EMI Films

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EMI Films was a British film and production company and distributor. A subsidiary of the record company EMI, the name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief connection with MGM and Anglo-EMI, the division under Nat Cohen, and the later company as part of the Thorn EMI conglomerate (following the merger with Thorn) are discussed here.

History

Headed by Bryan Forbes

The company was formed after the takeover of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) in 1969 by EMI. At the time ABPC owned 270 ABC Cinemas, a half share in ITV contractor Thames Television, Elstree Studios at Shenley Road, and had recently bought Anglo-Amalgamated, a film studio in which Nat Cohen had been a partner. EMI moved into film production with the foundation of a new company, EMI-Elstree. Bernard Delfont appointed writer-director Bryan Forbes head of production at Elstree in April 1969 for three years at £40,000 a year, plus a percentage of the profits.[1]

Forbes announced his intention to make a variety of films at Elstree, steering away from what he called the "pornography of violence."[2][3] He claimed EMI would make 14 films in 18 months with such stars as Peter Sellers and Roger Moore at a cost of £5-10 million pounds in total.[4] His aim was to keep budgets down and create a varied slate which would increase the chances of appealing to audiences and making a sufficient return to continue productions.[5]

EMI ended up making eleven films under Forbes' management for an estimated cost of £4 million.[6] However, the first few performed poorly commercially: Hoffmann, And Soon the Darkness and The Man Who Haunted Himself, with only The Railway Children (all 1970) making money.[7] This continued and Tales of Beatrix Potter (1971) was Forbes' only other hit.

The company was affected with labour problems and Forbes felt as though he did not have support of the EMI board, arguing he never had the funds to market his films, in contrast with those available to Anglo-EMI headed by Nat Cohen. In addition, there were some expensive failures on EMI's slate, such as Mr. Forbush and the Penguins (1971) and the abandoned A Fine and Private Place. Forbes clashed with Bernard Delfont and their American backers, in this case Columbia, over the artistic and commercial value of director Joseph Losey's film The Go-Between (1970). Forbes resigned in March 1971,[8] after committing himself to a no-redundancy policy.[9]

Among the films Forbes wished to make but was unable to during his time at Elstree were adaptations of The Living Room, the play by Graham Greene, to be directed by Michael Powell.[10] Feathers of Death from the Simon Raven novel to be directed by Richard Attenborough.[11] and The Loud, Loud Silence a post-apocalyptic story from Richard Condon. He turned down Ned Kelly (1970) because its projected budget was too high. Although standard industry accounting practices meant that Forbes' regime was seen at the time to have been a commercial failure, he later claimed that by 1993 his £4 million program of films had eventually brought EMI a profit of £16 million.[12]

MGM-EMI

In April 1970 EMI struck up a co-production agreement with MGM. The Hollywood studio announced they would sell their studios at Borehamwood and move their equipment to EMI's Elstree studio. MGM and EMI would then distribute and produce films in co-operation through a joint venture to be called MGM-EMI.[13] and MGM began to finance some of EMI's productions.[9] EMI's studio complex was renamed EMI-MGM Elstree Studios[14] while a film distribution company MGM-EMI Distributors Ltd. was formed as part of the co-production agreement. This company, headed by Mike Havas would handle domestic distribution of MGM and EMI-produced films in the United Kingdom.

It was originally announced that MGM-EMI would make six to eight films a year, but they ended up producing far fewer.[15] Forbes was given the title of managing director of MGM-EMI[16] to add to his existing title of head of production.

MGM pulled out of the amalgamation in 1973, and became a member of CIC, which took over international distribution of MGM-produced films. At this point the distribution company became EMI Film Distributors Ltd., and EMI-MGM Elstree Studios reverted to EMI-Elstree Studios.[14]

Nat Cohen

EMI had another filmmaking division, Anglo-EMI Film Distributors Ltd, which had come out of Anglo-Amalgamated and was run autonomously by Nat Cohen. This wing of the company had released films such as Percy (1971). They also financed and distributed a series of films made by Hammer Film Productions, which partly came about through Bernard Delfont's friendship with James Carreras.

Nat Cohen had taken over Forbes' responsibilities as head of production after his resignation in 1971.[17] Cohen backed productions intended for international success, and EMI had a more obviously commercial outlook. Because of long-term duopoly rival Rank had by now greatly reduced its own investment in British film production to a token presence,[17] Cohen was responsible for overseeing about 70% of the films produced in the UK during 1973, following a significant decline in domestic projects. Cohen was not unaware of the problems inherent in his dominant position.[18] Meanwhile, dependent on support from the most profitable parts of EMI, the company's financial position meant that they had to avoid backing any risky productions.[13]

The greatest success of his regime was Murder on the Orient Express (1974).[19] In July 1975 Cohen announced a £6 million programme of new films, including Seven Nights in Japan and To the Devil a Daughter (both 1976).[20] These were not particularly successful.

Michael Deeley and Barry Spikings

In 1976 the company merged with British Lion Films and the two men who ran British Lion, Michael Deeley and Barry Spikings, took over management, rejuvenating the film production arm. Deeley and Spiking's method was to only make a film if at least half the budget was put up my an American studio, reducing their financial risk although making the studio's product less obviously British.[21] EMI was involved in a series of popular films, notably Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), The Deer Hunter, Death on the Nile and Convoy (all 1978), as well as some American TV movies like Deadman's Curve and The Amazing Howard Hughes with Roger Gimbel Productions. EMI backing out of funding Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) at the last moment, after Bernard Delfont read the script.

Michael Deeley left EMI in 1979 but Barry Spikings remained in charge of film production. Delfont created a new company, Associated Film Distribution, to distribute films of EMI and ITC Entertainment, then controlled by Lew Grade, his brother. This move proved to be financially disastrous as EMI suffered a number of box office failures, in particular Can't Stop the Music (1980) and Honky Tonk Freeway (1981).

Thorn-EMI

In the early-1980s, the film division was renamed Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, to reflect EMI's merger with Thorn Electrical Industries to become Thorn EMI in 1979. In January 1983 Barry Spikings left the company and Verity Lambert was appointed head of production. Gary Dartnall became executive chairman.

In December 1984 Thorn EMI offered investors the chance to invest in several films by issuing £36 million worth of shares. The films were A Passage to India (1984), Morons from Outer Space, Dreamchild, Wild Geese II and The Holcroft Covenant[22] (all 1985).

Lambert resigned in July 1985. After this TESE wound down its in-house production arm and relied on films from independent outfits.[23]

Denouement

Thorn EMI later sold its film, home video, and cinema operations (including the ABC Cinemas chain) to businessman Alan Bond in April 1986. Bond, in turn, sold it to The Cannon Group a week later.[24] A year after the purchase, a cash-strapped Cannon sold the film library to Weintraub Entertainment Group.[25]

The library ended up in the hands of several companies over the years and is now owned by StudioCanal, a sister company to Universal Music Group which acquired EMI in 2012. EMI Films also owned Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England; Cannon ended up purchasing the studio as well, but later sold it to Brent Walker Group plc in 1988.[24]

Select filmography

EMI financed films under a variety of corporate names and with a series of production partners. Below are the main ones:

References

  1. ↑ Forbes, p 62
  2. ↑ Dennis Barker, 'Parable of talent: DENNIS BARKER interviews Bryan Forbes', The Guardian (1959-2003) [London (UK)] 9 August 1969: 6.
  3. ↑ Walker, 1974, p.426-428
  4. ↑ 'Britain steps back into cinema's big league', The Guardian (1959-2003) [London (UK)], 13 August 1969, p.5
  5. ↑ John Heilpern "The End: In the Last Fifteen Years the British Cinema Has Lost Four-Fifths of its Audience. Today Half of the Industry'sTechnicians Are Out of Work", The Observer (London), 28 June 1970, p.9
  6. ↑ Walker, 1985, p 114
  7. ↑ City comment: Soon the darkness The Guardian (1959-2003) [London (UK)] 08 Mar 1971: 12.
  8. ↑ "Forbes Quits as Flstree's Film Chief", Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 26 Mar 1971: e15.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Brian McFarlane (ed.) The Encyclopedia of British Film, London: Methuen/BFI, 2003, p.203
  10. ↑ Forbes, p.102
  11. ↑ Forbes, p.103
  12. ↑ Forbes, p.108
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Sian Barber The British Film Industry in the 1970s: Capital, Culture and Creativity, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, p.47
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Patricia Warren British Film Studios: An Illustrated History, London: B.T Batsford, 2001, p.76
  15. ↑ "MGM to Close, Down English Film Facility", Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif], 25 April 1970: p.a6
  16. ↑ Gary Arnold, 'Spectrum Of Interest: Film Notes',The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973) [Washington, D.C] 15 July 1970, p.B5
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Sue Harper Women in British Cinema: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know, London & New York: Continuum, 2000, p.128
  18. ↑ Barber, p.48
  19. ↑ EMI Films at BFI Screenonline
  20. ↑ Walker, 1985 p141
  21. ↑ Michael Deeley, Blade Runners, Deer Hunters and Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: My Life in Cult Movies, Pegasus Books, 2009 p 128-199
  22. ↑ Walker 1985 p286
  23. ↑ Walker, 1985, p35-36
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 http://www.terramedia.co.uk/media/film/vertical_integration.htm
  25. ↑ http://articles.latimes.com/1987-08-07/business/fi-1232_1_cannon-group
  • Forbes, Bryan, A Divided Life, Mandarin Paperbacks, 1993
  • Walker, Alexander, Hollywood England, Harrap and Stein, 1974
  • Walker, Alexander, National Heroes: British Cinema in the Seventies and Eighties, Harrap, 1985
  • Walker, Alexander, Icons in the Fire: The Rise and Fall of Practically Everyone in the British Film Industry 1984-2000, Orion Books, 2005

External links

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