In the 1920s, Hepworth became famous for shooting several successful works such as Alf's Button (1920). Pearson's films are All Careless (1920), Firecrackers (192 1), Love Life and Laughter (1923) and Wake Up (1924). He is the most popular star in British silent film era, B. Ballmer. Another popular film is Kipps by H. Shaw (1921), but the most outstanding and commercially successful work is Woman to Woman by G. Katz (1923), and its success is attributed to producer M. Balcaen, director V. Saville and playwright. Hitchcock became famous in gainsborough Film Company in the late 1920s, and directed Happy Garden (1925) and Tenant (1926). Other successful products of this company are Katz's Mouse (1925), A. brunell's home in England (1927) and the eternal fairy (1928). At the same time, several other newcomers have emerged: director and producer H. willcocks directed the films Ten Nights Talk (1924), The Only Way (1925) and Nelgwen (/klgwen) after his famous work Zhu Jinzhou. L. Dai? 6? 1 Có rdoba directed her (1925); M. Elway directed by Miss armand Tell (1926) and Admiral's adjutant (1926).
With the development of film production, Britain's film screening venues have gradually separated from amusement parks and built cinemas that can accommodate hundreds of audiences. At that time, pianists and small bands were hired to accompany films. Soon, a number of large cinemas opened, but since 1909, American and French films have occupied the British market, and domestic films only account for 15% of the total national films. Therefore, Britain can neither recover a lot of money from the domestic film market, nor have enough financial resources to invest in making high-quality films and compete with foreign films for domestic and foreign markets. After the outbreak of World War I, British film production was even more affected. Starting from 19 16, Britain increased the entertainment tax, which was even worse for the cinema business, and the film industry was further in crisis. After World War II, American movies kept coming, which made only 5% of British movies released in China, and only a handful of them were exported. So some famous producers such as Hepworth had to close their studios at 1924. In order to protect national films, the government authorities formally passed the film bill in 1927, which stipulated the quota allocation ratio, requiring 1935 to reach 20% of the total, so that the proportion of British films shown in cinemas nationwide increased year by year. At this time, new studios such as Gumont Company, British International Film Company and British Lion Company were established one after another. By the end of the 1920s, Britain had produced a number of remarkable films, such as duel field by Hitchcock (1928), Meteor by Asquith (1928) and Underground (1928), and E.A. DuPont. Due to the quota allocation of cinema release rate, a large number of films are needed to fill the vacancy, which has stimulated the prosperity of British films. However, good movies need to spend a lot of money and time. In order to meet the market demand, the products are still a lot of mediocre films with poor quality, which saves labor and time. 1929, the audio movie came out. The problems Britain faces are roughly the same as those in other countries, such as poor recording methods and heavy equipment. The content of the film from beginning to end is either endless dialogue or song after song. Hitchcock's Blackmail was changed to a talking film in the middle of shooting. He is very creative in using sound effects. This is recognized as the first sound film in Britain, which is very inspiring to other directors. Since then, he has made many successful audio films, including Hitchcock's Murder (1930), Asquith Escaped from Dartmoor (1930), Telling about England (193 1) and Dancing, Beautiful Girl. W-Plan by Saville (1931) and Girls in the Office (1932), Rome Express by W. Ford (1932), Magic Night by Wilcock (/kloc-0
In 1930s, there was a brief boom in British films, with an annual output of 150 to 200 films. The revival of feature films has much to do with Kodak, a Hungarian-born filmmaker. After he settled in England on 1933 and founded the London Film Studio, he made many successful films, including The Private Life of Henry VIII. He used a new viewpoint to deal with historical themes, put forward the problem of social outlet, catered to the audience's democratic thoughts and achieved great success. This film enjoys a reputation far beyond that of other British films abroad. More importantly, Kodak's tireless enterprising spirit urges all employees in the film industry to strive to improve their professional level. He opened up broad prospects for British films to be exported abroad, and also injected optimism and efforts into the film industry. His company also recruited talents from all over the world and invited them to work in Britain, which promoted the development of the British film industry. For example, Queen Catherine (1934) directed by German director P. Sinner, Don Juan starring American star Van Punk (1934), Ghost Westbound (1935) filmed by French director Claire R, an American director and art designer. The films produced by this company, such as The Thorn on the River (1935) and The Hidden Elephant Prodigy (1937) directed by Z Kodak, and the Rembrandt Biography (that is, Passion Painting, 1936) produced by Kodak itself, are all successful.
During this period, other British producers and directors followed Kodak's footsteps, such as knowledgeable person (1934), Thirty-nine Steps (national defense secret, 1935) and Destruction (short-lived flower, 65438+). In addition, Saville's good partners (1933), Evergreen Tree (1934) and Iron Duke (1935), Nell of Wilcock? 6? 1 Gwen (1934), prosthetic leg of old Drewry (1935) and Queen Victoria (1937), Seuss Jew of L. Mendes (1934), T. 6? 1 Ross (1936) and B. Viertl's Rhode Island (1936) have high evaluation. By 1937, the production of British feature films had reached more than 200. However, the good times did not last long. Most producers don't pay attention to quality, and their films have no box office value. In addition, most of the funds come from borrowing, and the year-end settlement has little profit. By 1938, the output suddenly dropped. In order to save this situation, the British Parliament passed a new film bill this year, which stipulated that the distribution quota of British films in China should be increased from 1938 to 12.5%, and increased to 25% every year in 1947. Resist shooting films with low cost and poor quality; Allow foreign capital to invest in the British film industry. According to this clause, MGM and 20th Century Fox Film Company of the United States funded the establishment of several joint studios in Britain, such as A Yankee in Oxford (namely, the history of studying in Britain, 1938) and The Castle (namely, the Acropolis, 1938) invested by MGM. These films are directed by Hollywood directors and starred by Hollywood stars. The British side only provides venues, photographic equipment, technicians and individual actors. During this period, British film directors also produced several successful films, such as The Flower Girl by Asquith (1938), The Missing Woman by Hitchcock (namely, The Robbery of Qionghua, 1938) and bank holidays by Reed C (/kloc-0).