Mayflower Pictures
Mayflower Pictures was a British film production company formed by producer Erich Pommer and actor Charles Laughton. It was active from 1936 to 1940, during which time it produced three films, all starring Laughton: Vessel of Wrath, a comedy directed by Pommer co-starring Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester and Robert Newton; St. Martin's Lane, a comedy drama directed by Tim Whelan co-starring Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison; and Jamaica Inn, an adventure thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock co-starring Maureen O'Hara and Robert Newton. Its films were mostly lensed at Elstree Studios with little on-location shooting, and were distributed in the United Kingdom by Associated British Picture Corporation and in the rest of the world by Paramount Pictures.
The company was noted for seeking top talent in the industry to work on its films and produced what was considered at the time major motion pictures in the British film industry. In 1938, it was described by the Evening Chronicle as "Potentially the most important unit working in this country." With the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939, Laughton and Pommer attempted to move Mayflower Pictures to Hollywood, with bidding offers coming from Paramount Pictures and RKO Radio Pictures. The pair instead signed individual contracts with RKO Radio Pictures and put the company on an indefinite hiatus, eventually dissolving it in 1940.
In 1949, Maxwell Setton and Aubrey Baring relaunched the company after purchasing Laughton and Pommer's remaining interests. Under their ownership, Mayflower Pictures produced seven more films: The Spider and the Fly, a crime drama directed by Robert Hamer starring Eric Portman, Guy Rolfe, and Nadia Gray; Cairo Road, an adventure crime drama directed by David MacDonald starring Portman, Laurence Harvey, and Maria Mauban; The Adventurers, an adventure directed by MacDonald starring Dennis Price, Jack Hawkins, and Siobhán McKenna; So Little Time, a romantic drama directed by Compton Bennett starring Marius Goring and Maria Schell; Appointment in London, a war drama directed by Philip Leacock starring Dirk Bogarde, Ian Hunter, Dinah Sheridan, and William Sylvester; South of Algiers, an adventure directed by Jack Lee starring Van Heflin, Wanda Hendrix, and Portman; and They Who Dare, a war drama directed by Lewis Milestone starring Bogarde, Denholm Elliott, and Akim Tamiroff. All but So Little Time were written by Robert Westerby.
Unlike the first series of films made in the 1930s, the new wave of productions was mostly filmed on location, with occasional shooting at Pinewood Studios, Shepperton Studios, and Elstree Studios. Its films were distributed variously in the United Kingdom by General Film Distributors, Associated British-Pathé, and British Lion Films, while in the United States and Canada, each film had a different distribution deal with Universal-International Pictures, Realart Pictures, Lippert Pictures, Associated Artists Productions, United Artists, and Allied Artists Pictures. This iteration of the company closed down in 1954.
History
The new company (1936–1937)
The Mayflower Pictures Corporation, Limited was formed in December 1936, and registered as a new company in London on 25 January 1937, by German-born film producer Erich Pommer and British actor Charles Laughton. The pair were then major stars in the British film industry and planned to make motion pictures that had mass audience appeal to both the British and American market, seeking top names in the business to work on their productions. Laughton turned down several offers to appear in American films to focus on his new film production company. Laughton and Pommer each held joint managing director positions in the company.In late February 1937, Pommer and Laughton invited American film director William K. Howard to discuss his directing Mayflower Pictures' first film. The trio was looking for a suitable story, likely to star Laughton and announced they would not start production until three films had been fully scripted. They hired Clemence Dane and Sir Hugh Walpole to write for them, and eventually brought over one of Hollywood's top-paid playwright/screenwriter, former American actor Bartlett Cormack, to work on and develop several scripts for the company. Meanwhile, Laughton was busy with the filming of I, Claudius for Alexander Korda's London Films, but planned to turn his focus exclusively to Mayflower Pictures once production wrapped, or in this case, his contract expired, since the film had been halted.
In late June 1937, Laughton announced that he would star in, and that Pommer would produce, three films for Mayflower Pictures for a total cost of £250,000, or, at most, £100,000 per picture: Vessel of Wrath, St. Martin's Lane, and Jamaica Inn. It was reported that at least one of the three films was to be made in color; Jamaica Inn was later revealed to have originally intended to be filmed in Technicolor. In early July 1937, British film producer John Maxwell, who ran Elstree Studios, Associated British Picture Corporation, and Associated British Cinemas, became a financial partner in Mayflower Pictures by buying a substantial interest in shares in the company. Maxwell's role in the firm, and as chairman of the board, was to guarantee financing and distribution of the films in the British Isles and North America, though Laughton told American reporters that same month that the company was having difficulty securing an American distributor. Through Maxwell, the company also secured the use of Elstree Studios for its productions. Laughton told reporters in July 1937 that he wished to retire from acting within two years and focus solely on producing films.
The first film to go into production was a comedy based on the 1931 short story "The Vessel of Wrath" by W. Somerset Maugham, and was initially to be directed by Cormack, who also wrote the screenplay. The picture's working title was Hot Heaven. Laughton cast his wife, Elsa Lanchester, to co-star in the picture, along with a supporting actors like Robert Newton and Tyrone Guthrie. Filming was done mainly at Elstree Studios, but also on the Cote D'azur in France, with Pommer taking over as director. The film was noted for including the longest single take for a scene on a talkie film at the time, one that lasted four and a half minutes.
By October 1937, a fourth film had been added into the company's future schedule, based on an original idea by Cormack about a newspaper man and the rise, fall, and closing of London newspaper The Morning Post. It was to star Laughton and be directed by Pommer. Pommer described the synopsis as "Laughton will be seen as the son of a newspaper man on a historic Fleet-street journal, steeped in the traditions of journalism and born into the newspaper business. Inevitably, like all members of his family, he goes into Fleet-street, and the story will trace his rise from his arrival on the paper up through various stages, until he finally becomes editor. With changing times and the consequent change in ideas, the historic old paper eventually closes down, ending a long and glorious history, with the final scene, perhaps, showing Laughton rising from desk, as the last edition goes out, to carefully setting his silk hat on his old head, passing through the outer office, and murmuring 'Good-night gentlemen,' he finally walks out of the office and the paper he has loved, just as he has walked out every evening for the last fifty years." The film was never made.
Vessel of Wrath premiered on 24 February 1938 at the Regal Theatre in London, but the press predicted a limited turnout as it was held the same night as the British premiere of Walt Disney Productions' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Laughton later toured England and Europe to promote the film at its various local openings. The film received mixed reviews by critics, with some praising it as one of the finest films of the year. In August 1938, it was announced that Vessel of Wrath would be distributed in the United States and Canada by Paramount Pictures, but under the alternative title The Beachcomber. It had its American premiere at the Rivoli Theatre in New York on 24 December 1938, and its Canadian premiere at the Princess Theatre in Montreal on 13 January 1939; both were attended by Lanchester. The film was put into general North American release on 10 March 1939.
Rise in importance (1937–1939)
The second picture for the company, St. Martin's Lane, was an original story by Clemence Dane dealing with the West End, written especially for Laughton and Mayflower Pictures. Cormack, Laughton, and Pommer each contributed to the screenplay. In February 1938, after months of negotiations, Pommer managed to borrow Vivien Leigh from Alexander Korda's London Films to co-star in the film; Leigh had appeared in Pommer's production of Fire Over England two years prior. The producers also brought in American-born film director Tim Whelan for the picture; Whelan had directed Farewell Again for Pommer the year prior. St. Martin's Lane was reported in the press as having hired the most amount of actors and extras for any British picture at the time, including 3,000 extras, 200 chorus girls, and over 50 starring, co-starring, supporting, or featured players. Among the most notable cast of co-stars included Rex Harrison, Larry Adler, and Tyrone Guthrie ; Cormack was also given a small part.Sparing no expense, Elstree Studios reported it had built one of the largest sets ever erected for a British picture at the time, using up every inch of the studio space, notably for a reproduction of the exterior of the Holborn Empire Theatre. Whelan intentionally shot alternate scenes and dialogue for the film, ones for its British release and others for its American release, so that certain slang and common words would be understood in each market. After filming wrapped at Elstree Studios, the film was previewed on 22 June 1938, at the Astoria Theatre in Folkestone during a film industry conference; from the public, press, and trade members' reaction, the producers re-cut the film before releasing it to the general public. It was also previewed by Pommer in America when he visited the country in July–19 August 1938, where he secured the distribution rights for the company's first two pictures, and met with agents, writers, and actors for Mayflower Pictures' next three pictures that were to be filmed over the following fifteen months. Although Paramount Pictures agreed to release Vessel of Wrath, they insisted that St. Martin's Lane be re-cut for the American public. St. Martin's Lane had its world premiere on 19 October 1938, at the Carlton Theatre in London; adding to the prestige of the event was that it was the first televised film premiere.
Mayflower Pictures' third movie was based on Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel, Jamaica Inn, and was first adapted for the screen by Sir Hugh Walpole. Laughton personally invested the majority of his life savings in the production. In May 1938, Alfred Hitchcock signed on to direct the picture, but would only begin work on it after returning from his first trip to America in June 1938. Hitchcock brought in a new team of writers to work on the script, including Sidney Gilliat, Joan Harrison, J. B. Priestley, and his wife Alma Reville. The movie was set and partly filmed in Cornwall, though most of the shooting took place at Elstree Studios, where the weather did not hinder the production.
Although Laughton's wardrobe for Mayflower Pictures' first two films combined only amounted to £6, his costumes in Jamaica Inn cost an extravagant £600; the film itself was reported by the press as "the most expensive film yet made by Mayflower Pictures." The picture marked the starring debut of Irish actress Maureen O'Hara, who was put under contract to Mayflower Pictures and groomed as a starlet for a year before the picture began. The film also co-starred Robert Newton, Leslie Banks, Marie Ney, and Horace Hodges. Jamaica Inn premiered on 12 May 1939, at the Regal Theatre in London. It was deemed the company's "best picture yet" upon release.
In early March 1939, following the success of The Beachcomber