Overview

In this definitive and long-awaited history of 1950s British cinema, Sue Harper and Vincent Porter draw extensively on previously unknown archive material to chart the growing rejection of post-war deference by both film-makers and cinema audiences. Competition from television and successive changes in government policy all forced the production industry to become more market-sensitive. The films produced by Rank and Ealing, many of which harked back to wartime structures of feeling, were challenged by those backed by Anglo-Amalgamated and Hammer. The latter knew how to address the rebellious feelings and growing sexual discontents of a new generation of consumers. Even the British Board of Film Censors had to adopt a more liberal attitude. The collapse of the studio system also meant that the screenwriters and the art directors had to cede creative control to a new generation of independent producers and film directors. Harper and Porter explore the effects of these social, cultural, industrial, and economic changes on 1950s British cinema.

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9780198159346

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Professors Harper and Porter give a detailed analysis of a seminal decade in our national cinema heritage. Their in-depth research will enhance the knowledge of any reader of this book. They include valuable insights into the film industry of that era, from the reality behind production financing to contemporary audience reactions. Contemporary Review [Harper and Porter's] study is especially strong in its analysis of the politicking of senior figures who aspired to provide the industry with moral guidance and leadership ... the embroiled discussions of such matters as entertainment duty or censorship are often enlivened by well-chosen anecdotes and a deadpan humour... As Harper and Porter rightly point out, British cinema of the 1950s deserves to be taken seriously. And just as Rachel Low's studies of earlier decades provide an invaluable entry point for readers, so this book is likely to become a first port of call for any student who wants to investigate the era in detail. Sight and Sound Where it really scores strongly is in giving credit to people who don't normally appear in histories such as script editors, minor producers: names you see on the credits but never notice. It's also good at delineating the tensions within organisations and their results. This book does for 50s cinema what Rachael Low's The History of British Film did for pre-war cinema. If you need to know about the period, this is the place to start. David Absalom, www.britishpictures.com

Professors Harper and Porter give a detailed analysis of a seminal decade in our national cinema heritage. Their in-depth research will enhance the knowledge of any reader of this book. They include valuable insights into the film industry of that era, from the reality behind production financing to contemporary audience reactions. Contemporary Review [Harper and Porter's] study is especially strong in its analysis of the politicking of senior figures who aspired to provide the industry with moral guidance and leadership ... the embroiled discussions of such matters as entertainment duty or censorship are often enlivened by well-chosen anecdotes and a deadpan humour... As Harper and Porter rightly point out, British cinema of the 1950s deserves to be taken seriously. And just as Rachel Low's studies of earlier decades provide an invaluable entry point for readers, so this book is likely to become a first port of call for any student who wants to investigate the era in detail. Sight and Sound Where it really scores strongly is in giving credit to people who don't normally appear in histories such as script editors, minor producers: names you see on the credits but never notice. It's also good at delineating the tensions within organisations and their results. This book does for 50s cinema what Rachael Low's The History of British Film did for pre-war cinema. If you need to know about the period, this is the place to start. David Absalom, www.britishpictures.com

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