§ Mr. Levyasked the President of the Board of Trade what have been the annual profits accruing to the British film industry from the exhibition of its product in the U.S.A. for the years from 1935 to the present, to offset the export of sterling in respect of U.S. films shown here; how much money has been spent annually over the same period by U.S. film companies on productions in England; whether the profits earned in the U.S.A. by such productions are returnable to this country or may be retained in the U.S.A.; and what has been the annual proportion of British and U.S. feature films manufactured between 1935 and 1945, inclusive.
§ Sir S. CrippsI regret that the information asked for in the first part of the Question is not available.
On the assumption that the total expenditure of United States companies on the production of films in this country was roughly twice 2708W the labour costs of the British commercially produced features acquired by their British associate companies for distribution in Great Britain, the approximate amounts for each renters' quota year since the commencement of the Cinematograph Films Act, 1938, are as follow:
Year ending 31st March—
Figures for previous years are not avail able.
£ 1939 1,900,000 1940 1,900,000 1942 900,000 1942 1,200,000 1943 1,200,000 1944 1,200,000 1945 400,000 Eight months to November, 1945 1,200,000 Any revenues earned in the United States by the distribution of such productions may be retained in the United States.
The numbers of British and foreign long films registered under the present Act and the Act of 1927 (which roughly approximate to the numbers of features produced respectively in this country and the United States) since April, 1935, are as follows:
Year ending 31st March— British* Foreign 1936 215 506 1937 225 521 1938 228 614 1939 103 501† 1940 108 368† 1941 65 393† 1942 46 455† 1943 62 453† 1944 70 374† 1945 67 377† Eight months to November, 1945 46 2l6† * Including film produced in Great Britain for united states companies British associates † Excluding continental film registered under section 4 of the 1938 Act.