Kinematograph year book (1944)

British Production. 265 BRITISH PRODUCTION Studio Work in 1943 By A. L. Carter. LTHOUGH the number of British, films made last year is only slightly in excess of 1942, our production industry can look back upon a year * * of considerable achievement. Not only has product attained a new high standard of quality, but tentative progress was made towards a measure of stabilisation and co-operation between studios which, when implemented, should prove markedly beneficial to the industry. There is abundant evidence, too, of foresight in the planning of future policy. The British Film Producers' Association, the Trade Unions and individual concerns are giving careful consideration to the requirements of the Industry in the post-war world, and to the preparation of plans to acquire an adequate place for British films in peace-time markets. In these developments the Government has evinced the greatest interest; indeed, all commercial precedents were shattered by the flat refusal of the Board of Trade to subscribe to anything like monopoly in production and exhibition. This action, coupled with its examination of post-war production requirements, has been regarded in some circles as tentative steps towards a measure of Government control, although it is obviously merely a part of the wider national plan for the encouragement of our export trade generally. The production of films of the high quality that has characterised the 1943 output is a tribute to the efficiency and enthusiasm of every member of our studio staffs. Their performance would have been creditable under normal conditions, but, carried out under the war's harsh exigencies, it is a remarkable achievement. Studio space has been limited, personnel restricted, film stock cut and material of every kind in short supply, and yet films have been produced which in production, technique, and box-office values have challenged the best from Hollywood. The number of British feature films registered for the year ended March 31, 1943, was 62, as compared with 53 in the previous period. Quota Statistics.— Forty-five of the 62 films registered counted as renters' quota in the following proportion : single, 17 ; double, 20 ; and treble, 8, as compared with 18, 16 and 10 respectively. Exhibitors' quota was 17, as against 9. The Board of Trade figures are interesting in their indication of how the multi-quota footage assisted renters to come within measurable distance of their quota requirements. Footage under the double-quota heading was 161,479, doubled to 322,958, and under the treble quota 71,919 trebled to 215,757. Renters' long-film quota just failed to reach the statutory figure of 20 per cent., the actual footage registered being 18.03. Short films exceeded the quota of 15 per cent., 25.1 1 being obtained. The extent to which the double-treble quota plan assisted renters to attain a long film quota so near to the statutory requirements may be gathered by working out a strict footage percentage. Under this scheme the percentage of British to foreign films works out only at 11.9 per cent. The following details are extracted from the exhibitors' returns to the Board of Trade for the year 1941-42 :— Total footage shown, 812,000,000, an increase on the previous year. British footage shown was 9,353,000,000, or 21.12 per cent, of the whole, as compared with 23 per cent, in 1941. 3ritish long films shown amounted, to