Harold Baim - Britmovie

julian_craster · 22-09-2005, 10:23 AM

Are you old enough to remember Harold Baim, the short film producer who
provided hours of tedium in British cinemas?

If so you will find these websites of great interest:

Harold Baim Film Library:
http://www.baimfilms.com/

A tribute to the great city of Birmingham
http://www.birminghamitsnotshit.co.uk/

The latter has clips to view from the Harold Baim Classic 'Telly Sevalas Visits Birmingham' (part of a series, to be followed by ......Rugby.....Nuneaton etc.)

Why not share your Harold Baim memories with us ....

Remember, it was Harold who brought us Michael Winner !

Roger

cardew · 02-03-2007, 07:38 PM

Baims film's were all made possible by the Eady Levy, a tax on cinema tickets supposed to go to support British films.

In practice you had to sign over the rights to the money to the distributor of the usually American film your short was showing with.

This entailed getting frequent statements of how much Eady Levy the distributors were getting, particularly when you were paired with a popular film, something I remember with irritation from the time when an action documentary I was involved in went out with Sylvia Kristel's mainstream follow up to 'Emmanuelle', 'Private Lessons.'

orpheum · 04-03-2007, 05:44 PM

I remember them only to well.Wasnt it Global-Queensway,the name of his company.You had to sit there for 20minutes and watch this utter drivel.I remember that on some occasions i just had to go out of the auditorium till the film was finished.One i remember was about speedway or cross country cycle racing.Oh what fun!These shorts replaced B features and were heralded on trailers as "With Full Supporting Programme".Just typing this on a Sunday afternoon brings all those memories back

julian_craster · 05-03-2007, 08:56 AM

Global-Queensway was a different operation, run by Arnold Louis Miller and his wife.
Arnold was the chap who brought us the Pauline Collins feature SECRETS OF A WINDMILL GIRL,,,

I understand that these 30 minute travel shorts attracted Eady Levy at DOUBLE the rate of a 60 minute 'B' film, which is why the distributors liked them so much ...

Can anybody confirm this ?

Mr Cosmo · 05-03-2007, 01:14 PM

When Michael Winner attended the Chichester Film Festival as a guest I asked him about THE COOL MIKADO and he said the idea was all Harold Baim's who knew that the Gilbert And Sullivan songs were about to come into the public domain and that he thought making a film containing their music would be a big success. THE COOL MIKADO turned out to be possibly the worst film ever made complete with poor sound, cardboard sets, terrible acting and sloppy direction. Winner dismissed the film as a TV special (although I don't think it has ever been shown on TV) and he clearly didn't like talking about it - although he was gracious enough to autograph my video of it.
On Harold Baim's website, he is credited with bringing Michael Winner into movies.
The one good thing - well 2 actually - that Harold Baim produced was SWINGING UK and UK SWINGS AGAIN which showcased bands like Unit 4 + 2, The Applejacks and The Four Pennies. They have now proved to be interesting historical documents.
See THE BAIM COLLECTION

05-03-2007, 01:14 PM	#5
Mr Cosmo has no status. Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Ambrosia Posts: 357 Country: iTrader: (2)	The Cool Mikado When Michael Winner attended the Chichester Film Festival as a guest I asked him about THE COOL MIKADO and he said the idea was all Harold Baim's who knew that the Gilbert And Sullivan songs were about to come into the public domain and that he thought making a film containing their music would be a big success. THE COOL MIKADO turned out to be possibly the worst film ever made complete with poor sound, cardboard sets, terrible acting and sloppy direction. Winner dismissed the film as a TV special (although I don't think it has ever been shown on TV) and he clearly didn't like talking about it - although he was gracious enough to autograph my video of it. On Harold Baim's website, he is credited with bringing Michael Winner into movies. The one good thing - well 2 actually - that Harold Baim produced was SWINGING UK and UK SWINGS AGAIN which showcased bands like Unit 4 + 2, The Applejacks and The Four Pennies. They have now proved to be interesting historical documents. See THE BAIM COLLECTION

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22-09-2005, 10:23 AM	#1
julian_craster has no status. Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Isle of Foula, UK Posts: 1,565 Country: iTrader: (0)	Are you old enough to remember Harold Baim, the short film producer who provided hours of tedium in British cinemas? If so you will find these websites of great interest: Harold Baim Film Library: http://www.baimfilms.com/ A tribute to the great city of Birmingham http://www.birminghamitsnotshit.co.uk/ The latter has clips to view from the Harold Baim Classic 'Telly Sevalas Visits Birmingham' (part of a series, to be followed by ......Rugby.....Nuneaton etc.) Why not share your Harold Baim memories with us .... Remember, it was Harold who brought us Michael Winner ! Roger

02-03-2007, 07:38 PM	#2
cardew has no status. Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Cheltenham Posts: 9 Country: iTrader: (0)	Baims film's were all made possible by the Eady Levy, a tax on cinema tickets supposed to go to support British films. In practice you had to sign over the rights to the money to the distributor of the usually American film your short was showing with. This entailed getting frequent statements of how much Eady Levy the distributors were getting, particularly when you were paired with a popular film, something I remember with irritation from the time when an action documentary I was involved in went out with Sylvia Kristel's mainstream follow up to 'Emmanuelle', 'Private Lessons.'

04-03-2007, 05:44 PM	#3
orpheum has no status. Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: London Posts: 1,306 Country: iTrader: (4)	I remember them only to well.Wasnt it Global-Queensway,the name of his company.You had to sit there for 20minutes and watch this utter drivel.I remember that on some occasions i just had to go out of the auditorium till the film was finished.One i remember was about speedway or cross country cycle racing.Oh what fun!These shorts replaced B features and were heralded on trailers as "With Full Supporting Programme".Just typing this on a Sunday afternoon brings all those memories back

05-03-2007, 08:56 AM	#4
julian_craster has no status. Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Isle of Foula, UK Posts: 1,565 Country: iTrader: (0)	Global-Queensway was a different operation, run by Arnold Louis Miller and his wife. Arnold was the chap who brought us the Pauline Collins feature SECRETS OF A WINDMILL GIRL,,, I understand that these 30 minute travel shorts attracted Eady Levy at DOUBLE the rate of a 60 minute 'B' film, which is why the distributors liked them so much ... Can anybody confirm this ?