Case Study
always been his ultimate goal. In fact, John E maintained his dream over time by regularly chanting: ‘Northern Films for Northern People’. The repetition of this ‘shaving mantra’ may well have been annoying to those in earshot, but its underlying ‘prayer’ would soon be answered through the production of a string of highly successful silent musicals.
These productions were commonly known as ‘sing-along- silents’ and their massive success lead to the production of the feature film ‘Two Little Drummer Boys’ which achieved ‘box-office breakeven’ in no time.
John E had pretty much assumed leadership of ‘Mancunian Films by 1930 and rumour has it that during their 1932 meeting with Laurel & Hardy at the
Midland Hotel in Manchester, Laurel encouraged the family to enter the world of ‘talkies’ i.e. films with sound. John E responded that the purchase of a new studio would be too expensive but Laurel wasn’t having any of it and shouted: ‘Rent One!’. And based on Laurel’s sound advice, the Company was raised to new commercial and artistic heights by the launch of the career of the great George Formby with his first two movies ‘Boots Boots’ and ‘Off The Dole’ which were both ‘talkies’.
Produced in a film studio above a London garage, there was no space for
elaborate camera work, nor extensive editing. However, this low maintenance production strategy was ironically a magic concoction
because the plots had to be simple and tight and acting talent had to be the best northern variety halls could offer. This recipe generated extremely profitable and successful movies and is a formula which is demonstrated today by many low budget British films and TV series. In fact, I believe these productions are testimony to the notion that you don’t necessarily need much money to produce a highly watchable film, as long as the quality of acting and plot is superior. Incidentally, as an avid film and sitcom watcher of the amateur species, I consider the 1990s’ TV series ‘The Royle Family’ and the more recent film production ‘The Disappearance of Alice Creed’ to be shining examples of such ‘one room’ sociological and psychological classics.
45 entrepreneurcountry
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