J. Arthur Rank

Heir to a flour and milling fortune who entered films in the mid-1930s and, within a decade, had become Britain's most powerful film magnate. Initially interested in the medium as a means of promoting his Methodist beliefs, Rank efficiently acquired production, distribution and exhibition interests to a point where he owned over half of his country's film studios (including Pinewood, Islington and Denham) as well as its two leading theater circuits, Gaumont British and Odeon. The Rank organization also supported such lauded production companies as The Archers ("The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" 1943, "Black Narcissus" 1946), Two Cities ("Henry V" 1945, "Odd Man Out" 1947) and Cineguild ("Great Expectations" 1945, "Oliver Twist" 1948).