Adelphi Films: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox company

| name = Adelphi Films Limited

| logo = [[File:Adelphi Films Limited Logo.png]]

| caption logo_size = Adelphi Films Limited Logo200px

| trading_nametrade_name = <!-- d/b/a/, doing business as - if different from legal name above -->

| native_name = <!-- Company's name in home country language -->

| romanized =

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| assets =

| equity =

| owner = [[Kate Lees]]

| num_employees =

| parent =

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}}

'''Adelphi Films Limited''' was a [[United Kingdom|British]] film production company. With its sister company Advance, it produced over 30 films in the 1940s and 1950s and distributed many more. Adelphi linked [[Gainsborough Pictures]] and the raw “[[Kitchen sink realism|kitchen sink]]” dramas of the early 1960s.

Adelphi Films was founded in 1939 by Arthur Dent and is now managed by his granddaughter Kate Lees.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Adelphi Films story|url=http://www.adelphifilms.com/default.asp|publisher=Adelphi Films|accessdate=14 April 2011}}</ref>

==Films==

Adelphi is an archive of British feature films which have not been seen for over 50 years. The Adelphi film collection comprises over 40 [[British films]], stored for decades in a London suburban garage. Dating mainly from the 1940s and 1950s, the Adelphi film collection represents a classic period of [[Cinema of the United Kingdom|British film-making]], and features many British stars of the period, including [[James Mason]], [[Max Bygraves]], [[Spike Milligan]], [[Diana Dors]], [[Peter Sellers]], [[Petula Clarke]], [[Prunella Scales]], [[Sid James]], [[Wilson, Keppel and Betty]] and [[Rolf Harris]]’ screen debut. [[Dorothy Squires]]’ only film appearance was in ''[[Stars in Your Eyes]]'' (1956) which was co-scripted by [[Talbot Rothwell]] before he wentwrote onscripts to find fame and fortune as the writer offor the ''[[Carry On (film series)|Carry On]]'' movies.

The collection holds twomany ‘lost’ long unavailable films including featuring [[The Goons (The Goon Show)|The Goons]], filmsfirst madereleased in 19531951, with [[Peter Sellers]], [[Spike Milligan]], [[Harry Secombe]], [[Bill Kerr]] and [[Alfred Marks]] (''[[Penny Points to Paradise]]'' and ''[[Let's Go Crazy (film)|Let's Go Crazy]]'').<ref>{{cite news|last=Brooks|first=Richard|title=Lost Peter Sellers films on screen after 50-year intermission|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6493736.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005210913/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6493736.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 5, 2009|newspaper=The Sunday Times|date=June 14, 2009}}</ref> These had not been publicly viewed since they were made until theyfilms were released on [[DVD]] in August 2009.

Adelphi owns the [[copyright]] of the collection, (although several were released by other associated companies). In 2009, the archivecompany donated 30 reels of film to the [[BFI National Archive]] for [[Film preservation|restoration]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Outing for restored comedy films|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8100947.stm|newspaper=BBC News|date=15 June 2009}}</ref> Mainly shot in [[black and white]], the [[film]]s generally run between 80 and 90 minutes.

==People involved==

The list of players reads like a ‘who's-who’ of [[United Kingdom|British]] [[acting]] and [[comedy]] talent of the period – [[Ronnie Corbett]], [[Dennis Price]], [[James Mason]], [[Hermione Baddeley]], [[Max Bygraves]], [[Spike Milligan]], [[Harry Secombe]], [[Peter Sellers]], [[Bill Kerr]], [[Fred Emney]], [[Cardew Robinson]], [[Alfred Marks]], [[Freddie Frinton]], [[Ted Ray (comedian)|Ted Ray]], Wilson, Keppel and Betty, [[Dora Bryan]], [[Rachel Roberts (actress)|Rachel Roberts]], [[Tommy Trinder]], [[Brian Rix]], [[Diana Dors]], [[Vera Day]], [[Joan Hickson]], [[Joan Sims]], [[Sid James]], [[Harry Fowler]], Diana Dors [[John Gregson]], and [[David Tomlinson]] and [[Prunella Scales]].

==History==

Aldephi was founded in 1939. In 1949 it was acquired by Arthur Dent, who ran it with his two sons, Stanley and David. Arthur Dent had been a salesman for Famous Players–Lasky and worked for producers and Sam Goldwyn, and produced ''Comin' Thro the Rye'' (1947) for Advance.

==Select Films==

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

*''[[Law and Disorder (1940 film)|Law and Disorder]]'' (1940) - with Alistair Sim

*''Fight – Giants of the mat'' (1944) (documentary)

*''[[Comin’ Thro’ The Rye]]'' (1947)

*''[[The Phantom Shot]]'' (1947)

*''[[High Jinks in Society]]'' (1949) - directed by [[John Guillermin]]

*''[[Skimpy in the Navy]]'' (1949) - as Advance

*''[[Artful Dodgers]]'' (1949)

*''[[Torment (1950 British film)|Torment]]'' (1949) - directed by John Guillermin, with Dermot Walsh

*''[[The Nitwits on Parade]]'' (1949)

*''[[Melody in the Dark]]'' (1949) - written by John Guillermin

*''[[The Bait (1950 film)|The Bait]]'' (1950)

*''[[A Ray of Sunshine (film)|A Ray of Sunshine]]'' (1950)

*''[[Let's Go Crazy (film)|Let's Go Crazy]]'' (1951) (short) - with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan

*''[[Penny Points to Paradise]]'' (1951) - with Sellers, Milligan and Harry Secombe

*''[[My Wife's Lodger]]'' (1952) - as Adavance - with Diana Dors

*''[[Death is a Number]]'' (1951)

*''Lads and Lassies on Parade'' (1951)

*''[[My Death Is a Mockery]]'' (1952) as Park Lane - with Donald Houston

*''[[Song of Paris]]'' (1952) - directed by John Guillermin with Dennis Price

*''[[I Was a Dancer]]'' (1952)

*''[[The Kilties are Coming]]'' (1952)

*''[[Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?]]'' (1953) - directed by Maurice Elvey with Doris Dors

*''Disobedient'' (1953) - as Advance aka ''Intimate Relations''

*''[[The Great Game (1953 film)|The Great Game]]'' (1953) - as Advance, with Diana Dors

*''[[Alf's Baby]]'' (1953) for ACT Films - with Pauline Stroud

*''[[The Tell-Tale Heart (1953 British film)|The Tell-Tale Heart]]'' (1953)

*''[[He Done her Wrong]]'' (1953)

*''[[The Slappiest Days of Our Lives]]'' (1953)

*''[[Hands of Destiny (1954 film)|Hands of Destiny]]'' (1954)

*''[[Shop Spoiled]]'' (1954) aka ''The Crowded Day'' - directed by John Guillermin with John Gregson

*''[[Don't Blame the Stork]]'' (1954) - as Advance-Objective

*''[[Wishing Well (film)|Wishing Well]]'' (1954) as Advance) aka ''[[The Happiness of Three Women]]''

*''[[What Every Woman Wants (1954 film)|What Every Woman Wants]]'' (1954) - as Advance - directed by Maurice Elvey

*''[[Fun at St Fanny's]]'' (1955)

*''[[You Lucky People]]'' (1955) aka ''Get Fell In'' - as Advance - starring Maurice Elvey with Tommy Trinder

*''[[Dollars for Sale]]'' (1955)

*''[[Miss Tulip Stays the Night]]'' (1955) - as Jaywell - directed by Leslie Arliss with Diana Dors

*''[[Stars in Your Eyes]]'' (1956) - directed by Maurice Elvey

*''[[Fun at St Fanny’s]]'' (1956)- directed by Maurice Elvey

{{div col end}}

==References==

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==External links==

*[httphttps://www.adelphifilms.com/default.asp AdelphiOfficial Filmswebsite]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190622231105/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b96746aee Adelphi Films] at BFI

*[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1405736/index.html Adelphi Films] at BFI Screenonline

[[Category:1939 establishments in the United Kingdom]]

[[Category:CompaniesMass media companies established in 1939]]

[[Category:Film production companies of the United Kingdom]]