British Cinema History
While looking at the film history of almost any country, one will find that the American film industry has a great influence on films all over the world. The history of the British cinema is no different. “ After some early success in the area of technology, the British cinema was confronted with a number problems: inadequate confidence in the industry, weak incentives for investments, and American hegemony after the war”(Landy, 1991).
“British entrepreneurs had not come to any standardized methods in the creation of equipment, nor was there any strict division of labor in the areas of production, distribution, and exhibition” (Landy, 1991). By the time it dawned on the British that they would need more capital and more rationalized modes of production, the Americans had swept the field. World war I helped the Americans in a massive way. While Britain and other European powers, had to divert financial and technological resources toward the war, Hollywood producers took advantage. The shortage of films and film equipment allowed the U.S. to move into the European market with their own products (Landy, 1991).
The Americans were able to make more films less expensively, and could distribute them at lower costs in foreign countries, by having recovered costs in their own large market. At the same time the vertical organization of the Americans was taking place. “This means that the Americans using some strategies such as block booking and blind booking, these methods allowed the Americans to consolidate their monopoly” (Landy, 1991).
The British eventually learned that the film industry was an international market and the United States had the power. The fact that the Americans and the British had the same language, did not help the British at all. The British cinema lost it's confidence, it was unable to sell in America, and could not compete with the American industry (Landy, 1991)
Don't Call It a Come Back
Then, the British film industry made a little come back . The invention of Sound would mean changes for the British film industry. Massive changes were made in equipment, personnel, and financing. With this change over, the cheap quota companies could not afford the expenses. “The early 1930's saw film turn into big business.” (Landy, 1991). World War II would also improve the quality of British films. There were a number of factors that made this possible: “American British cooperation, the demand for war time audiences for films, and the existence of an ideology of consensus and cooperation in the face of treats to the nation and to personal survival.” Robert Murphy cites the popularity of In Which We Serve (1942), which grossed 1.8 million in America and British films ranging from realist war dramas rivaled the top Hollywood pictures in popularity with British audiences” (Landy, 1991).
Even though the British cinema made some advances during World War II, Margaret Dickenson identifies three issues that have slowed the British cinema. "The dominant influence of America, the monopoly exercised by the major British interests, and the lack of a stable domestic production industry" (Landy, 1991). Even though the Second World War was good to the British, the 40's to the 60's saw some changes, the cinema was changed from “ a influential mass media, to a minority of entertainment and a side line of the leisure industry” (Landy, 1991).