J. Arthur Rank but continued to handle all distribution for the Rank organisation until 1955, when it was renamed J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors. In 1939 Rank consolidated his film production interests in both the Pinewood Film Studios and the Denham Film Studios. In 1938 Rank bought the Odeon Cinemas chain. and the Amalgamated Studios in Elstree, although the latter were never used as film studios by Rank. In 1941, it absorbed the Gaumont British, which owned 251 cinemas, and the Lime Grove Studios, (later owned by the BBC) and bought the Paramount Cinemas chain, so that by 1942 the Rank Organisation owned
Highbury Studios throughout the Rank Organisation, which had suffered heavy financial losses. Occasional films were still made there by other companies, and it became increasingly used as a television studio. Highbury Studios The Highbury Studios were a British film studio located in Highbury, North London which operated from 1937 until 1956. The studios were constructed by the producer Maurice J. Wilson. During its early years the studio was hired out to independent production companies. Following the Second World War, Highbury was acquired by the Rank Organisation which used it to make low-budget second features featuring the company's rising actors. The studio was