Editing Alexander Korda (section)

==Return to Britain==
Korda was appointed a [[Knight Bachelor]], for his contribution to the war effort, in the [[1942 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35586 |date=5 June 1942 |page=2476}}</ref> On 22 September 1942 he was knighted at an investiture ceremony at [[Buckingham Palace]] by [[George VI]]. He was the first film director to receive the honour.<ref name="Korda, Alexander 1893–1956"/><ref name="LG1942"/>

He returned to Britain in 1943 as production chief of [[MGM-British Studios|MGM-London films]], with a £35 million ten-year programme. The scheme ended after one year, one film and a £1 million loss to MGM.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23423962 |title=How to lose a cool £7 million. |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |date=20 July 1954 |access-date=5 August 2012 |page=4}}</ref> The only film to come out of the deal was ''[[Perfect Strangers (1945 film)|Perfect Strangers]]'' (1945), directed by Korda, and starring [[Robert Donat]] and [[Deborah Kerr]].

===British Lion Films===
Via London Films Korda bought a controlling interest in [[British Lion Films]]. He produced ''[[A Man About the House (film)|A Man About the House]]'' (1947).

In 1948 London Films received an advance payment of £375,000, the largest single payment received by a British film company, for three films, ''[[An Ideal Husband (1947 film)|An Ideal Husband]]'' (1947) (which Korda directed), ''[[Anna Karenina (1948 film)|Anna Karenina]]'' (1948) and ''[[Mine Own Executioner]]'' (1948). The company released three other films, ''[[Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948 film)|Bonnie Prince Charlie]]'' (1948), ''[[The Winslow Boy (1948 film)|The Winslow Boy]]'' (1948) and ''[[The Fallen Idol (film)|The Fallen Idol]]'' (1948).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49657567 |title=THE STARRY WAY. |newspaper=[[The Courier-Mail]] |location=Brisbane |date=13 March 1948 |access-date=6 July 2012 |page=2 }}</ref> ''The Winslow Boy'' and ''Fallen Idol'' were hits. ''An Ideal Husband'' and ''Anna Karenina'' had some acclaim, but lost money at the box office. ''Bonnie Prince Charlie'' was a fiasco. Korda was also badly hurt by the trade war between the British and American film industries in the late 1940s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18474161 |title=Film Industry Slipping Out of the Big Money |newspaper=[[The Sunday Herald (Sydney)|The Sunday Herald]] |location=Sydney |date=1 January 1950 |access-date=7 July 2012 |page=7 Supplement: Features}}</ref> Korda did recover, in part due to a £3 million loan British Lion received from the [[National Film Finance Corporation]].

In 1948 Korda signed a co-production deal with [[David O. Selznick]].<ref name="argus">{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22553900 |title=Hollywood stars to make films in UK |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |date=20 May 1948 |access-date=7 July 2012 |page=4}}</ref> This resulted in ''[[The Third Man]]'' (1949) which was a success both critically and financially.

London Films made several films with smaller budgets: ''[[The Cure for Love]]'' (1949), ''[[The Happiest Days of Your Life (film)|The Happiest Days of Your Life]]'' (1950), ''[[The Angel with the Trumpet (1950 film)|The Angel with the Trumpet]]'' (1950), ''[[My Daughter Joy]]'' (1950),'' [[State Secret (1950 film)|State Secret]]'' (1950), ''[[The Wooden Horse]]'' (1950), ''[[Seven Days to Noon]]'' (1951), ''[[Lady Godiva Rides Again]]'' (1951), ''[[The Wonder Kid]]'' (1951), and ''[[Mr. Denning Drives North]]'' (1951). Korda also helped to finance ''[[Outcast of the Islands]]'' (1952), ''[[Home at Seven (film)|Home at Seven]]'' (1952), ''[[Who Goes There!]]'' (1952), ''[[The Holly and the Ivy (film)|The Holly and the Ivy]]'' (1952), ''[[The Ringer (1952 film)|The Ringer]]'' (1952), ''[[Folly to Be Wise]]'' (1953), ''[[Twice Upon a Time (1953 film)|Twice Upon a Time]]'' (1953), ''[[The Captain's Paradise]]'' (1953), and ''[[The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan]]'' (1953). ''[[Cry, the Beloved Country (1951 film)|Cry, the Beloved Country]]'' (1951), directed by Zoltan, was acclaimed. ''[[The Sound Barrier]]'' (1952) from [[David Lean]] was a hit. ''[[The Man Between]]'' (1953) was an attempt to repeat the success of ''The Third Man''.

Korda then helped to make ''[[The Heart of the Matter (film)|The Heart of the Matter]]'' (1954), ''[[Hobson's Choice (1954 film)|Hobson's Choice]]'' (1954), ''[[The Belles of St. Trinian's]]'' (1954), and ''[[The Teckman Mystery]]'' (1954).

A draft screenplay of what became ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' was written by [[Emeric Pressburger]] in the 1930s for Korda and intended as a vehicle for [[Merle Oberon]], whom Korda later married. The screenplay was bought by [[Michael Powell]] and Pressburger, who made it for [[J. Arthur Rank]]. During the 1950s Korda reportedly expressed interest in producing a [[James Bond]] film based upon [[Ian Fleming]]'s novel ''[[Live and Let Die (novel)|Live and Let Die]]'', but no agreement was ever reached.<ref>Caplen, Robert A., ''Shaken & Stirred: The Feminism of James Bond'', p. 73 (2010).</ref>

===Final Films===
In 1954 Korda received £5 million from the City Investing Corporation of New York, enabling him to continue producing films until his death.<ref name="argus"/>
His final films included ''[[The Man Who Loved Redheads]]'' (1955), ''[[Three Cases of Murder]]'' (1955), ''[[A Kid for Two Farthings (film)|A Kid for Two Farthings]]'' (1955), ''[[The Deep Blue Sea (1955 film)|The Deep Blue Sea]]'' (1955), ''[[Summertime (1955 film)|Summertime]]'' (1955), and ''[[Storm Over the Nile]]'' (1955) a remake of ''The Four Feathers''. His last films were [[Laurence Olivier]]'s adaptation of ''[[Richard III (1955 film)|Richard III]]'' (1955) and ''[[Smiley (1956 film)|Smiley]]'' (1956).<ref name="ink">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/the-brief-movie-stardom-of-colin-smiley-petersen/|magazine=Filmink|date=26 November 2024|access-date=26 November 2024|title=The Brief Movie Stardom of Colin (Smiley) Petersen}}</ref>