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
The Cardinal (1936 film) The Cardinal (1936 film) The Cardinal is a 1936 British historical drama film directed by Sinclair Hill and starring Matheson Lang, Eric Portman and June Duprez. The film depicts a power battle in sixteenth century Rome between the leading church-statesman Giuliano de' Medici and one of his rivals. Other themes in the film are the Italian Wars against France and the construction of the new St. Peter's Basilica to a design by Michelangelo. It was made at Welwyn Studios as an independent production, but released by a leading distributor Associated British. "Variety" considered the film to be weak apart from