Critically discuss the positive and negative effects which 'The Essay

Critically discuss the positive and negative effects which 'The Private Life of Henry VIII had upon the British film industry of - Essay Example Quotas and Quickies in British Film Industry Hollywood has begun to overrule all other filming industries around the world, making the competition of international and local cinemas rise. In England, 1930’s â€Å"were turbulent years† for the British filming industry, as the import of Hollywood films became more popular than the locally produced films (Aldred, 1996.). As an action from the government, a legislation was passed ordering all movie houses to showcase British products. Although it was a good act to make, the unexpected result happened as the mediocre, low-budget British films were made so as to fulfill the legislation and avoid any legal impediments. The Cinematograph Film Act of 1927, instead of successfully addressing the problems of British movie’s audience share, produced a line of â€Å"quota quickies† or movies made for the sake of following the legislation. In other words, a large number of British movies of that time period were based o n quantity, not quality and consequently failed to reach the minimum profit of each movie shown. This Act of Parliament, although considered a failure, brought British film making into a more active state compared to the period before the law was enacted (Richards, 2001, p. 57). The Film Act of 1927 became known throughout Europe, and some countries like Germany did the same legislation in order to enhance their own locally-produced films (Richards, 2001, p. 59). Quota quickies were born out of the legislation from the Parliament to enhance the production of British films, and not to bombard the cinemas with mediocre outputs. Realizing the inability and less use of the Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 to the proliferation of quality British films, another Act of Parliament was made to amend the flaws of the previous legislation. Cinematograph Films Act of 1938 ordered the raise of British film quotas from 5 per cent to 15 per cent and required all British films to be worthy of passin g the international standards, thus, debunking the typical perception of the British movies in the 1930’s. Following the decline of the U.S. market on the period of the Great Depression, local movie producers were given the â€Å"space [to create] new and unusual films† (Ashby & Higson, 2000, p. 57). This also served as the first manifestation of the American presence in the British-made films. Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), an American film production company was the first one to make British-inspired films, which were huge successes for both British and American audience. Consequently, America’s great depression forced American producers to seek refuge in the British lands. British setting is not unusual for the American audience, with the British history as mandatory subject in schools. According to Reynolds (n.d.), the appreciation of British-set movies by American movie goers stems from the interest of the Americans of â€Å"British traditions and institutions especially of the class system† (cited in Ashby & Higson, 2000, p. 58). Ashby and Higson’s (2000) claim about the class system as marketable topics in