MGM-British Studios Meanwhile, Amalgamated Studios Ltd constructed a large studio on the north side of Elstree Way between 1935 and 1937. A January 1937 deal for eight films to be made for the American studio Columbia Pictures soon collapsed. The company was unable to meet the cost of building work, and sold the facility to the Rank Organisation, which was not interested in using the studios itself, but wanted to stop John Maxwell's rival British International Pictures (BIP) from being able to compete more effectively with its own new Pinewood Studios. During the war, the studios were leased from Rank by the
The Bohemian Girl (1936 film) The Bohemian Girl (1936 film) The Bohemian Girl is a 1936 comedic feature film version of the opera "The Bohemian Girl" by Michael William Balfe. It was produced at the Hal Roach Studios, and stars Laurel and Hardy and Thelma Todd in her last role before her death. This was also the only appearance of Darla Hood in a full-length feature produced by Hal Roach. Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy are a hen-pecked pair of Gypsies in 18th-century Austria. When Oliver is out pickpocketing, fortune-telling or attending his zither lessons, his wife (Mae Busch), has an affair with Devilshoof (Antonio