Rocking Empire

The news was worse than expected. Last week Britain's Cinemagnate J. Arthur Rank reported that his Odeon Theatres, Ltd. and subsidiaries had lost $9,380,000 on moviemaking in fiscal 1949. Things were so bad, said the man who has been making 50% of Britain's motion pictures, that he might be forced to stop all production after June 1950.

Most of the blame for Rank's plight was put on England's 40% entertainment tax, through which the Labor government got $25,000,000 from Rank's films alone. Said Rank: "Too much of the industry's life blood is being drained out of the box office." His plaint was echoed by Sir Alexander Korda, independent moviemaker who has also had his troubles, and who has also asked for aid in the form of tax relief for the industry.

Instead of that, Labor M.P. and Editor Michael Foot of the weekly Tribune (whose pretty, 34-year-old bride is an independent film producer) thought the government should "use the opportunity presented by the spectacle of the rocking Rank empire to go into the film business itself." Foot wants to establish a state theater circuit and a national motion picture company to finance independent producers and distribute their films. But his idea got scant support. The government has not done very well with its venture into the movie business so far. It had set up the National Film Finance Corp., with capital of $20,000,000 (before devaluation), to finance independents for five years. In 13 months of operation, the corporation has about run through its money, is ready to ask Parliament for more.

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