Gaumont-British

Gaumont-British Picture Corporation

Company type	Private
Industry	Film production, film distribution, cinema operation
Predecessor	Gaumont (French company)
Founded	1898
Founder	Isidore Ostrer (independent from 1922)
Defunct	1962 (merged into The Rank Organisation)
Fate	Merged into The Rank Organisation
Headquarters	London , United Kingdom
Area served	United Kingdom
Key people	Isidore Ostrer, Edward Black
Products	Films, cinema exhibitions
Number of employees	16,000 (1930s)
Parent	The Rank Organisation (from 1941)

The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was a prominent British entity involved in film production, distribution, and cinema operation across the UK. Established in 1898 as a branch of the French company Gaumont, it gained independence in 1922 under the leadership of Isidore Ostrer and was ultimately integrated into The Rank Organisation by 1962.

Early developments and film production

Originally serving as the British division of the French Gaumont studio, Gaumont-British had its studios situated in Shepherds Bush, London, by 1910. The firm inaugurated purpose-built British film studios in 1914, which were later reconstructed to accommodate sound films and reopened in 1932.

Between 1910 and 1932, Gaumont Graphic newsreels featured regularly within cinema programming, transitioning to Gaumont Sound News in 1932 and subsequently rebranded as Gaumont British News in 1934.

In 1927, Gaumont-British merged with Ideal Film Company, a leading silent film producer at the time, creating Gaumont-British Pictures Corporation. Films produced at its Lime Grove Studios included Alfred Hitchcock’s acclaimed The 39 Steps (1935), while Islington Studios was responsible for Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938). During the 1930s, the company employed approximately 16,000 staff members.

Michael Balcon later reflected that despite hits such as The Thirty-Nine Steps and Tudor Rose, the overall financial and artistic performance of films from 1934 to 1935 was disappointing, due in part to ineffective international sales strategies and expensive American imports.

In the United States market, Gaumont-British handled its own film distribution until December 1938, when it entered a distribution partnership with 20th Century Fox. Producer Edward Black was among the key figures at the studio during this period.

Cinemas

Gaumont-British expanded its cinema operations significantly after acquiring General Theatre Corporation in 1928 followed by Provincial Cinematograph Theatres in 1929. This growth positioned it as Britain's first major cinema chain, boasting 180 cinemas by 1928 and nearly 300 by the following year.

Investment from Fox Film Corporation played an indirect role in supporting this expansion. The company either developed or acquired large-scale "super-cinemas" such as Bradford’s New Victoria (later known as Gaumont and Odeon) opened in 1930, Manchester’s Gaumont (1935), and the impressive Gaumont State Cinema located in Kilburn (1937). Ultimately, Gaumont-British owned a total of 343 cinemas across the country, including smaller venues like Holderness Hall in Hull.

Many cinemas under the Gaumont banner featured theatre organs designed to entertain audiences before shows and during intervals. The term "Gaumont" also referred to a unique flat-topped organ console style used for some Compton organs constructed between 1931 and 1934.

In the realm of UK cinema exhibition, partnerships between exhibitors and distributors were crucial. After acquiring Odeon and Gaumont chains, Rank secured film supply agreements with major studios such as 20th Century-Fox, Paramount, Walt Disney, Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures, United Artists, RKO Radio Pictures, Alexander Korda's London Films, Republic Pictures, British Lion Films, along with its own productions. Meanwhile, competitor ABC Cinemas aligned with Warner Brothers, MGM, Monogram Pictures, and Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC). Both groups also procured films through smaller distributors. For many years Rank maintained distinct release patterns for Odeon and Gaumont cinemas; some Odeon venues were renamed Gaumont when they shifted release schedules.

In 1948 Rank unified management and booking operations for Odeon and Gaumont chains. However, declining audience numbers throughout the 1950s resulted in widespread closures of cinemas and diminished Gaumont’s role in film bookings. In 1959 Rank reorganized exhibition by merging premier Gaumont and Odeon theatres into a new Rank release circuit; other cinemas were designated to a "National" release system. Paramount exited the National circuit in 1961 due to distribution disagreements and switched to ABC. Continued declines in attendance and venue numbers caused the National release system to disappear eventually, leaving Rank and ABC as the two primary circuits. The Gaumont brand was gradually discontinued; cinemas without an Odeon counterpart were frequently renamed Odeon within several years. The final cinema bearing the Gaumont name was rebranded as Odeon in Doncaster in January 1987.

Other business activities

In 1940, Gaumont-British expanded its portfolio by acquiring Cinema-Television, which subsequently took over Bush Radio in 1945. Three years later, in 1948, Gaumont-British purchased British Optical and Precision Engineers (BOPE), the parent company of Taylor, Taylor & Hobson, Kalee, and British Acoustic Films. This entity was rebranded as Rank Precision Industries in 1956.

G.B.-Kershaw and G.B.-Kalee

Established in 1888 by Abram Kershaw in Leeds, the firm specialized in photographic equipment and cinema projectors marketed under the Kalee name from the 1910s onward. Eventually becoming part of Amalgamated Photographic Manufacturers as Kershaw-Soho Ltd, the company was acquired by Gaumont British, forming G.B.-Kalee Ltd. Both GB-Kershaw and GB-Kalee labels were associated with a variety of 8-mm and 16-mm cine cameras, movie and slide projectors, as well as still cameras. Additionally, G.B.-Kalee distributed professional cinema cameras and sound devices, including 16-mm and 35-mm Arriflex models, under the Gaumont-Kalee brand.

G.B. Equipments Ltd and G.B.-Bell and Howell

As a subsidiary of Gaumont-British, G.B. Equipments Ltd manufactured several 16-mm sound projectors before and during World War II, such as the G.B.-Scope A and B, Grosvenor, and the G.B. K and L series. After the war, the company discontinued original designs to produce licensed American models from Bell & Howell, marketed in the UK under G.B.-Bell & Howell or Bell & Howell-Gaumont. Throughout the 1950s, G.B.-Bell & Howell either produced or distributed a range of 8 mm and 16 mm cine cameras and projectors.

Ownership

In 1929, control of Gaumont-British passed to Metropolis and Bradford Trust, an entity managed by Isidore Ostrer and his siblings.

By 1941, The Rank Organisation took over Metropolis and Bradford through General Cinema Finance Corporation, which also included its affiliate company Gainsborough Pictures. That same year, Rank further expanded by acquiring competing cinema chain Odeon Cinemas.

In 1962, an investment by 20th Century Fox in Metropolis and Bradford facilitated the consolidation of Gaumont-British with The Rank Organisation.

Currently, ownership of Gaumont-British along with Gainsborough Pictures rests with Gregory Motton.

See also

• List of Gainsborough Pictures films

External links

• Gaumont-British Picture Corporation Limited