CASE STUDY
The Blakeley Film Company
Written by Martina Keens-Betts and based on the research and writings of Dr. Chris Lee of Salford University and an interview with Mike Blakeley
T
he film industry is not necessarily the first sector which comes to mind when contemplating the whereabouts
of the
archetypal entrepreneurial profile. In my opinion, however, one of the greatest families in the UK’s entrepreneurial history also happens to rank amongst the Fathers of film production and distribution. In fact, Charlie Chaplin owes a good deal of his popularity on this side of the pond to this extraordinary family, as does the late Patricia Phoenix who played Coronation Street’s doyenne of ‘tragi- females’, Elsie Tanner. In fact, Phoenix was only one of many 20th Century UK TV and films stars who were given their first nod by the guys to whom I will introduce you.
Many books and TV programmes on UK film history go to great lengths to revisit the successes of the famous southern studios such as Pinewood, Shepperton and the like but there is only the occasional reference to the highly successful and pioneering Blakeley family business. In fact, the memory of their outstanding contribution to film history could well have been lost to time if it wasn’t for a small group of literary and arts professionals who keep their memory alive. These dedicated individuals include Dr Chris Lee of Salford University’s Film School, who
44 entrepreneurcountry
kindly provided the research for this article via his website
www.itsahotun. com, and Manchester historians Philip & David Williams who co-authored the book ‘Hooray for Jollywood’.
‘Mancunian Films’ traces its origins back to 1908 when market trader, James Blakeley and his sons – John E and James ‘Jim’ junior, purchased a ‘cinema’. I place the word cinema in inverted commas because in those days such a construction was often a disused chapel with a sloping floor which was given the slang term ‘Penny Gaff’. The interior was typically and crudely furnished with benches, a projector and a bed-sheet which hung from the rafters above the disused altar and on which the actors of the day were eagerly venerated. But how ever resourceful and ingenious this attempt to provide entertainment to northerners on wet weekends appeared to the practical mindset, it is unsurprising that this somewhat ‘primitive’ accommodation was unappealing to the majority of those who considered themselves to be ‘cultured’ and thus attendance was generally restricted to the lower classes. But one fact over which no one could argue was that the cinema was an outstanding commercial success – it was packed from wall-to- wall every night! And what can later be acknowledged as the Blakeley knack of ‘zeitgeist-spotting’, John Blakeley
was quick to capitalise on the growth of
this
phenomenon and swiftly sold the cinema, so that they could embark on the business of film distribution.
After the
formation of ‘Blakeley’s Central Film Agency’, the
family didn’t have long to wait for its next encounter with even greater commercial success. Owing to John E’s 1915 review of Charlie Chaplin’s first full length comedy ‘Tillie’s Punctured Romance’, they gained exclusive rights for the North West region. This was a massive coup for the family because the film was deemed by other rental companies to be too long to hold the public’s attention, but it quickly became a box-office hit and the Company gained national recognition, as well as proudly taking its place in film history.
By 1927 the now unstoppable
and gutsy visionary, John E, was persuading the family that they should move into film production which had
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