Lord J. Arthur Rank (1888-1972) b. Hull, England.

J. Arthur Rank, a member of a Yorkshire flour-milling family, entered films in the mid-thirties, apparently seeing them as a means of propagating his Methodist faith. Having failed to secure proper distribution for a quasi-religious film, The Turn of the Tide (1935), he set about acquiring the means of not only production, but distribution and exhibition as well. Within a few years Rank owned two of three major circuits, studios, laboratories and equipment-manufacturers. To many he appeared as an arch-monopolist and ogre, to others the salvation of the British industry. To his credit he encouraged much independent film-making, allowing such talents as Carol Reed, David Lean, Launder and Gilliat, Michael Powell and many others to develop. But his ambitions to establish Britain as a rival to Hollywood toppled the delicate balance of the industry, his ventures one by one faded away as did the directing talent which had given temporary lustre to films in the mid-forties. Rescued by the firm accountancy of John Davis, the Rank Organisation survived, but with films a secondary interest behind hotels, real estate, ballrooms, bingo and – most profitable of all – copying machines.