Money Behind the Screen

James Chapman is Emeritus Professor of Film Studies at the University of Leicester. His previous books include Licence To Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films (3rd edition 2024) and The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985 (2022).

• IntroductionPart I: An Industry in Crisis: 1945-19501. A Short History of the British Film Industry2. Bogart or Bacon3. Capital and Commerce4. Producers and Profits5. The National Film Finance Corporation6. The Eady LevyPart II: A Fragile Stability: 1951-19697. The Road to Recovery8. The British Lion Film Corporation9. Film Finances and the British Film Industry10. Rise of the Runaways11. New Waves, New Crises12. Hollywood, UK13. Backing British14. Decline and FallPart III: Crises and Contraction: 1970-198515. Restructuring the Film Industry 16. The Changing Landscape of Film Finance17. The National Film Finance Consortium18. The Prime Minister’s Working Party and its Aftermath19. Revising Eady20. The British Are Coming!21. The Retreat of the StateConclusionAppendix I: Production Costs and Revenues of Selected Feature Films in Late 1940sAppendix II: National Film Trustee Company: Production costs and receiptsAppendix III: Budgets and Costs of Selected British First Features Guaranteed by Film FinancesAppendix IV: National Film Finance Corporation: Accounts, 1950-1985Appendix V: Feature films supported by the National Film Finance Corporation, 1949-1985

This book provides a lucid, detailed account of the financial structures and systems that underpinned the British film industry. Drawing on a plethora of archival sources, some of which are newly available, Chapman’s comprehensive study explains how and why the money behind the screen mattered to so many filmmakers.