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Associated British Picture Corporation

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(Redirected fromWardour Films)
"British National Pictures" redirects here. For a similarly named company, seeBritish National Films Company.

Associated British Picture Corporation
IndustryFilm,television
Founded1927
Defunct1970
FateFolded intoEMI-Elstree
SuccessorEMI-Elstree
Headquarters
England
Subsidiaries

Associated British Picture Corporation(ABPC), originallyBritish International Pictures(BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed intoEMI.ABPC also owned approximately 500 cinemas in Britain by 1943,[1]and in the 1950s and 60s owned a station on theITVtelevision network. The studio was partly owned byWarner Bros.from about 1940 until 1969; the American company also owned a stake in ABPC's distribution arm,Warner-Pathé,from 1958. It formed one half of avertically integratedfilm industry duopoly in Britain with theRank Organisation.

History

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From 1927 to 1945

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The company was founded during 1927 by Scottish solicitorJohn Maxwellafter he had purchasedBritish National Pictures Studiosand its Elstree Studios complex and merged it with hisABC Cinemascircuit, renaming the company British International Pictures. The Wardour Film Company, with Maxwell as chairman, was the distributor of BIP films.[2]He appointedJoseph Grossman,formerly manager of the Stoll Studios, his Studio Manager.

During its early years the company's most prominent work was that directed byAlfred Hitchcock,including the filmBlackmail(1929), usually regarded as the first British all-talkie.Hitchcock worked on a total of twelve pictures for the company before leaving in 1933 to work for the rivalBritish Gaumont,due to his dissatisfaction with the projects he was assigned at British International.

Under Maxwell's paternalistic management the company prospered and during 1933 it acquired British Pathé, which as Associated British-Pathé now functioned as the distribution division.[3]The company was renamed Associated British Picture Corporation in 1933 and was now in a position to vertically integrate production, distribution and exhibition of films.[4]

After Maxwell's death in October 1940,[5]his widow Catherine sold a large number of shares toWarner Bros.,who, although the Maxwell family remained the largest shareholders, were able to exercise a measure of control. The studio at Elstree was taken over by the government for the duration of the war. Film production was restricted to B-Pictures made at thecompany's smaller studioinWelwyn Garden City,[5]which closed in 1950.[6]

After the Second World War

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Much of the output of the studio was routine, which restricted its success outside the UK, but afterWorld War II,the company contracted with Warner (by now the largest shareholder, owning 40% of the studio)[7]for the distribution of its films in the United States.

Robert Clarkwas head of production for the company between 1949 and 1958, and insisted on tight budgeting and the use of pre-existing properties such as books or plays as these already had a demonstrated "public value". Of the 21 films made by ABPC during the 1950s, only two were derived from original screenplays.[8]German-bornFrederick Gotfurtwas Clark's scenario editor in this period, but his command of English was imperfect and the contracted actorRichard Todddoubted Gotfurt's ability to assess the quality of the dialogue in a script.[9]"It was a dreadful place", saidRichard Attenboroughwhen remembering ABPC's Elstree facility. "It created nothing in terms of a feeling of commitment."[10]During this period though, the company produced its best remembered titles such asThe Dam Busters(Michael Anderson,1954), andIce Cold in Alex(1958), whose directorJ. Lee Thompsonwas ABPC's most productive during the 1950s.[11][12]

In 1958, Associated Talking Pictures, the parent company ofEaling Films,was acquired.

Expansion into television

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Main article:ABC Weekend TV

In 1955, theIndependent Television Authority(ITA) awarded one of the four initial contracts for commercial television in the UK to ABPC (after original awardeeKemsley-Winnick Televisioncollapsed). The contract was to provide programming on the newITV networkin theMidlandsandnorthern Englandon Saturdays and Sundays. The board of ABPC had been unconvinced by the merits of entering the television market, but were eventually convinced by the ITA who believed they were the only acceptable option to take the contract. Former head ofBritish PathéHoward Thomaswas appointed as the station's managing director.

Under the nameABC Television,the company came on the air in stages between February and November 1956. Among many television series ABC produced wereOpportunity Knocks,The Avengers,Redcap,and the long-runningArmchair Theatredrama anthology series.

Following a reallocation of the ITV franchises, ABC Television ceased to exist in 1968; however, unwilling to eject ABPC from the system, the ITA awarded the contract for weekdays in London to a new company that would be joint-owned by ABPC andBritish Electric Traction(parent company of outgoing franchiseeRediffusion), with ABPC holding a 51% controlling stake. Both companies were initially reluctant to this "shotgun merger", but eventually the new station, christenedThames Television,took to the air in July 1968 (two days after ABC's last broadcast). The 51% controlling stake passed toEMIupon its acquisition of ABPC the following year.

From 1958 onwards

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Policies changed after Clark left in January 1958. New projects from the company were limited to those using contracted television comedy performers, and investment in independent productions. The use of Elstree for television production increased.[13]Later successful features from ABPC itself included several films built around the pop singerCliff Richard,such asThe Young Ones(1961) andSummer Holiday(1963).[11]The same year, ABPC acquired Associated Talking Pictures (parent of the originalEaling Studios) fromThe Rank Organisation(who had bought the studio in 1944).

In 1962, the company acquired 50% of the shares ofAnglo-Amalgamated,and made an arrangement with the Grade Organisation to support the production of films by independent producers.[14]During the 1960s, however, the fortunes of the company declined, and in 1967Seven Arts,the new owners of Warner, decided to dispose of its holdings in ABPC which was purchased in 1968 byEMI,who acquired the remaining stock the following year.[15](For the subsequent history, seeEMI Films.) The entire ABPC library is now owned byStudioCanal.[16]

Subsidiaries of Associated British Picture Corporation

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Wholly owned

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  • Associated British Productions Ltd. –Associated British Studios
  • Associated British Cinemas Ltd. –ABC Cinemas
  • Associated British-PathéLtd. – 1933
  • Associated Talking Pictures - 1958 -Ealing Studios
  • Associated British Film Distributors Ltd. – usually only known by its initials ABFD
  • British and Overseas Film Sales Ltd.
  • Pathé Laboratories Ltd.
  • Associated British Cinemas (Television) Ltd. – 1955 –ABC Weekend TV
  • A.B.C. Television Ltd. –c. 1957–ABC Weekend TV
  • A.B.C. Television Films Ltd. – 1966[17]– Associated British Corporation

Jointly owned

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  • Warner-Pathé Distributors Ltd. (50%) – from 1958[18]
  • Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (50%) – from 1962
  • Thames TelevisionLtd. (51%) – from 1968

Select filmography

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References

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  1. ^"Foreign Trade: Cinemonopoly".Time.New York. 20 December 1943. Archived fromthe originalon 23 October 2012.
  2. ^McFarlane, Brian (2003).The Encyclopedia of British Film.London: Methuen/BFI. p. 443.
  3. ^"History of British Pathé: A Golden Age: 1933 to 1958".British Pathé.Retrieved18 March2019.
  4. ^Burton, Alan; Chibnall, Steve (2013).Historical Dictionary of British Cinema.Lanham, MD and Plymouth, England: Scarecrow Press. p. 43.ISBN9780810880269.
  5. ^abMurphy, Robert (2000).British Cinema and the Second World War.London & New York: Continuum. p. 12.ISBN9780826478979.
  6. ^Warren, Patricia (2001).British Film Studios: An Illustrated History.B. T. Batsford. p. 182.
  7. ^Davis, Ronald L.Just Making Movies: Company Directors on the Studio SystemVincent Sherman Interview2005 University of Kentucky Press, p.96
  8. ^Porter, Vincent (2000)."Outsiders in England The films of the Associated British Picture Corporation, 1949–58".In Ashby, Justine; Higson, Andrew (eds.).British Cinema, Past and Present.Abingdon and New York: Routledge. p. 153.ISBN9781135125158.
  9. ^Porter, p.156
  10. ^Porter, p.152
  11. ^abAlexander, Lou (2003–2014)."Associated British Picture Corporation (1933–70)".BFI screenonline.Retrieved17 July2015.
  12. ^Porter, p.161
  13. ^Porter, p.163
  14. ^"Company Meeting: Associated British Picture Corporation".The Spectator.16 August 1962. p. 25.Retrieved17 July2015.
  15. ^Warren, Patricia (2001).British Film Studios: An Illustrated History.London: B. T. Batsford. p. 75.
  16. ^Mitchell, Wendy (17 December 2012)."Network Distributing acquires rights to 450 films from StudioCanal library".Screen Daily.Retrieved24 April2015.
  17. ^Farmer, Richard (2019).Transformation and Tradition in 1960s British Cinema.Edinburgh University Press. p. 44.ISBN9781474423120.Retrieved27 May2022.
  18. ^Luke McKernan"Pathé",BFI screenonline; Brian McFarlaneEncyclopedia of British Film,London: Methen/BFI, 2003, p.511-12
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