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Introduction by Linda Wood
British Films 1971 - 1981 is a catalogue of British feature
films with supplementary information.
An introductory section provides a context for the
listings. ‘Major trends’ describes significant changes
in the British film industry - the decline of production
and exhibition; the rise and fall of Lord Grade’s
film production programme; the role of British television.
‘Key Events’ is a chronology of relevant political,
social and commercial events.
The catalogue itself is divided into two parts: Section
I covers feature films registered as British and theatrically
released here. There is one main alphabetical
sequence, supplemented by a list of films which
were made in whole or in part by British companies
but which did not receive a British registration. Both
parts are cross indexed by year of regi s t ra t i o n .
Section II covers the production of British feature
films intended for a theatrical release or a television
screening and is based on information given in the
British film trade papers. The major areas of omission
are:
• Semi-commercial productions made/released on
16mm. These are films whose chief outlets are art
cinemas, regional theatres and film societies, e.g.
‘Begging the Ring’ (1978) directed by Colin Gregg and
‘Welcome to Britain’ (1975) directed by Ben Lewin.
• Films emanating from the independent movement
which has a non- commercial basis, e.g. ‘Illusive
Crime’ (1976) directed by Richard Woolley and ‘Green
and Pleasant Land’ (1980) directed by Peter Todd
(there occurs some overlapping between this and
the previous category).
• Sponsored films - those paid for by a company or
organisation to promote their product, give information
or advice, improve a public image, etc.
• Commercials
• Anything under 52 minutes
Although the decision not to cover everything was
partly taken as a consequence of the difficulties
involved in getting complete and comprehensive
information on certain areas of independent production,
the principal factor was that the resulting
volume of titles would have been unmanageable.
The decision was not taken without regret and it is
realised that some important and influential films
have been left out. But this is a non-critical catalogue
and had 16mm, for instance, been covered, it
would have been necessary to cover the whole range
of 16mm production and not just those films found
to be of interest. However, many such films are
included in the British National Film Catalogue,
which lists all films and video cassettes available for
non-theatrical release in the UK.
Finally there is a set of six statistical tables and two
BFI Information Services
1
bibliographies which provide sources of information
on the two major areas of production omitted from
the catalogue - independent film/video production
arri television.
Note: BFI Film & Television Yearbook 1983 includes:
British Films Started in 1982 and 1982 UK Feature
Releases
Abbreviations for companies/organisations
ACC
Associated Communication Corporation
ACTT
Association of Cinematograph, Televisionand Allied
Technicians
ATC
Associated Television Corporation
ATV
Associated Television
BBFC
British Board of Film Censors
BFFA
British Film Fund Agency
BFI
British Film Institute
BNFC
British National Film Catalogue
CEA
C i n e m a t og raph Exhibitors’ Association of Gre a t
Britain and Ireland
CFF
Children’s Film Foundation (now Children’s
Film and Television Foundation)
EEC
European Economic Community
GLC
Greater London Council
IBA
Independent Broadcasting Authority
ITC
Independent Television Corporation
NFFC
National Film Finance Corporation
NFSI
National Film Studios of Ireland
Abbreviations used in charts
alt.t alternative title
Brt British release title
corp corporation
dir director
Lee Int St Lee International Studios
MFB Monthly Film Bulletin
org organisation
ort original release title
pres presentation
prod production
re registering company
rd date of registration
rn registration number
rt running time
st studios