Hot take here - quota quickies in the 1920s and 30s were partly responsible for the subsequent genius of Michael Powell, Alfred Hitchcock and others. It gave them space to hone their art and experiment.
inews.co.uk/news/john-whit…
inews.co.uk/news/john-whit…
Quota quickies were a result of the Cinematograph Films Act (1927). The government was worried that nasty foreign imports would destroy the UK film industry and corrupt youth etc... so a law was passed requiring that a certain percentage quota of films be shown in cinemas.
To meet the requirement studios knocked off low budget, quickly made B movies - a prerfect training ground for the likes of Powell - Hitchcock etc. But the act became an irritation to studios and requirement was eventually dropped in 1938
Nothing changes under the Sun.
Nothing changes under the Sun.
Good bit here from BFI on Powell's quickies. He directed 23 films between 1931 and 1936 - more than many contemporary film makers might knock off in a lifetime
Hundreds of films are being produced on low budgets in the UK every year - and I guess a proportion of them are probably very good indeed. Why doesn't a digital TV channel snap them up - or late nights on C4? That's a genuine badly phrased question btw
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