The Film Business

A History of British Cinema 1896-1972

Ernest Betts

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781032602585
• eBook ISBN: 9781003810179
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

First published in 1973 The Film Business makes a factual survey of British films from their beginnings in 1896 to 1972. Ernest Betts offers character studies of men who have built the film industry and made it what it is. He examines the financial and political background and shows how, while intending to encourage film production, it has often had exactly the opposite effect and inhibited its free development. Betts also attacks the manner in which the American film industry has taken over the British film industry and points to the failure of successive governments to save it from repeated crises and losses. Through these fluctuations the author keeps a firm eye on the film itself and brings the judgement of film critics past and present to bear on British cinema, as it moves uncertainly and not without its triumphs into the 1970s.

This is an interesting read for students and scholars of film studies, British film history and British cinema.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Table of Contents
• Illustrations
• Part I Beginnings
• Part II Development
• Part III The Film Matures
• Part IV Documents and War Films
• Part V End of The Great Days
• Part VI Transition Stage
• Part VII Into the 1970s
• Appendix I Documentary: The Last Word
• Appendix II Post-war Trends in Cinema-going
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index