Figure 1.--The film industry worked on both sound and color during the 1920s. An early English color system was William Friese-Green's Biocolor--an additive system. Here is a scene from 'The Open Road' a film his son Claude shot in 1924-26.

World War I impeded the development of the film industries in Europe, although not in America. There was an explosive growth of European fim industries and England was no exception. Leslie Howard and friend Adrian Brunel. formed Minerva Films in London. A.A.Milne of Winnie the Poo fame wrote the screen play for some of their films, including 'The Bump'. Films thrioughout the 1920s were black and white and silent. The lack of sound gave the early film industry an international character. Films could easily be sold in other countries by meerly translating the narative frames. There was great interest in color film. William Friese-Grene had developed the Biocolour additive system, but again ran into legal problems. His son, Claude Friese-Green, made the first English color films of any quality in the 1920s. The best known is 'The Open Road' (1926). He went on to work as the cinematographer on many films in the inter-War era. The international character of 1920s film making hurt the developing British film making industry. British film makers in particular had a difficult time competing with Hollywood. As a result, British theaters were showing mostly foreign films by mid-decade. One estimate suggests only 5 percent of the films shown in British theaters were British made (1926). Parliament responded with the Cinematograph Films Act (1927). This required British theaters to show a certain number of films with British content. The Act did increase the number of British films. Many were of low quality--'quota quickies'. But many future movie makers learned their craft working on these films, including Michael Powell and Alfred Hitchcock. The 1930s brough the 'talkies' and a grradual improvement in British film making. Here the major factor was the 'talkies'. This made it much more difficult for French and German film makers to compete in Britain, but of course not for Hollywood. Alfred Hitchcock's 'Blackmail' (1929) is regarded as the first British sound feature, although it was a mix of silent and sound. British film makers made many important films during the 1930s. Some of the most important British productions were produced by London Films, a company founded by Hungarian emigre Alexander Korda. Their films included 'Things to Come' (1936), 'Rembrandt' (1936) and 'Knight Without Armour' (1937). They produced somrof the early technicolor films: 'The Drum' (1938), 'The Four Feathers' (1939) and 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1940). For the first time, the British studios began to compete seriously with Hollywood in the U.S. market. What you do not see in the 1930s was any hint of criticism of the NAZIs. British film makets like the Government were committed to appeasing Hitler and the NAZIs. We are not sure to what extent this was a marketing decesion to maintain access to the German market or a policy influenced by the Government.

Post-War Development

World War I impeded the development of the film industries in Europe, although not in America. There was an explosive growth of European fim industries and England was no exception.

Studios

Leslie Howard and friend Adrian Brunel. formed Minerva Films in London. A.A.Milne of Winnie the Poo fame wrote trhe screen play for some of their films, including 'The Bump'.

1920s Technology

Films throughout the 1920s were black and white and silent. The lack of sound gave the early film industry an international character. Films could easily be sold in other countries by meerly translating the narative frames. There was great interest in color film. William Friese-Grene had developed the Biocolour additive system, but again ran into legal problems. His son, Claude Friese-Green, made the first English color films of any quality in the 1920s. The best known is 'The Open Road' (1926). He went on to work as the cinematographer on many films in the inter-War era.

Competition

The international character of 1920s film making hurt the developing British film making. British film makers in particular had a difficult time competing with Hollywood. As a result, British theaters were showing mostly foreign films by mid-decade. One estimate suggests only 5 percent of the films shown in British theaters were British made (1926). Parliament responded with the Cinematograph Films Act (1927). This required British theaters to show a certain number of films with British content. The Act did increase the number of British films. Many were of low quality--'quota quickies'. But many future movie makers learned their craft working on these films, including Michael Powell and Alfred Hitchcock.

1930s Technology

The 1930s brough the 'talkies' and a gradual improvement in British film making. Here the major factor was the 'talkies'. This made it much more difficult for French and German film makers to compete in Britain, but of course not for Hollywood. Alfred Hitchcock's 'Blackmail' (1929) is regarded as the first British sound feature, although it was a mix of silent and sound. British film makers made many important films during the 1930s. Some of the most important British productions were produced by London Films, a company founded by Hungarian emigre Alexander Korda. Their films included 'Things to Come' (1936), 'Rembrandt' (1936) and 'Knight Without Armour' (1937). They produced somrof the early technicolor films: 'The Drum' (1938), 'The Four Feathers' (1939) and 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1940). For the first time, the British studios began to compete seriously with Hollywood in the U.S. market.

Pacifism and Appeasement

What you do not see in the 1930s was any hint of criticism of the NAZIs. British film makets like the Government were committed to appeasing Hitler and the NAZIs. We are not sure to what extent this was a marketing decesion to maintain access to the German market or a policy influenced by the Government. The Government could not order film makers what to do, but they could influence studios in various ways. We have not yet found any information on this subject. We note a host of anti-War films, like Things to Come(1937), but none alerting Brits to the NAZI danger or the need for rearmament. We note the Hithcock thriller "Sabotage" (1936), but the villans here seem more like Communists than NAZIs.

Children at the Movies

The movies continued to be a major treat for British children. As in America, it was generally a Saturday afteroon mantine the kids attended. In the reltively sane atmpshere of the 1920s anhd 30s, kids walked to the local movie theater with their siblings and friends. British film makers wad trouble competing with Hollywood. This was true for the adults. It was especially true for the kids. The boys loved Western cowboy films as well as the ganster films. A British reader evacuated to America with his brother during the War tells us that he was disappointed when they didn't find any cowboys and Indians. I'm not sure that the girls were as excited about such standard American fare, perhaps they liked the musicals and dance films. Maybe our British readers have siome insights to add here. We still see the kids dressing up to go to the cinema, but we no longer see Eton collaes after the early-20s.

Created: 2:36 AM 2/21/2007
Last updated: 6:28 PM 2/28/2011