Movie Monopoly-The Story of Britain's J.A.Rank and the Steps Toward a World Cartel
Fulleton, Henry
Movie Monopoly The Story of Britain's J.A.Rank and the Steps Toward a World Cartel By Henry Fulleton IS 1943, an average of 23,000,000 people attended the English movies every week. The total...
...By the end of 1941, however, when the financial manipulations were completed, Rank had emerged as the top figure in British pictures...
...Paul Lindenburg, director of vast financial concerns In Britain, Canada, Austria, Rumania and the Netherlands...
...But that is an intricate financial story too involved to be dealt with in a short space...
...Indeed, with th* exception of the Ealing studios (largely owned by Stephen Courtaald of the rayon family), Lady Yule's National Studious sf Eletre*, and Warner Brothers' studio* at Tiddingten...
...But the movie* are not only an entertainment but aa industry...
...Seriously undercapitalised, th* British companies found it quite impossible to compete with the star American attractions...
...This interesting contradiction in his character was very effectively displayed some time ago when a reporter, sent to interview him on the successful conclusion of a particularly smart financial deal, found him taking his usual Sunday school class at the Methodist Church, Reigate, where he lives...
...The Association of Cine Technicians described the Del Giudice proposal as an it-tempt to monopolize film production on the one hand and creative talent on the other without offei inn: any safeguards as regards trade 41 nion conditions and rights "and greatly reducing both the opportunities and renumeration of technicians...
...Part of the profits from exhibition should be applied to a fund for the renewal, improvement and expansion of cinema properties and the balance to the reduction of entrance charges...
...b) that he is exclusively concerned with the personal power and material rewards derivable from a watertight monopoly over the industry...
...He inherited another thing—that peculiar quality of Irrational austerity to which so many rich men attempt to "convert" a proletariat already forced to practice it by necessity...
...This trait was moat strongly marked in his father who, on one occasion, after examining the plans for a new and handsome five-story block of offices to be erected in Hull, dismissed s suggestion that lifts should be Installed with the comment: "Workers can walk...
...Considerations of space make it impossible for us to deal separately with the variety of small and relatively uninteresting acquisitions which followed the fusion between Universal and General Film Distributors early in 1936...
...The result was a fusion of the renting interests of the American and British companies and the emergence of a new group which was shortly to mske itself felt in all three branches of the industry...
...The British film industry hsd suffered from lack of funds...
...Up to Jsnusry, 1943, nesrly 90 per cent of the cinemss in the country depended for equipment snd servicing fscilities on two compsnies—G.B...
...By the end of the Great War, American films hsd firmly established themselves in the popular taste, while British productions hsd Isnguished, under the exigencies of wsr-msking, to s pale shadow of their former buoyancy...
...And now, what of the future...
...And beyond being an industry, it in an important communication* medium for shaping people's attitudes ami spjalsas...
...b) Take the highly profitable business of distribution out of the hands of the quasi-parasitical "middleman" and put it in the care of a reconstructed Film Council...
...The majority of these properties are of the "super cinema" type, and.it is estimated thst these, and the grest number •f independent cinemas with which Rank has renter-contracts, absorb about 7,000,000 of the country's cinema-going population...
...Rank inherited three things from his millionaire, mill -owner father: s fervent devotion to the Methodist cause, |ene of the largest fortunes in England, and a Machiavellian prowess in matters of modern financial practice...
...By what .means ran the Government, acting on behalf of the people, break the dangerous stranglehold which monopoly-capitalism exerts on the industry without damaging-it in the process...
...The following article by Henry Fullerton in adspted from an artirl* ia the London TriOMO...
...Lord Portal of Laverstoke...
...Movie Monopoly The Story of Britain's J.A.Rank and the Steps Toward a World Cartel By Henry Fulleton IS 1943, an average of 23,000,000 people attended the English movies every week...
...But his stranglehold mi the industry does not end there...
...Some months ago, Mr...
...This will hsv* s* important bearing on the kind of films thst will be produced in the fature...
...And . . . Mr...
...we nave hoea unable to trace a production unit of any Importance aver which Bank dees net exercise either direct personal control through his Bngliah companies Of indirect influence through his American asae-ciates...
...Tycoon ThE movies have always had the glamor and tinsel ' of a make-believe world...
...Suffice it to ssy that as early as the autumn of that year the horizontal structure of the Rank interests loomed lsrge out of the amorphous organism of the industry...
...In examining the directorate of General Cinema Finance, we find ourselves face to face with some of the most outstanding personalities in the world of English finance-capital...
...The Big Boys in the City suddenly realised (a) that British films, properly made, could pay handsome dividends, and (b) that many first-class producers were tapping their heels ia this country...
...Crusader or Monopolist ? IT is indicative, for example, that in his biggest busi* ness deals he has been content to plsy a waiting game, sometimes for yesrs, moving his plsyers here and there on the chessboard of high finance until he has created a situation where he csn finally strike with a minimum of financial outlay to himself and a maximum of financial sacrifice to his competitors...
...Some form of legislation was obviously required, but with the exhibitors positively hostile to the British studios, and the public largely apathetic, it was not until 1927 that Psrlisment intervened...
...He hai thus s) reedy achieved a virtual monopoly over the production, distribution and exhibition of Brittik Alms...
...Am "empire" It ¦.»* WHAT kind of a man is-this Joseph Arthur Rank— " this Man with s Plan who has marched on the film industry with a Bible in one hand and a financial kosh In the other...
...As man, millionaire and Methodist, Rank has remained, arid has the quality of continuing to remain, an enigma...
...Previous investments hsd been mainly of a speculative nature...
...A Mo...
...Hitler gave us dozens of highly-skilled but non-Aryan producers snd technicians...
...Arthur Rank has himself given thousands of cine projectors to Methodist churches and halls up and down the country, but does not permit himself the luxury of owning a machine for his own private use...
...The country's 5,000 cinemas should come under the control of a public corporation responsible to Parliament through a Council representative of producer, distributor and trade union interests...
...The problem is too big and the industry too volatile to admit of niggling, unco-ordinated action on the model set by Dalton last July...
...Leslie William Farrow, holder of four chairmanships, three deputy-chairmanships, and 17 directorships in paper and other interests...
...Joseph Arthur Rank...
...The big story of those years lies in the cjreustances attending Rank's greatest single triumph—the acquisition of the vast Gaumont-British "empire...
...With • Hm» TPHE year 1933 has an ominous ring to most of us...
...He can then distribute the finished products through his own renting organisation and exhibit them in his own cinemss...
...The first Cinematograph Films Art reserved a small snd snnusliy increasing share of the play time in all cinemas for British films (the exhibitor's quota) and put an obligation on all renters ef important Alms to srquire s proportion of British Sims (the renter's quots...
...To produce production overheads and ensure an sdequacy of funds for the employment of skilled technicians, actors and writers, and for other costs incurred in production, the Government must: (a) Requisition all studio space which would be rented on a non-profit basis to British production units...
...What csn be ssid of his business methods...
...Using the simple mercantile yardstick of investment, production and consumption, the film trade is thus well qualified to be described as a "major industry...
...At this point, a Man with a Plan stepped in...
...Divert all net profits therefrom to a central fund for the subsidising of "quality" production...
...As a potential monopolist he is at once an open book and a manual of instruction to anyone who cares to study his operations from 1935 to date...
...to buy up film rights, screen plays and scenarios...
...Half-hearted measures aimed, for exsmple, at restoring competitive independence in the sphere of production will do more harm than good if they are unaccompanied by legislation, on the lines mentioned above, in the other two spheres...
...These three branches must be disintegrated financially and made completely, independent...
...Of his intentions towards the industry over which ha now wields such a large measure of control, it has been suggested (a) that he is primarily interested in the film's possibilities as a medium for the dissemination of religious doctrines...
...What Is his plan and what effect is it likely to hsve on the entertsinment-vslue, propaganda content snd cultarsl function of the film...
...that his 61 chairmanships and directorships encompass Methodist Newspapers, Ltd., Methodist Publications, Ltd., Methodist Times Co., and Religious Films, Ltd., and that he has already stopped the production of a number of films which, in his opinion, lacked a sufficient moral basis...
...United Artists—distributing sgent for a number of Independent "quality" producers—decided to break away from the "quickies" racket and to engage a British producer who could supply them with quota films of sufficiently high standard for exhibition in the world market Korda gave us "The Private Life of Henry VIII...
...On the other aid* of th* water England* movie industry baa be** gathered lute the hand* ef on* man, Joseph Arthur Bank...
...It should be noted, however, that Rank distributes the films of three of these companies—Universal, United Artists and 20th-century Fox...
...to determine to what extent the industry is endangered by Rank's monopolistic activities, and to propound what we believe to be certain fundamental prerequisites to the healthy development Of what, rightly directed, can become one of the nation's most valuable cultural, educational and economical assets...
...A man of his enormous wealth, inspired—as has been suggested—by the impatient ardor of a religious crusader, would surely have been acting truer to type in going out for quick victories regardless of the immediate cost...
...Add to its commercial value the fact that it is also on* of the nation's greatest cultural assets, snd it is not difficult to see why economists, publicists snd politicians of all parties and all shades of thought express such a lively concern for its present development and its future influence on the nation's social structure...
...The late Lord Luke, chairman of Bovril, and with ether interests ranging from gold mines and banks to publishing companies...
...On the production aide, Rank new controls approximately three quarters of the studio space not taken ever by the Government...
...The CfcalCt iefor...
...Th* managing director of United Artists joined th* Odeon board in 1942 and Fox, as we bay* already seen, is a large shareholder i* Metropolitan A Bradford Trust) On the exhibition side, Rank'* only real competitor is Associated British Picture...
...These two concerns hsve now merged, under Kink's control, into a single orgsnixstion known as G.B.-Kalee...
...chairman of the great Wiggins, Teape paper combine, and related to the famous Glyn banking family...
...One final point...
...The time was ripe for any man or group of men endowed with the necessary organisational ability and financial resources...
...Were Rank to gain control of the A.B.P.'a 500-odd halls, it is certain that lie would become the supreme arbiter of the cinema-going public's entertainment and instruction...
...Through Gaumont-British he controls approximately 360 cinemas...
...But with all this, Rank's greed for power remains unabated...
...On the renting side, th* American companies stlH dominate the field—handling, between them, 70 to 71 per cent, of all films shown in this country...
...On the other hsnd it csn be pointed out thst his very first activities in the industry, 16 years ago, were in connection with the production and distribution of a religious film...
...Monopoly and th* Remedy IT remains now to examine the structure of the British * film industry as it exists to-day...
...The first step was .the creation of a company General Cinema Finance, which had American representation...
...The choice is no longer between private capitalist enterprise and monopoly-capitalist trustification: it is between monopoly ownership snd public ownership...
...Last week, England and America creased hands aeresa the ocean when Rank made a deal with Bpyroe Skearas, of 20th Century Fox, to divide th* world movie market...
...Four studies, several ef them interlocked— MGM-Paramount-Twentieth Century and Warner*—sre th* major producers...
...First snd foremost, legislation must be enacted on the pattern of the U. S. anti-trust laws which forbid any ownership link between the three branches of production, distribution and exhibition...
...Thee* two aspects ef th* movie*, a* a propaganda medium and as an industry have net received aa muck attention a* has th* cultural aspect Y*t over the past year* th* American movie industry has moved toward* monopoly with • small group of men dtctatiag th* entire production of Hollywood...
...through Odeon approximately 300, and recent traceable arqui-aitions bring the grand total up to 700...
...Us CO much for the rise and fulfillment of the Bank **' "empire...
...We think an American sadieuee will be interested ia this new movie tycoon, Arthur Joseph Rank, th* opinion* ho holds, his influence in British life...
...As is so often true of such esses, the truth lies somewhere between these two propositions—though exactly where it would be difficult, if not impossible, to determine at this stage...
...This latest ballon d'ettai brought matters lo a head in the industry...
...Rank also controls two news-reel companies, one of which (Gaumont-British) circulates extensively at home and abroad, and is being used as a mouthpiece for the expression of views and comment of a singularly narrow nationalistic nature...
...What sre th* possibilities of this hsppening...
...Equipments, Ltd., and Kslee, Ltd...
...To the British film trade it was a year of promise...
...In view of the war-time shortage of studio spar* Rank can pick and choose the producers to whom hi lets British "stages," and impose on these producers whatever conditions he pleases...
...The total capitalisation of the nation's 6,000 cinemas, studios and distributing companies is in the neighborhood of $600,000,000...
...of the factors behind his extrsordlnsry success in the reslm of film finance...
...F. Del Guidie* of Two City Films, Ltd., put forwsrd a proposal that his company and the other concerns controlled by Rani should come to an agreement with the major American renters to supply tbem with all their British quota requirements, and to from "Scenario Institute, Ltd...
...Yet Joseph Rsnk is said to have given, in bis lifetime, over a million pounds to the cause of Methodism...
Vol. 27 • June 1944 • No. 25
