Another canard is that Ealing never took any chances and always played
safe. The record shows that Ealing often exposed itself to the risk
of failure, and when it occurred Balcon wasted little time on recriminations.
By its nature, the film business is one in which temperament and ego
abound, and in which bitter rivalries can damage careers and work. Under
his firm grip such things were not allowed to get out of hand. Proof
of the success with which Michael Balcon kept things together lay in
the consistency and loyalty of the Ealing team. Some who had joined
him near the beginning or had even, as in Basil Dearden's case, worked
at the studios in Dean's time, were still with Balcon at the end, twenty
years later.
It was Balcon's mission to present the British character, or his idea
of it. He regarded the British as individualists who were not averse
to joining up with each other to battle against a common cause. He saw
a nation tolerant of harmless eccentricities, but determinedly opposed
to anti-social behaviour. He venerated initiative and spirit, personal
achievement rather than reliance on some higher authority. He was of
the 'small is beautiful' persuasion, not caring for large organisations
or the bureaucratic powers of civil servants. Ealing's values were decent,
virtuous and simplistic, and finite of ambition. Balcon ran the studios
much as would be expected in the plot of a typical Ealing film, with
him as a Jack Hawkins figure
galvanising a motley collection of disparate people into an efficient,
cohesive force, capable of outsmarting and taking advantage of the faceless
corporation (Rank) which would otherwise swallow them up, and of keeping
their identity intact. The pity is that there could be no happy ending,
only a slow fade-out. It was not really that the money men eventually
won, but that the times changed and the special qualities of Ealing
no longer seemed appropriate.
The last film bearing the discreet Ealing logo was released in 1959.
But unlike many other old British film studios that are now furniture
warehouses, factories, housing estates and shopping centres, the buildings
on their compact site between Walpole Park and Ealing Green became the
property of the BBC in 1955 for £350,000, the final film made on the
Ealing site was The Long Arm, after
this Stephen Courthauld announced his retirement from the board,
to try and secure financial stability Ealing production was moved to
an exclusive wing of the MGM British studios at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire,
close to Elstree for the handful of final films were produced. During
the BBC's ownership from 1956 until 1992, they created some of television's
finest productions including 'Colditz', 'The Singing Detective' and
'Fortunes of War'.
The 1990's were a time of transition for the studios. It was acquired
by BBRK in 1992 and by the National Film and Television School in 1994.
Throughout this time the studios continued to be a base for film and
television production. The studios were bought in 2000 by Barnaby Thompson
and Uri Fruchtmann (Fragile Films), property developer Harry Handelsman
(Manhattan Loft Corporation) and author/producer John Kao. In June 2001,
permission was granted to develop the 3.8 acre site into a next generation
studio for television, digital and traditional filmmaking companies.
The redevelopment proposal retains and upgrades the original 1930's
sound stages complex as the core facility, around which additional new
facilities will be built including stunning office space, underground
parking, screening rooms and a café, as well as performance and
production space.
As well as a thriving studio facility, Ealing Studios is once again
becoming an integrated film and television production house as it was
during the 1950's. Ealing Studios has now fully revived its history
of in-house filmmaking with
The Importance of Being Earnest (2002). This was the first production
to be made under the Ealing Studios banner since 1959.
