Editing Cinema of the United Kingdom (section)

===Post-war cinema===
Towards the end of the 1940s, the Rank Organisation became the dominant force behind British film-making, having acquired a number of British studios and the Gaumont chain (in 1941) to add to its Odeon Cinemas. Rank's serious financial crisis in 1949, a substantial loss and debt, resulted in the contraction of its film production.<ref>Warren (2001), p. 120.</ref> In practice, Rank maintained an industry duopoly with ABPC (later absorbed by EMI) for many years.

[[File:Deborah Kerr 3.jpg|thumb|left|[[Deborah Kerr]] as Sister Clodagh in ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' (1947)]]
For the moment, the industry hit new heights of creativity in the immediate post-war years. Among the most significant films produced during this period were [[David Lean]]'s ''[[Brief Encounter]]'' (1945) and his Dickens adaptations ''[[Great Expectations (1946 film)|Great Expectations]]'' (1946) and ''[[Oliver Twist (1948 film)|Oliver Twist]]'' (1948), [[Ken Annakin]]'s comedy ''[[Miranda (1948 film)|Miranda]]'' (1948) starring [[Glynis Johns]], [[Carol Reed]]'s thrillers ''[[Odd Man Out]]'' (1947) and ''[[The Third Man]]'' (1949), and Powell and Pressburger's ''[[A Matter of Life and Death (film)|A Matter of Life and Death]]'' (1946), ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' (1947) and ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]'' (1948), the most commercially successful film of its year in the United States. Laurence Olivier's ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]'' (also 1948), was the first non-American film to win the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]]. Ealing Studios (financially backed by Rank) began to produce their most celebrated comedies, with three of the best remembered films, ''[[Whisky Galore! (1949 film)|Whisky Galore]]'' (1948), ''[[Kind Hearts and Coronets]]'' and ''[[Passport to Pimlico]]'' (both 1949), being on release almost simultaneously. Their [[Portmanteau film|portmanteau]] horror film ''[[Dead of Night]]'' (1945) is also particularly highly regarded.

Under the [[Import Duties Act 1932]], [[HM Treasury]] levied a 75% [[tariff]] on all film imports on 6 August 1947 which became known as Dalton Duty (after [[Hugh Dalton]] then the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]). The tax came into effect on 8 August, applying to all imported films, of which the overwhelming majority came from the United States; American film studio revenues from the UK had been in excess of US$68 million in 1946. The following day, 9 August, the [[Motion Picture Association of America]] announced that no further films would be supplied to British cinemas until further notice. The Dalton Duty was ended on 3 May 1948 with the American studios again exported films to the UK though the [[Marshall Plan]] prohibited US film companies from taking foreign exchange out of the nations their films played in.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.terramedia.co.uk/reference/law/british_film_import_duty.htm|title=British film import duty 1948-49|access-date=27 February 2019|archive-date=2 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502211553/http://www.terramedia.co.uk/reference/law/british_film_import_duty.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following the Cinematograph Film Production (Special Loans) Act 1949, the [[National Film Finance Corporation]] (NFFC) was established as a British film funding agency.

The [[Eady Levy]], named after [[Wilfred Griffin Eady|Sir Wilfred Eady]] was a tax on [[box office]] receipts in the United Kingdom in order to support the British Film industry. It was established in 1950 coming into effect in 1957. A direct governmental payment to British-based producers would have qualified as a [[subsidy]] under the terms of the [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]], and would have led to objections from [[Cinema of the United States|American film]] producers. An indirect levy did not qualify as a subsidy, and so was a suitable way of providing additional funding for the UK film industry whilst avoiding criticism from abroad.

In 1951, the [[National Film Theatre]] was initially opened in a temporary building at the [[Festival of Britain]]. It moved to its present location on the [[South Bank]] in London for the first [[London Film Festival]] on 16 October 1957 run by the BFI.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=October 9, 1957|page=14|title=10-Day London Fest Films Preems Oct. 16|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/variety208-1957-10#page/n93/mode/1up|via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref>

[[File:Terry-Thomas in Where Were You When the Lights Went Out.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Terry-Thomas]] starred with [[Peter Sellers]] in four films between 1957 and 1959. Their last film, ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]'', was the highest-grossing film at the British box office in 1960]]
During the 1950s, the British industry began to concentrate on popular comedies and World War II dramas aimed more squarely at the domestic audience. The war films were often based on true stories and made in a similar low-key style to their wartime predecessors. They helped to make stars of actors like [[John Mills]], [[Jack Hawkins]] and [[Kenneth More]]. Some of the most successful included ''[[The Cruel Sea (1953 film)|The Cruel Sea]]'' (1953), ''[[The Dam Busters (film)|The Dam Busters]]'' (1954), ''[[The Colditz Story]]'' (1955) and ''[[Reach for the Sky]]'' (1956).

The Rank Organisation produced some comedy successes, such as ''[[Genevieve (film)|Genevieve]]'' (1953). The writer/director/producer team of twin brothers [[John and Roy Boulting]] also produced a series of successful satires on British life and institutions, beginning with ''[[Private's Progress]]'' (1956), and continuing with (among others) ''[[Brothers in Law (film)|Brothers in Law]]'' (1957), ''[[Carlton-Browne of the F.O.]]'' (1958), and ''[[I'm All Right Jack]]'' (1959). Starring in ''[[School for Scoundrels (1960 film)|School for Scoundrels]]'' (1960), the [[British Film Institute]] thought [[Terry-Thomas]] was "outstanding as a classic British [[wikt:bounder|bounder]]".<ref>
{{cite web|last=Brooke|first=Michael|title=School for Scoundrels (1959)|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/487382/|work=[[Screenonline]]|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=12 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213060426/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/487382/|archive-date=13 February 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}
</ref>

Popular comedy series included the "Doctor" series, beginning with ''[[Doctor in the House (film)|Doctor in the House]]'' (1954). The series originally starred [[Dirk Bogarde]], probably the British industry's most popular star of the 1950s, though later films had [[Michael Craig (actor)|Michael Craig]] and [[Leslie Phillips]] in leading roles. The [[Carry On (film series)|Carry On series]] began in 1958 with regular instalments appearing for the next twenty years. The Italian director-producer [[Mario Zampi]] also made a number of successful [[black comedy|black comedies]], including ''[[Laughter in Paradise]]'' (1951), ''[[The Naked Truth (1957 film)|The Naked Truth]]'' (1957) and ''[[Too Many Crooks]]'' (1958). [[Ealing Studios]] had continued its run of successful comedies, including ''[[The Lavender Hill Mob]]'' (1951) and ''[[The Ladykillers (1955 film)|The Ladykillers]]'' (1955), but the company ceased production in 1958, after the studios had already been bought by the [[BBC]].

[[File:Dracula 1958 a.jpg|thumb|[[Christopher Lee]] in ''[[Dracula (1958 film)|Dracula]]'' (1958)]]
Less restrictive censorship towards the end of the 1950s encouraged film producer [[Hammer Film Productions|Hammer Films]] to embark on their series of commercially successful horror films. Beginning with adaptations of [[Nigel Kneale]]'s [[BBC]] [[science fiction television|science fiction serials]] ''[[The Quatermass Experiment]]'' (1955) and ''[[Quatermass II]]'' (1957), Hammer quickly graduated to ''[[The Curse of Frankenstein]]'' (1957) and ''[[Dracula (1958 film)|Dracula]]'' (1958), both deceptively lavish and the first gothic horror films in colour. The studio turned out numerous sequels and variants, with English actors [[Peter Cushing]] and [[Christopher Lee]] being the most regular leads. ''[[Peeping Tom (1960 film)|Peeping Tom]]'' (1960), a now highly regarded thriller, with horror elements, set in the contemporary period, was badly received by the critics at the time, and effectively finished the career of Michael Powell, its director.