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 Big Broadcast of 1936 tells him: "Let this be the start of a beautiful friendship." Paramount's Big Broadcast series began in 1932 and continued in late 1935 with "The Big Broadcast of 1936" (1935), which was released on September 20, 1935. The movie was filmed at the Kaufman Astoria Studios on 3412 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, in New York City. Bing Crosby's cameo, however, was filmed in Hollywood in April 1935. The movie is a precursor for the later Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "Road" pictures, with Spud and Smiley finding themselves on an island ruled by Countess Ysobel de Nargila (Lyda Roberti). "Daily