rank organisation
in 1995, the rank group acquired all the outstanding shares of the rank organisation .
became a holding company, owning all the outstanding shares of the rank organisation .
over time, the traditional businesses of the rank organisation were gradually sold by the newly formed rank group .
: the rank organisation re - established as the rank group plc holding company. rank amusements sells its inland amusement centres as part of a
after a decade and a half of asset - stripping the rank organisation closed down in 1996 .
london, 1952. rank organisation plc annual reports, london: rank organisation plc, 1941 - - 94. smith, terry ,
the good, the bad, and the ugly ,
— the rank organisation the rank organisation est une société britannique spécialisée dans le divertissement. elle fut fondée en 1937, et absorbée en 1996 par the rank group plc. sa division cinéma distribua pendant un moment les films de la… …
mutual life insurance co. of new york v. the rank organisation ltd [ 1985 ] bclc 11
the rank organisation closed independent producers ltd. and its denham studios, to consolidate all of its film production at
left: early 1950s rank organisation photo of honor blackman. center and right: cheesecake shots from the mid 1960s
the reluctant debutante (1958) lady sheila broadbent by courtesy of the rank organisation; columbine productions, ltd .
john davis was chairman and president of the rank organisation and co - founder of rank xerox, one of the most successful of post - war companies .
( 1947). after signing with j. arthur rank' s rank organisation in 1948, her career gained momentum with a role in the horror film
the last film made by the rank organisation was silver dream racer starring david essex, which was released in 1980 .
: a financial crisis forced the rank organisation to sell its lime grove, and islington studios. beginning that same year, the company bought the
— the rank organisation war ein britisches unternehmen der unterhaltungsindustrie, das 1937 von dem industriellen und filmproduzenten joseph arthur rank gegründet wurde, um seine verschiedenen unternehmen unter einer dachorganisation zu vereinen. … …
j. arthur rank stepped down as managing director of the rank organisation in 1952, but remained as chairman until 1962. under the management of sir john davis the rank organisation closed independent producers ltd. and denham studios, and consolidated all of its film production at pinewood studios. in 1956 rank began a partnership with the haloid corporation to form rank xerox. rank was also a significant shareholder in the consortium which became southern television, the first itv television contract holder for the south of england .
vci entertainment is pleased to offer a select group of 48 titles selected from the coveted library of the rank organisation, all licensed through itv global entertainment ltd .
founded 80 years ago tomorrow on st george’s day the rank ­organisation was the creation of the most unlikely movie mogul imaginable: a teetotal methodist sunday school teacher and flour - mill tycoon from hull named j arthur rank .
“in its prime the rank organisation was a vertically integrated film company, bigger than any of its hollywood rivals, ” wrote geoffrey mcnab in the encyclopaedia of british cinema .
a further tranche of rank xerox equity is disposed of, netting rank group £1. 5 billion to date .
metro - goldwyn - mayer studio had its lion. universal its globe. but the very british rank organisation had the most memorable film logo of all: the gong man .
on 1 january 1945, the capitol formally became an odeon cinema. under the rank organisation ruling, they did not allow x rated films to be shown in their cinemas .
‘there are candidates qualified and experienced to hold the reins of this office, from within the ranks of the organisation. ’
“j. arthur rank, 1 st baron rank – wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. ” (n. d. )
the rank organisation was a british entertainment company, eventually a conglomerate, formed during 1937 and folded in 1996 by the rank group plc. it was the largest and most vertically - integrated film company in britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities .
the british film industry. a report on its history and present organisation with special reference to the economic problems of british feature film production
— was formed in 1956 as a joint venture between the xerox corporation of u. s. and the rank organisation of uk, to manufacture and market xerox equipment initially in europe and later in africa and asia. a further joint venture between rank xerox… …
principal subsidiaries: associated leisure limited; butlin' s limited; grosvenor clubs limited; haven leisure limited; a. kershaw & sons, plc (85 %); odeon cinemas limited; pinewood studios limited; rank amusements limited; rank brimar limited; rank cintel limited; rank film distributors limited; rank film laboratories limited; rank holdings (uk) limited; rank holidays & hotels limited; rank leisure limited; rank overseas holdings limited; rank precision industries (holdings) limited (94 %); rank rx holdings limited (97 %); rank taylor hobson limited; rank video services limited; rank xerox limited (48. 8 %); shearings limited; strand lighting limited; top rank limited; warner holidays limited; film house partnership (canada); rank video services g. m. b. h. (germany); rank holdings (netherlands) b. v. ; deluxe laboratories inc. (u. s .); hard rock cafe international inc. (u. s .); rank america inc. (u. s .); rank development inc. (u. s .); rank leisure usa inc. ; rank orlando, inc. (u. s .); rank taylor hobson inc. (u. s .); rank video services america inc. (u. s .); resorts usa inc. ; strand lighting inc. (u. s .) .
by 1937, rank’s movie assets were still accumulating, and besides pinewood, now included denham film studios, as well as several other interests, and it was at this time he consolidated these holdings in a new company called the rank organisation. in 1938, the rank organisation bought the odeon cinema chain. in 1938, it also bought amalgamated studios in elstree, and in 1941, it absorbed the gaumont - british picture corporation, which owned 251 cinemas, and the lime grove studios, (which rank later sold to bbc television .) it also acquired the paramount cinema chain, so that by 1942, the rank organisation owned a total of 619 cinemas. by the late 1940s, rank owned a total of five studios adding ealing studios and islington studios to those not already named above. the conglomerate also included rank screen advertising and deluxe laboratories .
in the late 1950s, rank set up rank records ltd. (the record label was named top rank) and jaro records (a jazz subsidiary). in 1961, top rank was taken over by emi, and in 1962 they replaced it with stateside records .
in 1949 a financial crisis forced the rank organisation to sell its lime grove and islington studios. beginning that same year, the company bought the bush radio manufacturing facility and began to diversify its interests. in the early 1960s rank took over murphy radio to form the rank bush murphy group, which was eventually sold to great universal stores in 1978 .
j. arthur rank finally stepped down as managing director of the rank organisation in 1952, but remained as chairman until 1962. much of the diversification came under the management of sir john davis, who led the company up to 1995. in 1996 the venerable company was absorbed by the rank group plc. now completely out of the motion picture business, the rank group continues today as a leading european gaming business .
‘the first rank is always where white sets up his major pieces; the eighth rank is where black sets up his major pieces. ’
film making is a costly business and when the rank organisation could not sustain funding the cef and following publication of the wheare report in 1950, which looked at the effect of juvinile cinem going and the influence of films, a collaboration within the british film industry was formed and supported by the rank organisation – the children’s film foundation - { cff } was formed. the cff had a remit to create films especially for children’s cinema matinees and suitable for showing within schools .
one of the most influential and unpopular figures in the british film industry, who rescued the rank organisation from financial chaos in the late' 40s but, in doing so, led such film - makers as david lean to look elsewhere .
meanwhile the carry on comedies made by rank still make us laugh and the freeview channel talking pictures (available on channel 81) screens vintage rank films .
from 1 dec 1914 to 31 oct 1915 he held the rank of captain .
‘the population was sharply stratified by occupation, income, and social rank. ’
‘annapolis had a large number of bachelors among those of high social rank. ’
‘the first of these strategies addresses social rank; the second, economics. ’
‘the correlation matrix values were obtained using the spearman rank order correlation test. ’
give (someone or something) a rank or place within a grading system .
‘behind these violent and ugly displays of rank bullying lies a profound irony. ’
‘he slipped, stumbled, and fell full length into the rank grass. ’
‘i refuse to forgive the rank idiocy of this dog' s owner. ’
, park of rank groups holiday division, announces a major fall in bookings .
in 1943, the gcf became part of the larger rank organisation (led by j. arthur rank). the odeon cinema circuit, had expanded greatly during the 1930s. since there was no construction of cinemas until after the war, buyers became interested in acquiring cinemas in smaller towns and cities – to build an empire of cinemas .
19. the 1940s also saw the rise of the first british company to attempt to compete with the hollywood studios in size and scope. starting in 1936, j arthur rank had built a vertically - integrated film organisation, buying up distributors, cinema chains and production companies. between 1941 and 1947, the rank organisation financed half the films made in the uk, controlled over 600 cinemas and was the largest film distributor. rank ensured american distribution for their productions and a supply of american films for their cinemas, by securing a 25 per cent stake in universal film studios through the general cinema finance corporation [
‘in may 2003, he was promoted to the highest rank of cadet officer. ’
‘he later became senior medical officer in borneo with the rank of lieutenant colonel. ’
‘the rank of this matrix is 1, so that the equation is identified. ’
‘review the list above and rank yourself as you did with the first list. ’
‘also, they rank the choices within a given question, not across questions. ’
‘rather, they scattered, breaking rank, and fled towards the burning barracks. ’
‘for the next few days, he denied he had tried to pull rank. ’
alan wood, mr. rank, london, hodder & stoughton (1951) .
( a jazz - subsidiary). in 1961, top rank was taken over by
despite being financially sound and amidst a loud local save our cinema campaign, the rank organisation closed odeon st albans on 20 august 1995. this was to encourage patrons to attend its new multiplex built at jarman park, hemel hempstead – which opened on 25 august 1995 .
cuvier wanted to turn natural history into a science that would rank with physics and chemistry .
‘many of the most important rules of etiquette serve to mark differences in social rank. ’
‘these can rank among the most reliable of sources, when properly evaluated and analyzed. ’
‘a rank smell filled her nose and she put it down as mistee began talking. ’
‘mounted fans whirred overhead, efficiently distributing the rank air and grime into all corners. ’
‘please, let' s not kill the spirit of the season with rank stupidity. ’
nonrank cinemas preferred to exhibit the us pictures rather than the hastily - made rank ones .
besides becoming one of the world’s biggest film companies, rank began to diversify into other interests early on. in 1949 the company bought the bush radio manufacturing plant and later on took over murphy radio to become the rank bush murphy group. in 1956 rank began a partnership with the haloid corporation to form rank xerox. rank was also a significant partner in the consortium which became southern television, the first itv television contract holder for the south of england .
last wednesday the rank foundation launched applications for the rank memorial award 2018. this is open to all members of the network and opens up an opportunity to embark [... ]
when the crisis in the british film industry came to its peak in 1950, the rank organisation was in a particularly weak position - the british film industry was in competition with hollywood, the duty which had protected british films from american products had been lifted, and television was growing more popular .
— mutual life insurance co. of new york v the rank organisation ltd. [ 1985 ] bclc 11 is a uk company law case dealing with oppression (or unfair prejudice) under s. 20 companies act 1948 (now s. 994 companies act 2006). goulding j delivered the… …
‘we use a generalized inverse of v, however, in case it is not of full rank; if this occurs, the degrees of freedom are the rank of the matrix v. ’
‘papa, a captain when he left the reserves, still knew how to pull rank. ’
‘engulfing new plantings, the rank growth took on the appearance of an emergent urban ecosystem. ’
‘scars were abundant in the little group and there was a definite rank smell about them. ’
‘he needs to do something about the rank smell of dead fish emanating from the bathrooms. ’
‘it is clear that your hate is founded in your arrogant elitism and your rank racism. ’
: the first tranche of rank xerox equity is sold to the usa parent company, xerox .
: rank leisure machine services sold for £30m. this company supplied and serviced machines to arcades, pubs and clubs and had a good hold as an incumbent operator in many former rank establishments .
alan wood ,
mr. rank
, london, hodder & stoughton (1951) .
john henry harris davis, businessman: born 10 november 1906; chief accountant, odeon theatres (later rank organisation ltd) 1938, secretary 1938, joint managing director 1942, managing director 1948 - 62, deputy chairman 1951 - 62; director, rank foundation 1953 - 93; kt 1971; joint chairman, rank xerox 1957 - 72, joint president 1972 - 83; chief executive, rank organisation plc, subsidiary and associated companies 1962 - 74, chairman 1962 - 77, president 1977 - 83; chairman, fund - raising committee, westminster abbey appeal 1973 - 85; cvo 1985; married 1926 joan buckingham (one son), 1947 marion gavid (two daughters), 1954 dinah sheridan (marriage dissolved 1965), 1976 mrs felicity rutland; died 27 may 1993 .
the s eekers, a british production based on a new zealand novel, was made in 1954. it was an instance of an exhibitor, kerridge odeon, and its part - owner, english cinema firm j. arthur rank organisation, venturing into film - making – a rarity in new zealand .
— mutual life insurance co. of new york v. the rank organisation ltd. [ 1985 ] bclc 11 is a uk company law case dealing with oppression (or unfair prejudice) under s. 20 companies act 1948 (now s. 994 companies act 2006). goulding j delivered the… …
the rank organisation plc maintains a diversified array of holdings primarily in the film and television industries, but it also owns various holiday, recreation, and leisure businesses. among these operations are the odeon cinema chain in england; various holiday parks and centers in europe; bingo parlors and casinos in england, canada, and spain; and hard rock cafes around the world. rank also owns a half - share of the universal studios florida theme park in orlando. resting wholly outside this fairly interrelated group of enterprises is a partial share of rank xerox, a joint venture with the xerox corporation. throughout much of its history, rank xerox has supplied a disproportionate share of rank' s profits .
the rank foundation has now launched the annual rank accelerator event in preparation for the annual conference, held in october. open to organisations that are members of ranknet, the [... ]
‘the length of the wake varies according to the social rank and social status of the dead. ’
‘based on results from the vocabulary and reading comprehension sections, participants were assigned a percentile rank. ’
‘white has his rook on the seventh rank and black' s queenside pawns are very weak. ’
‘they also send surveys to financial analysts asking them to rank companies within the industries they cover. ’
‘the skipper, to his credit, doesn' t just pull rank and yell at him. ’
‘light weight and enormous toes enable them to negotiate rank vegetation by simply walking over the top. ’
‘you couldn' t walk past his bedroom door without noticing that acrid, rank acidic smell. ’
‘as she got closer she could smell the sweat on him and the rank smell of horse. ’
the rank group plc ordinary shares are listed on the london stock exchange and the registrars are equiniti .
by the mid - 1960s rank was making more than half its profits from non - film activities .
in the late 1950s, rank set up rank records ltd. (the record label was named top rank) and jaro records (a jazz subsidiary). in 1961, top rank was taken over by emi, and in 1962 they replaced it with stateside records. rank audio visual was created in 1960, bringing together rank’s acquisitions in multimedia, including bell and howell (acquired with gaumont british in 1941), andrew smith harkness ltd (1952) and wharfedale ltd (1958). subsequent acquisitions included strand electric holdings (1968) and h. j. leak & co. (1969) .
but none of these project proved more than briefly successful: bowling alleys and large dance halls were largely passé by the early 1960s; the rank record business failed utterly; rank' s motels and restaurants were not well situated; and even the television station failed to take off as rank and davis had expected. rank had better luck in the other half of its diversification drive; precision industries and electronics .
the question for rank at this point in its history was whether it would invest its rank xerox money wisely, since what the firm did with its excess money had often been its downfall in the past. signs indicated that rank would increasingly concentrate on the leisure, recreation, and entertainment industries through the rest of the 1990s and that perhaps it would sell its entire stake in rank xerox to provide additional funding for expansion .
‘young and beautiful women like you should not be insulted no matter what your social rank may be. ’
‘on this scale, one may now rank the different propulsion systems available to different types of civilizations. ’
‘the flesh was pale grey in the thin light and the stomach had a harsh, rank smell. ’
in 1956 the company established rank xerox, a joint venture with an american firm to make photocopying machines .
: analysts claim the rank group is prone to takeover having received a number of approaches regarding the breakup of its £2bn business. rank later claim to be discussing the package sale of 19 nightclubs to various companies .
in the mid and late 1970s rank audio visual, made a 3 in 1 stereo music centre, as well as tv sets in conjunction with nec of japan. the production of the “classic” rank tv ran in the mid to late 70s, some interim models appeared and the “modern” rank tv appeared in the early 80s .
the adeptus mechanicus is a technological organisation, often known as the priesthood of mars. it holds a monopoly on technological knowledge in the imperium. their forge worlds turn out the imperium' s most powerful and advanced weaponry and equipment. the organisation' s adepts, the tech - priests, are vital in maintaining much of the imperium' s more technologically advanced equipment, not the least of which is the emperor' s life - sustaining golden throne .
this was perhaps a fitting time for a leadership transition at rank since it was gifford who had consistently focused on leisure and recreation during his reign at rank and now had reduced its stake in its most important holding outside this area. gifford announced in 1995 that he would retire in 1996. rank searched for a new leader .
the rank organisation acting school, often referred to as “the charm school”, was founded in 1945. this prep school to the stars launched several careers including those of donald sinden, dirk bogarde, diana dors and christopher lee. although she was not a member of the school, petula clark was under contract to rank for a period of time and starred in a number of films released by the studio, including london town (1946), one of the costliest flops in british film history. also under contract to rank was the canadian actor philip gilbert .
as the rank organisation grew in size, it became less and less efficient. in 1944, rank had established production facilities (films) ltd, known as
piffle
by its detractors. this was an in - house company designed to help all his producers on such matters as casting, props and contracts. instead, it caused resentment and confusion - not least because the film - makers could have secured these services far cheaper from outside agencies .
the company of youth, the rank organisation acting school often referred to as
the charm school
, was founded in 1945. it launched several careers including those of donald sinden, dirk bogarde, diana dors and christopher lee. although she was not a member of the school, petula clark was under contract to rank for a period of time and starred in a number of films released by the studio, including london town (1946), one of the costliest flops in british film history. also under contract to rank was the canadian actor philip gilbert .
but the british studio that dominated the 1940s was the rank organisation, the unlikely brainchild of methodist flour magnate j. arthur rank. initially involved in cinema as a vehicle for religious education, by 1946 rank had created britain' s first vertically - integrated film business, handling production, distribution and exhibition. rank can take much of the credit for nurturing the careers of lean, powell & pressburger, and launder & gilliat, who made much of their best work under his patronage, and on budgets they would have struggled to raise elsewhere. that said, rank often failed to recognise the quality of what he had commissioned - the red shoes was dismissed as an' art movie', and effectively written off before it opened. it was a much bigger hit in the us .
‘in this year he returned to america with the rank of lieutenant colonel to take up a staff position. ’
‘the fact remains that many tend to marry people like themselves, especially when it comes to social rank. ’
‘when pulling rank fails to get him off the hook, wade resorts to desperate measures to escape justice. ’
‘the boston globe' s jeff jacoby has also commented on the rank hypocrisy that is being demonstrated here. ’
its successor the rank group still uses the gong man but its business is focused on casinos rather than pictures .
, one of the costliest flops in british film history. also under contract to rank was the canadian actor
is said to be considering a bid for the rank video duplication business, later to become deluxe media services .
cautious, i suppose one would say. all rank’s financial activities were cautious, that was down to john davis .
‘promoting all new special forces troops to warrant officer rank, special bonuses and other benefits are all under consideration. ’
‘social rank is also determined by one' s region of origin, age, marital status, and gender. ’
‘the rank and social standing of the subjects of portraiture are also expressed by conventions, which shift with time. ’
‘he dismissed any suggestion that the central rank posed a danger to people crossing the road to get a taxi. ’
during the 1940s and 1950s, the rank organisation employed some of england’s greatest directors, who produced some of the finest films ever made in great britain, including: michael powell and emeric pressburger (black narcissus, the red shoes, i know where i’m going), david lean (brief encounter, great expectations) and laurence olivier (henry v and hamlet) .
opened by ernest and mary ostinelli, this restaurant was a popular spot for 18 years. a ww1 veteran, ernest from como in italy came to dublin in 1944 (after spells in leeds and belfast) and lived in clontarf until his death at the age of 78 in 1970. ostinellis was purchased by the rank organisation and demolished to make way for hawkins house .
j. arthur rank was already a wealthy industrialist through his father' s flour milling business, joseph rank ltd, when he made his somewhat unlikely start in film - making, financing short religious subjects in line with his methodist beliefs. from these modest origins, the british film company emerged in 1937 as rank sought to consolidate his film - making interests .
‘over the last two decades, about ten percent of the enlisted special forces troops were promoted to warrant officer rank. ’
‘he suggested that the council consider providing one central taxi rank in the town rather than a series of smaller ranks. ’
‘this is the well - known criterion which says that a system of linear equations has a solution if and only if the rank of the matrix of the associated homogeneous system is equal to the rank of the augmented matrix of the system. ’
‘the playing field is now upgraded with a drainage system and re - turfed to rank among the best in colombo. ’
‘to earn a place among the blue chips, companies must rank among the 100 biggest companies by stock market value. ’
‘wall street has never been a safe place to play, but now your investments could be skewed by rank dishonesty. ’
‘‘i think every piece of that title is vital, ’ slutsky explains through steady gusts of hot, rank air. ’
by early 1973, odeon st albans was amongst the first of twenty rank cinemas converted into multiplexes with three separate screens .
the rank organisation, owner of pinewood studios, had a similarly difficult time. by 1970, its main commercial interests were largely elsewhere, managing director john davis having cannily invested in the rank xerox photocopying business. the film side was largely kept afloat by popular franchises such as the doctor and carry on cycles, though these had both fizzled out by the end of the decade, and the title of the final carry on (bar a 1992 revival) spoke volumes: carry on emmannuelle (1978) .
nor did the rank organisation treat its artists with quite as much tact as might have been anticipated. there were hints of mutiny from the charm school in london, where starlets such as diana dors learned about deportment while actors such as christopher lee and anthony steel were obliged to walk around with books on their heads to improve their posture. not all the stars appreciated the number of village fetes they were obliged to open. and they didn' t enjoy being bartered like cattle. simmons recalls pascal (who co - owned her contract with the rank organisation) telling her one day that she had been sold to howard hughes at rko .
i needed the money ,
pascal confessed when she asked why he hadn' t warned her in advance of his plans .
under gifford' s direction, rank made additional investments and acquisitions in its core leisure, recreation, and holidays operations during the next several years. in 1988 rank entered into a partnership with mca to build the $ 600 million universal studios florida theme park in orlando. rank invested £115 million for a 50 percent interest in the project, which opened in 1990 and by 1994 was attracting seven million visitors a year and generating £11. 4 million in profits for rank. in 1995 mca and rank began work on a $ 2 billion expansion that would include a second theme park called islands of adventure, scheduled to open in 1999 .
‘i can think of nothing finer to do for this general officer today than promote her to the rank of major general. ’
‘they did not need churches or ministers for worship, they recognized no external authority, and they recognized no social rank. ’
‘those classes may represent groups of individuals differing by their sex, age, stage, social rank, or geographical position. ’
‘mona looked ruffled, which wasn' t a really unusual expression for her to carry around, given her social rank. ’
‘but ten years from now, no one is going to give a damn what social rank you held in high school. ’
‘the rank smell of the soaking water and the crispness of the soaked cabbage shreds indicate that this is a worthwhile step. ’
in the early 80s, boyd and fellow film - maker bryan forbes raised city backing of £600m to launch a takeover bid. their idea was to use the rank machine for the benefit of the british industry, but the rank board turned them down. instead, rank began to slowly break up that machine, even though this was the period when the industry was beginning to revive .
such conspicuous success attracted its share of resistance. after its 1941 buyout of gaumont - british, the rank organisation had grown sufficiently large to merit the accusation of monopoly. in 1944, the government' s palache report made several recommendations about how best to curb the growth of the combines while encouraging a healthy degree of independent production. rank agreed to seek government approval before he bought more theaters, but as he already held a commanding lead over his nearest rivals, the agreement did little to change the industry' s excessive concentration .
ok, so now we’re moving into the more specific area of michael klinger’s involvement with rank. but what - to preface that with a slightly more general question about klinger and that is, before ’76, i’ll come onto the chronology in a second, he’d never seemed to have had any dealings with rank. i think you’ve probably answered this, that rank’s interest was tepid. but for gold or shout at the devil, he goes to south african sources. so why would he not approach rank at that point ?
unfortunately, rank failed to invest in television when the medium was becoming increasingly popular and cinema audiences were declining. consequently, the company lost its hold on the film industry, although it continued to invest in the entertainment industry by developing the rank xerox photocopying machine .
‘abraham had a penchant for being critical and had no hesitation in publicly chastising his colleagues, regardless of their rank or position. ’
‘because of the increased usage of the internet for transacting business, students were asked to rank their understanding of e - commerce. ’
under davis, rank diversified its operations and soon its empire included bingo halls, bowling alleys, hotels and even motorway service stations .
geoffrey macnab ,
j. arthur rank and the british film industry
, london, routledge (1993), isbn 0415072727 .
always involved in film producing and processing, rank was well positioned to expand into new applications of similar technology. among other companies, it acquired taylor hobson, a manufacturer of lenses and precision measuring instruments, and cintel, an image processing concern. soon thereafter, rank began to make and sell television sets in its own retail outlets. the electronics program was much more successful than rank' s leisure ventures, but the company' s future did not fully reveal itself until rank xerox began its spectacular rise in the early 1960s .
popular comedy series included the st trinians films and the
doctor
series, beginning with doctor in the house in 1954. the latter series starred dirk bogarde, probably the british industry' s most popular star of the 1950s. bogarde was later replaced by michael craig and leslie phillips, and the series continued until 1970. the rank organisation also produced some other notable comedy successes, such as genevieve in 1953 .
re you really a wealthy man or are you speculating with other people' s money ?
george bernard shaw once asked j arthur rank .
i am all right ,
the film tycoon gruffly replied. there was a certain irony in the exchange. at the time, the rank organisation was planning a big - budget adaptation of shaw' s play caesar and cleopatra, to be produced and directed by the flamboyant hungarian gabriel pascal. scheduled to shoot for four months at a budget of £500, 000, the film (released in 1946) took close to two years to complete, cost well over £1m and undermined rank' s confidence in british film - making for good .
‘in addition to putting in order the system of assignment to positions, it is advisable to enhance the importance of every officer rank. ’
‘career opportunities are closely linked with the promotion to a higher rank which officers receive as a rule when appointed to higher job assignments. ’
‘the once or twice my pe instructor, sarge, forced me to play in public basketball competitions rank among my most painful memories. ’
‘but as the rains progress, they abandon the tall, rank grass in the floodplains and woodlands in search of more palatable foodstuff. ’
‘the point about the market is that it is not only immoral - or rather amoral - it is also capable of rank stupidity. ’
‘‘you have to believe that the station chief blew a gift from the gods because of rank incompetence, ’ mr. perle said. ’
the rank organisation' s withdrawal from the film business took half a century (and was only definitively completed a few months ago). many associate the golden gong with the relatively feeble films made in the 1950s - the norman wisdom comedies, doctor in the house, genevieve, all those john mills war movies. in truth, though, rank' s real flowering was comparatively brief. for a few years in the 1940s, powell and pressburger, lean and co were granted a licence that no british film - makers before or since have enjoyed. they responded by making masterpieces .
rank made some of the uk' s best films - but in the end, no amount of talent could save it. by geoffrey macnab
‘expensive costumes were a vital part of the visual appeal of theatre, and characters of high social rank were represented by appropriately luxurious clothing. ’
‘the parklike understory turned into rank undergrowth, and the inevitable result was a bushfire that destroyed all the old - growth, hollow trees. ’
‘it was nighttime outside, dark and cloudy, so the sewers were pitch black, and he landed knee deep in rank stinking water. ’
‘and when taken to extremes, such as at these schools in kirkland and puyallup, political correctness sinks to the realm of rank stupidity. ’
‘you represent rank imperialism and warmongering - neither of them american traditions or values - so i wish you were not coming to this country. ’
then in 1967 rank took over the production of the longest - running series of british films of all - time, the carry on franchise .
among the 19 carry on films rank made were the much - loved carry on up the khyber, carry on camping and carry on behind .
davis had kept rank afloat but his bookkeeping mentality and his hire - and - fire approach to management had destroyed the ethos of the company .
‘he also was a 29 - year veteran of the military and held the rank of warrant officer in the u. s. army reserve. ’
‘the position for wearing the badges of warrant officer rank changed from the lower forearm to the mid - upper arm at the end of 1996. ’
‘under our current model, we wait until an officer attains the rank of major before investing in the yearlong command and general staff officer course. ’
‘clothing was central to social definition, defining one' s gender, social rank, occupation, age, marital status, or ethnic identity. ’
‘the knight can defend against a rp, even without it' s own king, if it can stop the pawn at the sixth rank. ’
‘the proposed early job match pilot will allow students to rank jobs immediately after an interview and be informed of a perfect match within a day. ’
‘the rank smoky smell recalls the lamp at uncle don' s lodge on the lake where jack and i went to swim on hot nights. ’
j. arthur rank was born in 1888 in a decidedly victorian england. he was the son of joseph rank, who owned a successful flour milling business. young rank eventually inherited his father’s business; however, it was never seriously his cup of tea. rank was also a devout member of the methodist church and even became a sunday school teacher, to which he often showed religious films. disparaged by the lack of quality religious films, he began to produce his own, which he also then distributed to other churches and schools and eventually led to the formation of the religious film society .
the rank empire dominated british cinema throughout the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and to some extent the 1960s. during this period, its owner and founder j. arthur rank not only owned a large proportion of the studio space available to filmmakers at the time, but also a large number of cinemas .
he was the son of one of the great pioneers of british cinema, c. m. woolf, who started off in 1919 when, as a partner in w & f film service ltd, he successfully exploited the harold lloyd comedies. charles m. rose to become managing director of w & f, joint managing director with the ostrer brothers of gaumont - british picture corporation, and in 1935 persuaded j. arthur rank to join him in forming general film distributors. it was c. m. woolf' s secretary who devised the man - with - a - gong trademark which was adopted by the rank organisation .
in 1990 rank offered to acquire mecca leisure group for £512 million ($ 819 million). mecca' s management initially rejected the offer, then suddenly accepted it two months later. mecca' s holdings - - hotels, theme parks, 85 bingo parlors, and 11 hard rock cafes - - fit in well with rank' s operations. under rank, some of these operations were expanded, such as the hard rock cafes - - that chain grew to 15 units by 1995 - - while others were closed or sold off, such as the hotels, the last of which rank sold in 1994 .
‘these super sailors were chosen from the ‘best of the best, ’ and as such, were meritoriously promoted to the rank of chief petty officer. ’
‘he plays up his breeding and rank at every opportunity, and in doing so reveals himself to be an even grubbier character than we first imagined. ’
‘we are hoping that she will marry well, to a man with security for her and with connections and family and status and even social rank. ’
‘the stat scores available for each student range from 100 to 200 for each part and for the total, together with a percentile rank for each. ’
‘for the purpose of this study, a percentile rank of [ is less than or equal to ] 25 was considered below average for that group. ’
‘meanwhile black is pinned on the back rank and is thus playing without half his pieces, the black queen - rook and black queen - bishop. ’
‘she causes, some say, desolation, evil, and decay, yet she also creates palaces of art and culture, gardens of rank luxuriance. ’
‘we were up quite high on the southern side of the uldale, a flank of rough rank grasses, rushes, and countless seepage and springs. ’
always looking to the future j arthur established his own “company of youth” – more commonly known as the rank charm school – to train young acting talent .
geoffrey macnab, j. arthur rank and the british film industry, london, routledge (1993), isbn 0 - 415 - 07272 - 7 .
no, no. his background was, i would say, sales and hardware, the - the other part of the company was, if you like, the non - entertainment side, if you like, such things as rank - toshiba, rank - akai, televisions, rank - bush, bush - murphy, all that sort of stuff. and he had come from that side of the business and was, in many respects, a salesman. his role in a lot of it was sales and negotiation with the suppliers with whom rank had agencies. a lot of them were - rank had the agency, like for japanese audio equipment, hi - fi it was called then. and, in the ways of rank, he was then - he came into actually at one point the rank leisure services division itself because there was a dispute inside there, and the gentleman who was running rank leisure services, a man called brian quilter, who was running it extremely well, but had a falling out with john davis. the - at that time the rank hierarchy was: rank, davis and graham dowson, and brian quilter was certainly brighter than graham dowson. and he was a very good manager; he was a marketeer as well but he’d learnt the - that side of the business. when he left, ed chilton was parachuted in to run the rank leisure services division and than in a reorganization when, if i get this right, at some point when russell evans who was the company secretary became the chief executive under him were two divisional chairmen, ed chilton one on the film and leisure side and brian smith was on they - what they called the hardware side .
20. in 1947, the government, needing to conserve dollars for imports of food and other scarce commodities from the united states, restricted the hollywood studios to remitting only 25 per cent of their substantial profits. the hollywood studios responded by refusing to distribute any new films in the uk. the rank organisation tried to take advantage of this boycott by producing a series of high - value films but, by the time the films were ready for release, the dispute was resolved and british screens were flooded with a backlog of american films. rank' s production subsidiary lost £3m. during the 1950s, rank' s film production incurred mounting losses and in 1963 the management took the decision to diversify out of film production and into other areas, such as the joint venture in photocopying with xerox [
bibliography geoffrey macnab, j. arthur rank and the british film industry, 1993 charles drazin, the finest years: british cinema of the 1940s, 1998 .
while hollywood had marlon brando, james dean and montgomery clift, rank countered with
chaps
, actors such as kenneth more, john gregson, jack hawkins and (more ambivalently) dirk bogarde, seldom seen without tweed jackets or pipes. rank also distributed the carry on movies, and produced them from 1967 .
‘the chairman pulled rank, as they so often do in such open and shut cases, and persuaded his underlings he was entitled to enter his court. ’
sunday school teacher j arthur rank and his charm school for starlets took on the big los angeles studios and won. eighty years on we salute their ambition .
classic film buffs will fondly remember the thrilling sight of the famous “gong man” which preceded the opening credits of every movie produced by the rank organisation, england’s biggest and finest film production, distribution and exhibition company. the mere presence of this studio icon at the beginning of the film had the effect, much like the proverbial pavlov’s dog, of whetting the theater audience’s appetite, while assuring that they were about to share another brilliant movie experience. the gong man simply epitomized the best in filmmaking .
rank audio visual was created in 1960, bringing together rank' s acquisitions in multimedia, including bell and howell (acquired with gaumont british in 1941), andrew smith harkness ltd (1952) and wharfedale ltd (1958). subsequent acquisitions included strand electric holdings (1968) and h. j. leak & co. (1969). in the mid and late 1970s rank audio visual made a 3 - in - 1 stereo music centre, as well as tv sets in conjunction with nec of japan. the production of the
classic
rank tv ran in the mid to late 70s, some interim models appeared and the
modern
rank tv appeared in the early 80s. the nec badge did not appear in the pal / 220 / 240 volt countries until the mid 1980s .
which was quite a lot at the time. it could be... did the archives indicate how much money rank was going to put into the picture ?
it was in 1933 that j arthur rank, a middle - aged yorkshire flour magnate, decided to equip various methodist halls and churches with their own movie projectors. little did he know it then, but rank had set in train a business that would provide british cinema history with many of its most sublime and absurd moments .
‘to help alleviate a shortfall of 1, 900 captains, the u. s. army will promote officers earlier to the rank of captain beginning in october. ’
rank’s family had been involved in the flour business since 1875 and the company his father joseph established eventually grew into the biggest bread and flour enterprise in the country.
the rank organisation was a british entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist j. arthur rank in april 1937 . it quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in britain , owning production , distribution and exhibition facilities . it also diversified into the manufacture of radios , tvs and photocopiers ( as one of the owners of rank xerox ) . the company name lasted until february 1996 when the name and some of the remaining assets were absorbed into the newly structured the rank group plc . the company logo , the gongman , first used in 1935 by the group 's distribution company general film distributors and seen in the opening titles of the films , became a celebrated and enduring film emblem .
the rank organisation was a british entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist j. arthur rank in april 1937. it quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities. it also diversified into the manufacture of radios, tvs and photocopiers (as one of the owners of rank xerox). the company name lasted until february 1996 when the name and some of the remaining assets were absorbed into the newly structured the rank group plc. the company logo, the gongman, first used in 1935 by the group's distribution company general film distributors and seen in the opening titles of the films, became a celebrated and enduring film emblem.
the rank organisation was a british entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist j. arthur rank in april 1937. it quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities. it also diversified into the manufacture of radios, tvs and photocopiers (as one of the owners of rank xerox). the company name lasted until february 1996 when the name and some of the remaining assets were absorbed into the newly structured the rank group plc. the company logo, the gongman, first used in 1935 by the group's distribution company general film distributors and seen in the opening titles of the films, became a celebrated and enduring film emblem.