ABSTRACT
The vertically integrated Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) was one of the two most powerful organisations in the British film industry from the beginning of the sound period until the 1970s. When its founder John Maxwell died in 1940, Warner Bros became a major shareholder, buying first 25 per cent and later a further 12.5 per cent of the company's shares. Two of the company's directors were appointed by Warners and two by the Maxwell estate, one of whom was Robert Clark. From 1947, Clark took charge of the company's new Elstree studios, and between 1949 and 1958 he was in charge of production at Elstree. Over a period of ten years, Clark produced or co-financed some eight films a year which were designed to fulfil the quota of British films for the company's chain of ABC cinemas. The relative stability of the production system during these years makes for a valuable, self-contained case study of that process.
