Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1946)

IlIilllllilfllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltlllllllllllfllllllllllllllllllllflllBIIlllIflllllillflllilllflllllllilltlllllllllfllllllffllllllllllllillltflllllfllflllllllllllillllllllllil RANK IN AMERICA »*™"» IN THE old Theater Guild building at 245 West 52nd Street, where was born the great theatrical venture, the American J. Arthur Rank Organization, Inc., maintains its headquarters as the central point of coordination and policy for the rapidly-growing Rank interests in the Western Hemisphere. Mr. Rank is chairman of the board of the American company and personally is in constant touch. Robert S. Benjamin is president of the company. He is legal-trained, in his middle thirties, one-time major in the Army where he was one of the operating chiefs of the Army Pictorial Service. He is a native New Yorker, educated at the College of the City of New York and at Fordham Law School. In addition to his operations as head of all the Rank activities in the United States — distribution, production, talent, stories and anything in which his British principals have an interest — Mr. Benjamin also represents Mr. Rank as a member of the board of Universal, is a member of the law firm of Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin and Krim, and is vicepresident and general counsel for Pathe Industries (the Robert R. Young interests). With Mr. Benjamin is J. B. L. (Jock) Lawrence, vice-president and in charge of the Rank public relations who spends half his time in England at the source of activity. Mr. Lawrence, one-time Samuel Goldwyn publicist and assistant and later public relations head for the Association of Motion Picture Producers in Hollywood, is a Yale graduate, ex-colonel in the Army where he was public relations chief for both Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten during the Commando days, and General Eisenhower during the invasion. Jerry Dale, one-time chief publicist for Sir Alexander Korda in Hollywood, is Eastern publicity and advertising director, and A. Reginald Allen, former business manager for the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and more recently a commander in the U. S. Navy, is Hollywood representative. The Rank Organization, among other things, coordinates with Universal, EagleLion, Prestige Pictures, United Artists (companies which all have Rank films now being distributed in the U. S.) and keeps contact as well with other American distributors, like Twentieth Century-Fox which has distributed Rank films, Bell and Howell and other companies. On the board, in addition to Mr. Rank, Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Lawrence are: John Woolf, joint managing director of General Films Distributors ; William Heineman, general sales manager for the J. Arthur Rank Division of Universal ; Harold Auten and Ralph E. Reynolds, secretary. {.Continued from preceding page) director as well as president; Mr. Davis, Mr. Brockington, Mr. Beeston and Mr. Peters, who is also executive assistant to the president Until his recent death, T. J. Bragg, one of the best known of Canadian film men, was vice-president. In certain areas of Canada, Odeon operates with regional or local partners. These include Harry A. Friedman, K.C., in Alberta, A. I. Garson in the Maritimes, and Henry Morton in Manitoba, as well as others in individual cities. Eagle-Lion of Canada Formed to handle across Canada films of the J. Arthur Rank Organization and other British producers, Eagle-Lion has its head office in Toronto and branches in all exchange centers. In 1946-47, Eagle-Lion will release 35 British-made and 15 French films, the latter from Gaumont-France. General manager is A. J. Laurie. Hanson 16mm Headed by Oscar R. Hanson, president and general manager, the territory covered by this non-theatrical distributor extends from the eastern and western Arctic to the U. S. boundary. It handles the extensive educational library of Gaumont-British Instructional as well as other educational and religious films. In addition, the organization specializes in distribution of features in 16mm form, including the product of U. S. as well as British producers. Queensway Studios Although installation of equipment is not yet completed, Queensway, Canadian production unit of the Rank Organization, began operations nearly a year ago. The first studio unit is located on a 15-acre site in suburban Toronto. It is now making shorts, both theatrical and non-theatrical, commercial, sales training and educational motion pictures. In cooperation with British studios, Queensway is producing special children's films and will expand these activities. According to John Davis, the Rank Organization has no present plans for feature production in Canada but Queensway, as a matter of policy, furnishes studio facilities, equipment and other assistance to independents. Frank E. O'Byrne is general manager. Gaumont-Kalee Linked with the similar organization in London, Canada's Gaumont-Kalee, which has branches in principal exchange cities, supplies and services theatre equipment. The organization acts as sales representative in Canada for British manufacturers, including those associated with the J. Arthur Rank Organization, as well as Canadian and American firms in the theatre supply field. General manager is Edward L. Harris, outstanding Canadian authority on theatre engineering. Odeon Junior Movie Clubs While strictly non-commercial and operated ' purely on a public service basis, the Odeon Junior Movie Clubs constitute one of the important and unusual features of Canadian operation. A total of 34 such clubs are now active with Saturday morning showings in suburban houses of the Odeon circuit. J. Arthur Rank presided personally at the opening of the first such club in Toronto. The weekly programs include films made for children only. (Continued from page 22) ed its first big opus, known in England as "London Town" and in America as "My Heart Goes Crazy"; John Corfield Productions, which recently completed "Bedelia" ; Gabriel Pascal Productions, which produced "Caesar and Cleopatra"; Sidney Box Productions, Box's independent company, not a Rank Group member separate and apart from his duties as production chief of Gainsborough Pictures, which is completing prior commitments for films made before he was elevated to the Gainsborough post. Mr. Rank also holds a half interest with RKO Radio Pictures in Alliance Films, Ltd. He is chairman of that board, with Robert Wolf, RKO's British head, as managing director. Alliance has just completed "So Well Remembered," produced by RKO's Adrian Scott, with talent from both sides of the water, in England. Studio space in England is at a premium. Building restrictions hold tight because of the national need for the reconstruction of hundreds of thousands of homes and business structures destroyed by the German's bombing during the war. Mr. Rank's studios therefore are one of the most valuable production assets of the group. There are five studios of the J. Arthur Rank Organizations feature production operations. They are divided as follows : 1. D AND P STUDIOS, LTD. : This is a company which operates the two biggest and most modern studios in England: Denham Studios and Pinewood Studios. At Denham, with its seven stages, Two Cities Films does most of its productions, and outside producers, such as Alliance with its "So Well Remembered," and others operate. Pinewood Studios, with five stages, is the home of the Independent Producers, Ltd., group primarily. 2. GAINSBOROUGH STUDIOS: For the production of the Gainsborough Pictures, there are also two studios. The biggest is the Shepherd's Bush Studios, which rise to six floors as the only "skyscraper" studio building in the world. It has five stages and is a very modern studio structure. Gainsborough also has Islington Studios with its two fine stages. 3. HIGHBURY STUDIOS: This is primarily used for process operations and for research work, but is employed on regular production, with its two stages, when needed. For production service also are the two Rank laboratories : Denham Laboratories and" Shepherd's Bush (Gainsborough) Laboratories, both of which are modern and handle all of the Rank production work. In production, too, may be listed the newsreel companies. Gaumont British News is one of the two newsreel companies and is operated by Castleton Knight, its general manager and producer. The second newsreel is Universal Newsreel, which is operated in Britain by a company known as British Pictorial Productions, Ltd., of which Mr. Rank is also chairman and of which Clifford W. Jeapes is the operating head. Ian Cremieu-Javal, now in the United States for conferences with heads of new Universal sub-standard film company, (.Continued on page 72) iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiifiiiiiKifiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiifiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiiiiii 68 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 30. 1946