OTHER STUDIOSYSTEMS

GREAT BRITAIN'S “GOLDEN AGE”

EARLY BRITISH CINEMA

Early silent era similar to that of the US Same kinds of technical & narrative

experimentation Film very popular with the public

With rise of US studios, British film industry had difficulty competing; couldn't afford high production values

EARLY SOUND CINEMA

US films still dominated British screens

Common language gave US films advantage

Hollywood had much larger market British actors & directors defected to

Hollywood Had theater backgrounds, sought after

in Hollywood HITCHCOCK began in British silent films,

came to US late 1930s

Blackmail (Alfred Hitchcock, 1929)

EARLY SOUND CINEMA

Quota Act of 1927 & “quota quickies” Designed to limit importation of US

films, stimulate British film Required companies to distribute &

finance British films Produced cheap films, never shown or

shown during “off hours” to fill quota requirements

EARLY SOUND CINEMA

British cinema of early & mid-1930s dismal

Alexander Korda Native of Hungary, limited success in Europe

& Hollywood before coming to Great Britain In 1933 directed low-budget The Private Life

of Henry VIII Starred Charles Laughton Huge success in US

The Private Life of Henry

VIII (Alexander Korda, 1933)

EARLY SOUND CINEMA

Led to films based on literary works or historical events Attempts cash in on market in US Effects & spectacle of British films

inferior to those of US, Americans disliked British accents & slow pace

EARLY SOUND CINEMA

QUOTA ACT OF 1938 Required studios to increase money

spent on native productions Eliminated “quota quickie”, increased

quality of average British film Restored pride among British

filmmakers

DOCUMENTARY FILMS

Most significant contribution until 1950-60s Many filmmakers left narrative film for

documentary in 1930s Mostly funded by government

Early films (late 1920s, early 1930s) Designed to teach English about British Empire Celebrated common man & ordinary labor Socially committed, didn't enforce capitalism JOHN GRIERSON

Drifters (1929) Industrial Britain (1932)

John Grierson (1898-1972)

DOCUMENTARY FILMS & WW II Government documentary film unit

Staffed with filmmakers in employ of government

Quiet, dignified, emphasized solidarity & perseverance

HUMPHREY JENNINGS Most important of these filmmakers Listen to Britain (1941)

Music & images of common people give sense of nobility & dignity

Low‑key, poetic instead of argumentative

Fires Were Started (I Was a Fireman; Humphrey Jennings,

1942)

THE RETURN OF BRITISH FILMMAKING Quota Act of 1938

Filmmakers returned, bringing new ideas & “Hollywood professionalism”

Technicians returned, bringing ideas from documentary

Respect for “realism” & skills at realistic filmmaking

Interest in social issues: domestic problems & Fascism

These factors & WW II led to films that dealt with real problems in a fairly realistic way

Many quite good, despite restrictions