Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank (December 23, 1888 – March 29, 1972) was a British industrialist and film producer, and founder of the Rank Organisation, now known as The Rank Group Plc. December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in Leap years). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Rank Group Plc was established on December 22, 1995 as a public limited company in England and Wales and in October 1996 it became a holding company owning all the outstanding shares of the Rank Organisation. ...

Family business

Joseph Arthur Rank was born on December 23, 1888 at Kingston upon Hull in England into a Victorian family environment, which was dominated by his father Joseph who had built a substantial flour milling business. Joseph is reported to have told his son Arthur that he was "a dunce at school" and that the only way that he could succeed in life would be in his father's flour mill. J. Arthur ventured on his own with Peterkins Self-Raising Flour, but when that business failed he returned to work for his father. That was the business (Joseph Rank Limited) that he later inherited and which became known as Rank Hovis McDougall (now the quoted company RHM). December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Hull or Kingston upon Hull is a British city situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of Great Britain marked the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Religious challenge

J. Arthur Rank was a devout member of the Methodist Church and in his middle age he taught Sunday School to which he began to show religious films. This practice expanded to other churches and schools and it led to his formation of the Religious Film Society to which he then distributed films that he had also made. His first production was called Mastership. The United Methodist Church is the largest Methodist denomination, and the second-largest Protestant one, in the United States. ... Sunday school, Indians and whites. ... Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ...

When the Methodist Times newspaper began to complain about the negative influence that British and American films shown in Britain were having on family life, their editorial was answered by the London Evening News who suggested that instead of complaining, the Methodist Church should provide a solution. Rank took up the challenge and via an introduction by a young film producer named John Corefield, he discussed both the problem and a solution with Lady Annie Henrietta Yule of Bricket Wood. The net result of these meetings was the formation of the British National Films Company. An editorial is a statement or article by a news organization (generally a newspaper) that expresses an opinion rather than attempting to simply report news, as the latter should ideally be done without bias. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom. ... The Norwich Evening News is a daily newspaper for Norwich city and the surrounding suburbs and outlying towns, and is published by Archant. ... Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire, England, approximately three miles from St Albans. ... Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire, England, approximately three miles from St Albans. ... In 1934 the British National Films Company was formed in England by J. Arthur Rank, Lady Annie Henrietta Yule of Bricket Wood and producer John Corefield. ...

The first commercial production by this company was Turn of the Tide, a movie based upon a recently published 1932 novel by Leo Walmsley called Three Fevers. Having created their movie, British National then had to get it distributed and exhibited, but this proved to be more difficult than making the movie itself. Some commercial screens began showing Turn of the Tide as a second feature, but this was not enough exposure for the company to make a profit. Turn of the Tide is a 1935 British film directed by Norman Walker. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Leo Walmsley was an English writer. ...

Pinewood Film Studios

Having first created a film production company and having made a movie at another studio, J. Arthur Rank, Lady Yule and John Corfield began talking to Charles Boot who had recently bought the estate of Heatherden Hall at Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, for the purpose of turning it into a movie studio that would rival those in Hollywood, California. In 1935 the trio became owner-operators of Pinewood Film Studios. Lady Yule later sold her shares to J. Arthur Rank and John Corfield resigned from its board of directors who were happy to see him go. Charles Boot of Sheffield, England was the creator and builder of Pinewood Studios on the estate of Heatherden Hall at Iver Heath in the parish of Iver in Buckinghamshire, England. ... Iver is located in the south-east corner of the county of Buckinghamshire and it forms one of the largest parishes under the authority of South Bucks District Council. ... Map of Bucks (1904) This article is about the English county. ... ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Commercial challenge

The problems encountered in the distribution of Turn of the Tide were addressed when J. Arthur Rank discovered that the people who controlled the British film industry had ties to the American movie industry and that for all practical purposes he was shut out of his own domestic market. American films occupied 80% of British screen time during the era before World War II. This article is becoming very long. ...

In 1936 Rank arrived at a solution to his distribution problems. Because the middlemen controlled the distribution pipeline from production to exhibition, he decided to buy a large part of both the distribution and exhibition systems. He began by forming a partnership with film maker C.M. Woolf (father of Sir John Woolf), for the purpose of creating the General Cinema Finance Corporation (GCFC). They then used that company to buy out General Film Distributors who were the UK distributors for Universal Pictures). 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sir John Woolf and James Woolf of Romulus Films. ... Universal Studios Theme Parks. ...

Rank Organisation

In 1937 J. Arthur Rank began to consolidate his movie interests in both the Pinewood Film Studios and the Denham Film Studios and other interests within a new company called the Rank Organisation. In 1938 the Rank Organisation bought the ODEON cinema chain (named after its founder's own ambition: Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation). In 1938 the Rank Organisation bought Amalgamated Studios in Elstree and in 1941 it absorbed the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation who owned 251 cinemas and the Shepherd's Bush Studios (which the Rank Organisation later sold to BBC Television.) It also bought the Paramount cinema chain so that by 1942 the Rank Organisation owned 619 cinemas. He was succeeded as Chairman by Sir John Davis, upon his retirement. A more complete history is found under the Rank Organisation from 1937 to 1986 and The Rank Group Plc which absorbed the Rank Organisation in 1986. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Pinewood Studios is a major film studio that is situated approximately 20 miles west of London among the pine trees on what was the estate of Heatherden Hall in the village of Iver Heath in Iver Parish, in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. ... Denham Film Studios were a British film production studios operating from 1936 to 1952. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Odeon was a building used for musical performance in Athens built in the 5th century BC. Hence, any building in ancient Greece or the ancient Roman Empire was called an odeon. ... Oscar Deutsch was the creator of the ODEON cinema chain in the United Kingdom. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Amalgamated Studios were founded in 1935 in the Hertfordshire, UK town of Borehamwood. ... Elstree is a small village in Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5, north of London. ... This article is about the year. ... Gaumont Pictures were founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont (1864-1946). ... BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1936. ... BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1932. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... A chairman is the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or other deliberative body. ... Sir John Davis (1906-1993) was an English accountant and film executive. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rank Group Plc was established on December 22, 1995 as a public limited company in England and Wales and in October 1996 it became a holding company owning all the outstanding shares of the Rank Organisation. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Core interests

Although his critics claimed that many of the films that he had produced under the name of J. Arthur Rank were not exactly in keeping with his original intention of producing "family-friendly" movies to combat crass American commercial interests, he nevertheless kept to his core beliefs. To that end in 1953 he set up the J. Arthur Rank Group Charity to promote Christian belief. The charity later became known as The Rank Foundation. [www.rankfoundation.com] 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ...

Baron Rank

In 1957 J. Arthur Rank was raised to the Peerage, being created Baron Rank, of Sutton Scotney in the County of Hampshire. (Sutton Scotney is a small village between Andover and Winchester in Hampshire.) [www.rankfoundation.com] 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Sutton Scotney is a small village north of Winchester in the United Kingdom. ... A village is a human residential settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... Location within the British Isles Andover High Street Andover is a town in Hampshire, England, west of Basingstoke. ... Winchester is a historic city in southern England, with a population of around 40,000 within a 3 mile radius of its centre. ... Hampshire (abbr. ...

Cockney legacy

The name J. Arthur Rank became a common expression in Cockney rhyming slang meaning 'wank' (male masturbation). It is still used today, although because it is common practice when using rhyming slang to omit the actual rhyming word, it is typically referred to as simply a "J. Arthur". Cockney rhyming slang (sometimes abbreviated as CRS) is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London. ...

Popular Culture

Rank's infamous opening of his films, depicting a man in a toga hitting a gong, has been spoofed a few times over the years.

• A Muppet parody, J Arthur Link, showed Muppet pig Link Hogthrob in the toga. He swings at the gong, misses, spins around losing his balance, and hits the gong with his head.
• In the Gilligan's Island episode, "Castaway Pictures Presents", the opening of the film the castaways make to try to get rescued shows Gilligan in island garb hitting a gong that says "Castaway Pictures Presents", then while the gong noise goes off, He shakes and vibrates instead of the gong.