British Lion Films

By the end of the Second World War the company had released over 55 films, including In Which We Serve (1942), for which writer/producer Noël Coward received an Academy Award.

Korda's company London Films bought the controlling interest in British Lion in 1946 and then acquired Shepperton Studios, basing its productions there.

As a result, British Lion Films Ltd. was formed as a distribution company in January 1955, with the Boulting brothers, Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat as directors.

[8] He signed three production groups to make films for the company: Herbert Wilcox and Anna Neagle, Anthony Kimmins and Edward Black.

[11] Wilcox was the most commercially successful filmmaker at British Lion at this stage, his movies including The Courtneys of Curzon Street (1947), Spring in Park Lane (1948), Elizabeth of Ladymead (1948) and Maytime in Mayfair (1949).

Black had been enormously successful at Gainsborough Pictures but died after only making one film for British Lion, Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948), directed by Kimmings, which was a huge flop.

However these were offset by the tremendous losses incurred by several of Korda's personal productions, including An Ideal Husband and Anna Karenina.

[14] Wilcox continued to make commercially successful films for the company such as Odette (1950), Into the Blue (1950), The Lady with a Lamp (1951), and Derby Day (1952).

Their films were critically acclaimed but less successful at the box office: The Small Back Room (1949), Gone to Earth, The Elusive Pimpernel (both 1950), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951).

Launder and Gilliat joined the company and made The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950, a particular success), State Secret (1950), Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951), Folly to Be Wise (1953), The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953, a flop) and The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954, a big hit).

The Boultings made Josephine and Men (1955), Private's Progress (1956) (a big hit), Brothers in Law (1957) and Lucky Jim (1957).

Other British Lion films from this period included John and Julie, Stolen Assignment (both 1955), Charley Moon, A Hill in Korea (both 1956), My Teenage Daughter (1956; from Wilcox), The Birthday Present (1957), Orders to Kill, The Salvage Gang, Behind the Mask, and The Solitary Child (all 1958).

[21][22] In March 1958, five producers were invited to run it with the intention of restoring British Lion's fortunes, and then, eventually, selling it back to the public.

[23][24] James Woolf eventually retired, but the other producers formed the core of operations who turned around British Lion's performance.

[12] Launder and Gilliatt, who had made Fortune Is a Woman (1957) for Columbia, returned to British Lion to make Left Right and Centre (1959).

Although The Bridal Path (1959) was a disappointment, they had a series of successful comedies, including The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1961) and Only Two Can Play (1962) with Peter Sellers.

[26] Other films from this period included The Wind of Change (1961), Double Bunk (1961), Spare the Rod (1961), Offbeat (1961), and A Matter of Choice (1963).

[21][23] A variety of buyers were interested, including Sir Michael Balcon, Lew Grade, Sydney Box, Morecambe and Wise and Sam Spiegel.

In March 1964, a syndicate acquired a controlling interest in the company from the National Film Finance Corporation for $4,452,000 (£1.6 million).

[32][33][34] Several months later, the company started making movies again, such as Joey Boy (1965) from Launder/Gilliat, Rotten to the Core (1965) from the Boultings, and Modesty Blaise.

That month the company announced a half yearly jump of profits from £82,000 to £218,000, mostly due to the strong box office performances of Morgan and The Great St Trinians Train Robbery/[39][40] The Boulting's The Family Way (1966) was the only film made in Britain over a 12-month period financed entirely by British capital.

[44] The British industry suffered a crisis in the late 1960s due to a combination of factors, particularly the withdrawal of American film money from the UK, reduced funding for the NFFC and a decline in the cinema-going audience.

[51] By this stage, Shepperton was losing money and Barclay wanted to sell off part of the land for real estate development.

)[52][53] The unions protested this, threatening to black ban the Boulting Brothers who were then making the film Soft Beds, Hard Battles.

Bentley appointed Peter Snell managing director and he greenlit two films, The Wicker Man and Don't Look Now (1973).

[57] In November 1972, it was reported British Lion made a loss the previous year of £941,000 including a tax write off of £804,000 for unsuccessful films.

This would enable Lion to sell the building for cash, offsetting the profit against existing losses incurred by some of its subsidiaries.

Don't Look Now was sold to Paramount but The Wicker Man had a more difficult post production process, resulting it being re-edited; its commercial reception was poor but eventually it was considered a cult movie.

[63] However Deeley and Spikings wanted to put the company on a more stable financial setting and sought interest from EMI Films.