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The History of British Cinema: 1957

May -

ABC Television announces that it has purchased the TV rights to 25 films produced by Alexander Korda. [ADD]

17/6 -

Val Guest’s Quatermass II, possibly the first ever film to use a number to denote its sequel status is released. [ADD]

12/9 -

Charlie Chaplin’s A King in New York is released.   Filmed at Shepperton Studios, the film satirises the anti-communist witch hunt of the HUAC in America. [ADD]

2/10 -

Sam Spiegel’s $3 million production Bridge on the River Kwai is released.   Filmed on location in Ceylon, the 161-minute film stars Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, William Holden and Jack Hawkins. [ADD]

13/10 -

The press reports that Anna Kashfi, the Indian actress recently married to Marlon Brando, is in fact Joan O’Callaghan, the daughter of a Welsh labourer. [ADD]

Oct -

The National Film Theatre opens on the South Bank in London, replacing the Telekinema built for the Festival of Britain. [ADD]

21/11 -

The first London Film Festival takes place at the National Film Theatre. [ADD]

– The Federation of British Filmmakers is established as an alternative to the British Film Producers’ Association. [ADD]

– The Cinematograph Films Act specifies the beneficiaries of the Eady levy placed on UK cinema admissions on a statutory basis: makers of British films, the Children’s Film Foundation, and the National Film Finance Corporation. [ADD]

Other Key British Films of 1957

Brothers in Law (Roy Boulting) [ADD]

The Naked Truth (Mario Zampi) [ADD]

Too Many Crooks (Mario Zampi) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1957