Transatlantic Crossings: British Feature Films in the United StatesTransatlantic Crossings is the first major study of the distribution and exhibition of British films in the USA. Charting the cross-cultural reception of many British films, Sarah Street draws on a wide range of sources including studio records, film posters, press books and statistics. While the relative strength of Hollywood made it difficult for films that crossed the Atlantic, StreetAEs research demonstrates that some strategies were more successful than others. She considers which British films made an impact and analyzes conditions that facilitated a positive reception from critics, censors, exhibitors and audiences.Case studies include Nell Gwyn (1926), The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), The Ghost Goes West (1935), Henry V (1946), Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), Ealing comedies, The Horror of Dracula (1958), Tom Jones (1963), A Hard DayAEs Night (1964), Goldfinger (1964), The Remains of the Day (1993), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Trainspotting (1996).Against a background of the economic history of the British and Hollywood film industries, Transatlantic Crossings considers the many fascinating questions surrounding the history of British films in the USA, their relevance to wider issues of Anglo-American relations and to notions of "Britishness" on screen. |
Contents
British Silent Films in the United States | 13 |
Exportable Texts and Stars Alexander Korda | 43 |
Exportable Texts and Stars Herbert Wilcox | 73 |
Prestige History and Shakespeare | 91 |
Questions of Censorship and Ideology | 119 |
British Films as Art and Entertainment | 140 |
New Money New Identities | 169 |
British Films and the New Hollywood | 193 |
Conclusion | 218 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
20th Century-Fox advertising Allied Artists American audiences American films American market Anglo-American appeal art market Auten Balio Beatles Black Narcissus Bond films box-office Breen Britain British Cinema British film industry British Film Institute British producers campaign censorship Columbia comedy Continental critics cultural Curse of Frankenstein distribution distributors Dracula Eagle Lion Eagle-Lion Ealing earned example exhibitors export feature Film Daily film's films in America foreign films Four Weddings Gaumont-British Ghost Goes West grossed Gwyn Hamlet Hard Day's Night Henry VIII Higson Hollywood International Korda London Love major Michael Balcon million Motion Picture Herald Nell Gwyn overseas Paramount PCA file Plate popular poster press book production publicity Rank's reception Red Shoes release rental reported RFDA roadshow screen stars studios success television theatres tion Total Imports Trainspotting UA's United Artists Universal archive Variety Warners Wicked Lady Wilcox World York