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Rank Organisation Film Productions

Rank Organisation Film Productions was a British film production company that made movies for the Rank Organisation. It followed on from Group Film Productions and was established in 1955.{{cite news|title=Industry in the mansion|newspaper=South Wales Weekly Argus|date=25 May 1957|page= 5}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|date=30 May 2025|access-date=30 May 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-studios-group-film-productions|title=Forgotten British Studios: Group Film Productions}}

In February 1956, Davis announced Rank would make 20 films at over £3 million. He said "great care will be taken to ensure that, while retaining essentially British characteristics the films will have the widest international appeal. This is part of an intensified drive to secure ever widening showing in overseas markets which already return more than half the revenue earned by Pinewood films."{{Cite news|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/832251498|title=20 Rank Films will cost £3 mill|date=17 February 1956|page= 21}} That year, Rank announced it would set up distribution in the United States (see below).

In 1956 Rank released a series of dramas such as Eyewitness, The Black Tent, House of Secrets, Tiger in the Smoke and Checkpoint. The most popular were The Spanish Gardener with Dirk Bogarde and Up in the World with Norman Wisdom. The studio also co financed the hugely popular Reach for the Sky.{{cite magazine |last=Billings |first=Josh |date=12 December 1957 |title=Others in the money |magazine=Kinematograph Weekly |page=7}} That year the studio made less comedies than Group Film Productions had, and more thrillers.{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|access-date=5 June 2025|date=5 June 2025|title=Forgotten British Studios: Rank Organisation Film Productions|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-studios-rank-organisation-film-productions/}}

In October 1956, Davis listed the Rank actors he thought could become international stars: Dirk Bogarde, Peter Finch, Kay Kendall, Jeannie Carson, Virginia McKenna, Belinda Lee, Michael Craig, Tony Wright, Maureen Swanson and Kenneth More.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/793929220/?|newspaper=Nottingham Evening Post|date=22 November 1956|page= 9|first=Thomas|last=Wiseman|title=Mr Davis Takes on Hollywood}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/wrecking-australian-stores-the-1957-film-version-of-robbery-under-arms/|date=7 March 2025|access-date=7 March 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=Wrecking Australian stores: the 1957 film version of Robbery Under Arms|magazine=Filmink}}

1957

In October 1957, at the 21st birthday for Pinewood Studios, Davis said Rank would make 18 films that year and 20 the next, with the latter costing £5 million.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/821912940/?terms=%22john%20davis%22%20%22rank%20film%22&match=1|title=Film Studios Come of Age|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=1 October 1957|page= 13}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-film-studios-rank-organisation-films-1957/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|access-date=14 June 2025|date=14 June 2025|title=Forgotten British Film Studios: Rank Organisation Films – 1957}}

1958 crisis

In January 1958 John Davis announced in Variety they would make 20 films:

20 top-line productions tailored for the international market. These are big pictures, pictures to be reckoned with. Their stories come from best-

selling books, top plays and the best of original screenplays; their casts include _ world - popular names; their producers and directors have earned high acclaim in every continent for their brilliantly no specialized selling to a limited market.{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1958-01-08_209_6/mode/1up?|magazine=Variety|date=8 January 1958|first=John|last=Davis|page=180|title=British movies can be sold}}

However the very same month Rank announced it would be stopping four films and sacking over 300 workers in an economy measure to do an overall fall in cinema attendances. (The company had four films in production at the time - A Night to Remember, Nor the Moon by Night, The Wind Cannot Read and Innocent Sinners - which cost £1.1 million in total).{{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=1 January 1958|pages=1, 12|title=Rank's to stop four films and dismiss 300}}

Eight films costing £2.1 million to be completed by the end of August were Anna, Floods of Fear, Sea Fury, The Light Blue, Rockets Galore, The Square Peg, Lawrence of Arabia, Adventure in Diamonds, or The Shadow and the Peak. It appears the three films cancelled were Anna, Light Blue and Lawrence of Arabia.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety210-1958-03/page/n266/mode/1up?|date=26 March 1958|title=Prod cut by Rank|page=13}}

In September 1958 the company had lost £1,264,000 on film productoin and distribution causing the group's profit to drop from £5 million to £1.8 million. John Davis wound up several long-term contracts Rank had with talent. "The trouble with some of them is they won't work," he said. "They lose their sense of proportion. They say, 'I don't want to live in Britain but if you want to mae a film I will go to France for. year'.""{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/720967938|newspaper=Evening Standard|date=17 September 1958|page= 3|title=Rank forecasts more cinemas will close}} To recoup some of their losses, Rank sold Ealing Studios and its library to Associated British Picture Corporation.

Anthony Carew in The Daily Herald wrote "the top executives of the Rank Organisation have made some extraordinarily bad guesses in the past, profit losing year" pointing to films like Innocent Sinners, Campbell's Kingdom, High Tide at Noon and Miracle in Soho.{{cite news|newspaper=Daily Herald|date=17 September 1958|page=4|title=I can tell his lordship why he lost £2,719,357|first=Anthony|last=Carew}} A year later, in August 1959, Carew argued "The Rank Organisation, for long the king film company in Britain, is abdicating its throne" and was cutting back on production.{{cite news|first=Anthony|last=Carew|newspaper=Daily Herald|date=25 August 1959|page=4|title=Ranks Gong Goes Thud}}

1959

In September 1959 the film group reported a loss of £875,000 on production and distribution although the Rank Group as a whole recovered.{{cite news|title=City Comment|newspaper=The Guardian|date=17 September 1959|page=14}} Rank shut down its American distributing organisation. Davis said "It is incredible and inconceivable why British films do not sell in America. They seem to like their own product. It is a question of public taste.{{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=17 September 1959|page=11|title=More cinemas may be forced to close}}

In November 1959 Rank announced the formation of Allied Film Makers.{{cite news|title=British film company formed|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=3 November 1959|page=13}}

=1960=

In January 1960, John Davis announced that Rank would concentrate on bigger budgeted, internationally focused productions.{{cite news|title=Powell, Dilys. "Bigger Films to Come."|work=Sunday Times|location=London|date=10 January 1960|page=15|via=The Sunday Times Digital Archive}}

In September 1960 J Arthur Rank announced long term production plans were impractical due to declining cinema attendances. Davis admitted the company took sunstantial losses on its record divisions and was converting cinemas into bowling alleys.{{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=15 September 1960|page=15|title=No sign of check to film going decline}}

However film production distribution made a profit of £217,000 for the previous year. (This was only 4% of the group's profit, 53% of it came from exhibition.){{cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 September 1960|page=12|title=City comment}}

=1961=

In 1961, they announced a production slate of a dozen films worth £7 million.{{cite news|title=BRITAIN'S SCREEN SCENE: Encouraging Survey, Rank's Dossier – Footnotes on Three Luminaries|author=STEPHEN WATTS|work=The New York Times|date=23 April 1961|page=129}}

In October 1961 Rank film production and distribution made a profit of £529,000.{{cite web|url=https://memoriesofrxmp.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Rank-Organisation-ARA-1962.pdf|website=Memories of Rank Xerox|title=The Rank Organisation Annual Report 1962|page=36-37}}

=1962=

In October 1962, Lord Rank resigned as chairman of the company and was replaced by managing director Davis. That year, the company made a group profit of over £6 million and stated 41% of its film production income came from overseas. The report said "the pattern of Film Production has continued to change with that of public taste. This change has continued throughout the year but we have met the challenge with some success. The biggest problem is the continuous and alarming rise in costs particularly of artists and creative talent, largely brought about by scarcity."{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/825592890|title=Advertisement|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=12 October 1962|page= 3}} Rank's film production and distribution made a profit of £209,000.

=1963=

Film production and distribution made a profit of £435,000. The three most successful British releases were On the Beat , The Fast Lady and Tiara Tahiti.{{cite web|url=https://memoriesofrxmp.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Rank-Organisation-ARA-1963.pdf|title=Rank Organisation Annual Report 1963|website=Memories of Rank Xerox}}

In February 1964 Rank announced it would make eight films at a cost of £4.5 million, including:{{cite news|title=Pinewood carries on - with £9 million|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 February 1964|page=5}}{{cite news|title=Everything but the kitchen sink|newspaper=Coventry Evening Telegraph|date=29 February 1964|page=7}}{{cite news|title=Big boost for British films|newspaper=Thanet Times

|date=3 March 1964|page=4}}{{cite magazine|title=British film fog lifting|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety-1964-02/page/n221/mode/2up?|date=26 February 1964|page=5}}

  • Almost a Hero with Norman Wisdom
  • Doctor in Clover
  • Love on the Riviera with James Robertson Justice and Leslie Philips
  • The Innocent Gunman from the novel by Jean Paul Lecroix
  • The High Bright Sun
  • The Lonely from the novel by Paul Gallico (never made)
  • The Female of the Species (which became Deadlier Than the Male)
  • The Unknown Battle (which became The Heroes of Telemark).

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.{{cite news|newspaper=Thanet Times|date=29 March 1966|page=3|title=Rank Organisation plans nine new films}}

Rank Film Productions

The company was succeeded by Rank Film Productions Limited.

In July 1967 E.A.R "Kip" Herren, the managing director of Pinewood Studios, was made managing director of Rank Film Productions.{{cite news|title=From Rank to Pinewood|newspaper=Coventry Evening Telegraph|date=14 July 1967|page=16}}1976 'UK film studio's manager dies', The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 1 September, p. 21. , viewed 10 Jun 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110823769

In 1970 Rank made financed 8 first and 6 second features during the period involving a cost of £1,500,000.. The following year it invested approximately £1,700,000 in whole or in part in

thirteen first features, five second feature and six shorts.

The Rank Organisation financed four films by the end of the 1974 financial year -Carry on Dick, Carry on Girls, The Belstone Fox and Don't Just Lie There, Say Something - and partly financed Soft Beds and Hard Battles and Caravan to Vaccares.{{cite web|page=21|url=https://memoriesofrxmp.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Rank-Organisation-ARA-1974.pdf|title=The Rank Organisation Annual Report and Accounts 1974|website=Memories of Rank Xerox at Mitcheldean}}

Rank Film Distributors of America

See Rank Film Distributors of America

Select films

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=1959=

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References

{{reflist}}

Notes

  • {{cite book|title= British cinema of the 1950s : the decline of deference|last1=Harper|first1= Sue|last2=Porter|first2=Vincent |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003}}

Category:Film production companies of the United Kingdom