The great British tradition of Saturday morning cinema enjoyed by millions of children in the 1950s and 60s is set for a modest revival, as part of a drive to bring a regular diet of quality British fiction to the big screen for the under-12s.
The company set up 50 years ago today to make children's films... and which also helped launch the careers of many TV and film stars... is hoping to wrench youngsters away from their PlayStations, videos and computers with a new series of movies for special Saturday matinees.
Launched in 1951 by Lord Rank of the Rank Organisation, the Children's Film Foundation had a specific remit to make films for children to be screened at Saturday morning matinees to build up the cinema audiences of the future. In the early and middle 1950s, an estimated 1m children packed into Saturday matinees in nearly 2,000 ABC, Odeon, Gaumont, Granada and independent cinemas.
Typically two or three short films and a cartoon were shown to the eager audiences, at a special ticket price.
But the foundation's work was curtailed by the arrival of television, which led to a dramatic slump in the number of film goers, while the growth in children's Saturday morning television, weekend school-related activities and the popularity of hi-tech entertainment through computers and Playstations eventually killed off the regular films for youngsters.
Over the past 10 years the foundation has been under threat because of funding difficulties, and recently has concentrated mainly on script development for children's television and films.
Yesterday Anna Home, chief executive of the renamed Children's Film and Television Foundation, said the organisation's future lay in making films. It was in "active talks" with the film council and prospective private sector partners with a view to commissioning and producing films based on new British fiction.
"We are certainly talking about a revival of the films that would be suitable for Saturday morning cinema", she said. "There is clearly a need for quality fiction on the screen for the under-12 age group... whether there is a market for it is another matter but we clearly hope so." Youngsters and their parents might appreciate the value of good quality films commissioned from the best of British writers and based on new or existing work, Ms Home added.
One of the books being developed as a film, for example, was Junk by Melvyn Burgess. "Fiction has to have a future," she said, "and there is more to films for this age-group than just blockbusters. But it is not a matter of replacing what children do on computers and PlayStations, but creating a mixed diet." She pointed out that some independent cinemas such as the Everyman in Hampstead, north London, had already started a revival by launching a Saturday morning cinema club.
In its heyday in the 50s and 60s the foundation made up to six low budget films a year. These helped to launch the acting careers of stars such as Jean Simmons, Michael Crawford, Francesca Annis, Dennis Waterman, Susan George (soon to join EastEnders), Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson... all then still children.
Significantly, the films were able to use child actors for the first time following a ground-breaking relaxation in government rules which had for 20 years banned youngsters from films by a law which sought "to protect them". But despite such a promising start, the foundation's funding became increasingly precarious, particularly after the scrapping of the Eady levy... a tax on cinema seats... in 1981.
The company then struck deals with TV companies for the right to screen selected features.
In 1987 it was renamed the Children's Film and Television Foundation, and has since generated most of its income from its `assets', the films on its back catalogue, on TV.
Its focus on script development has led to projects such as the recent TV children's series The Borrowers and The Magician's House and collaboration with Portobello Pictures on Danny the Champion of the World (made in 1989) featuring Jeremy Irons and his son Sam as Danny.
It is among the films being shown this morning at a special anniversary screening, hosted by the British Film Institute, at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London, attended by the stars whose careers were launched by the films and, appropriately, shown to their seats by usherettes in 50s' period dress.
Young stars who shone
Children's films which launched the stars
Francesca Annis The Cat Gang (1958)
Michael Crawford Blow Your Own Trumpet (1958)
Sadie Frost A Horse called Jester (1980)
Susan George Cup Fever (1965)
Pauline Quirke The Trouble with 2B (1972)
Sally Thomsett Seven Deadly Pills (1964)
Dennis Waterman Go Kart Go (1964)
