Cinema of the United Kingdom
British cinema shaped global film from the 19th century onward.
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Early colour films were pioneered in the UK, with the earliest known colour moving pictures dating from 1902.[1][2] The relationship between British cinema and the US film industry has been marked by both rivalry and joint ventures.[3]
Making and release
The first moving picture on celluloid was made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, who patented the process in 1890.[4] The British Film Institute was established in 1933 as the lead organisation for film in the UK.[5] Film production reached an all-time high in 1936, with 192 films released that year.[6] The Dalton Duty, a 75% tariff on film imports, was imposed on 6 August 1947 and ended on 3 May 1948.[7][8]
Alfred Hitchcock's 1929 film Blackmail is widely considered to be the first British feature film to include sound.[9] The Clue of the New Pin*, released earlier in 1929, was the first British feature film to have sound throughout.[10] Cinema attendance during World War II increased from just over 1 billion in 1940 to more than 1.5 billion in each of the years 1943, 1944, and 1945.[11]
What the cited sources add
Turner patented his colour process on 22 March 1899 and shot test films in 1902, but his work ended when he died suddenly of a heart attack.[2] Gerard Gilbert's article notes that the Crown Film Unit's earliest film, Britain at Bay, was made after the fall of France in June 1940.[12] The same article states that wartime films were shown not only in cinemas but also in factories and social clubs.[12] The same account notes that Graham Greene felt Reed showed "more sense of the cinema than most veteran British directors".[13]
References
- Wikipedia, "Cinema of the United Kingdom" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "World's first colour moving pictures discovered" . BBC News, 12 September 2012. Retrieved on 29 July 2013. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "World's first colour moving pictures discovered" . BBC News, 12 September 2012. Retrieved on 29 July 2013.. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
- Wikipedia, "Cinema of the United Kingdom" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Scott, Sir Ridley (1937-)", British Film Institute; "Chaplin, Charles (1889–1977)", British Film Institute (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cinema of the United Kingdom" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Louis Le Prince", Local Heroes, 28 November 1999; Howells, "Louis Le Prince: the body of evidence", Screen, Summer 2006, p. 179–200; "Who's Who of Victorian Cinema", www.victorian-cinema.net (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cinema of the United Kingdom" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "British Film Institute – GOV.UK", Government of the United Kingdom, 31 March 2022 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cinema of the United Kingdom" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sarah Street British National Cinema, London: Routledge, 2009, p. 12. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cinema of the United Kingdom" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "British film import duty 1948-49" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "British film import duty 1948-49". facts only, no text reused. terramedia.co.uk
- Wikipedia, "Cinema of the United Kingdom" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Warren, "British Film Studios: An Illustrated History", B. T. Batsford, 2001, p. 61; St. Pierre, "Music Hall Mimesis in British Film, 1895–1960: On the Hall on the Screen", Associated University Press, 31 May 2009, p. 79; Richard Allen, "Hitchcock: Past and Future", Routledge, 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cinema of the United Kingdom" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Burton, "Historical Dictionary of British Cinema", Scarecrow Press, 2013, p. 43; Alexander, "Associated British Picture Corporation (1933-70)", BFI screenonline, 2003–2014; Warren (2001), pp. 57, 58. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cinema of the United Kingdom" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Going to the pictures: British cinema and the Second World War", School of Advanced Study; "Going to the pictures: British cinema and the Second World War", School of Advanced Study (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Gerard Gilbert, "Britain's World War II films were more than just propaganda", The Independent, 3 September 2009. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk
- "Reed, Carol (1906–1976)", British Film Institute. facts only, no text reused. screenonline.org.uk
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Cinema of the United Kingdom (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Cinema of the United Kingdom (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Currency conversion: European Central Bank euro reference rates, rates of 16 October 2026.
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