisation start manufacturing Bell & Howell 16mm sound projectors under licence. [ADD]

– The Rank Organisation sells its Amalgamated Studios at Elstree to the Prudential Assurance Company.    The Prudential sells the studios on to MGM, which renames them the MGM British Studios. [ADD]

Other Key British Films of 1947

The History of Cinema: 1947