Editing Pinewood Studios (section)

==History==
Pinewood Studios was built on the estate of [[Heatherden Hall]], a large Victorian country house which was purchased by Canadian financier, and [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Brentford and Chiswick (UK Parliament constituency)|Brentford and Chiswick]], Lt. Col. [[Walter Grant Morden|Grant Morden]] (1880–1932). He added refinements such as a ballroom, a [[Victorian Turkish baths|Victorian-style Turkish bath]], and an indoor squash court.  Due to its seclusion, it was used as a discreet meeting place for high-ranking politicians and diplomats; the agreement to create the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] was signed there.

In 1934, building tycoon [[Charles Boot]] (1874–1945) bought the land and turned it into a [[country club]].  The ballroom was converted into a restaurant and many of the bedrooms became furnished suites.

===1930s===
In 1935, millionaire flour magnate [[J. Arthur Rank]] (1888–1972) went into partnership with Boot and they transformed the estate into a film studio. Boot based designs for the studio complex on the latest ideas being employed by film studios in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], California. Boot named the new studio Pinewood because "of the number of trees which grow there and because it seemed to suggest something of the American film centre in its second syllable". Construction began in December of that year, with a new stage completed every three weeks. The studios were finished nine months later, having cost £1&nbsp;million (approx. £{{Format price|{{Inflation|UK|1000000|1936}}}} at {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}} prices). Five stages were initially completed and there was provision for an enclosed water tank capable of holding {{convert|65,000|impgal|L}}, which is still in use. In the years that followed, he also undertook further work on both the Pinewood Film Studios and the [[Denham Film Studios]], both of which had by then become a part of the newly-formed [[Rank Organisation]].

On 30 September 1936, the studio complex was officially opened<ref>Patricia Warren ''British Film Studios: An Illustrated History'', London: B.T. Batsford, 2001, p.119</ref> by Dr [[Leslie Burgin]], [[Parliamentary Secretary]] to the [[Board of Trade]]. The first film director to use the facilities was [[Herbert Wilcox]], completing ''[[London Melody]]'' (1937) featuring [[Anna Neagle]] (his wife), portions of which had already been filmed at [[British and Dominions Imperial Studios]] in Elstree, before a fire there halted production. The first film to be made entirely at Pinewood was ''[[Talk of the Devil]]'' (1936), directed by [[Carol Reed]].

There followed a prolific period of Pinewood and British film history, with Pinewood following the studios adopting the "unit system", an American industry practice. That enabled several pictures to be filmed simultaneously and, ultimately, Pinewood achieved the highest output of any studio in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britmovie.co.uk/studios/Pinewood-Studio |title=Pinewood Studio &#124; Home of British Films |publisher=Britmovie |date=30 September 1936 |access-date=8 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317133224/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/studios/Pinewood-Studio |archive-date=17 March 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

===1940s===
{{Commons category|No. 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit}}
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], Pinewood was requisitioned, and the [[Crown Film Unit]], No. 5 [[Army Film and Photographic Unit]], [[Royal Air Force Film Production Unit]], and Polish Air Force Film Unit were based there. The Crown Film Unit completed many classic wartime documentaries, and [[Roy Boulting]]'s ''[[Desert Victory]]'', [[Humphrey Jennings]]' ''[[Fires Were Started]]'', ''[[Coastal Command (film)|Coastal Command]]'' and [[Pat Jackson]]'s ''[[Western Approaches (film)|Western Approaches]]'' (all 1943) were filmed there during that period. As well as its use by the armed forces, the [[Royal Mint]] and [[Lloyd's of London]] were installed on sound stages at Pinewood, and were open for business for the duration of the war.

[[The Company of Youth]], the Rank Organisation acting school, which launched several film careers, was founded in 1945. The next year, Pinewood re-opened for (non-war-related) business.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Two significant films produced at Pinewood were released within two months of each other in 1948: ''[[Oliver Twist (1948 film)|Oliver Twist]]'', directed by [[David Lean]], and [[Powell and Pressburger]]'s ''[[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|The Red Shoes]]''. Due to a shortfall in funds, brought about by financial overspends the previous year, Rank did not have enough money to market ''The Red Shoes'' sufficiently at first in the US, but it became Rank's biggest earner up to that point, grossing over £1&nbsp;million by 1951 (the equivalent of £{{Format price|{{Inflation|UK-GDP|1000000|1951}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}} terms).<ref name="Wood">{{cite web |last=Wood |first=Alan |date= 23 February 1952 | title=The Inside Story of Mr. Rank | work=Everybody's Weekly | url=http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/Rank/Everybodys.html | access-date=1 January 2008}}</ref>

In the same year, [[John Davis (British businessman)|John Davis]] was appointed managing director.<ref name="Clement">John Clement [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-john-davis-1482174.html Obituary: Sir John Davis], ''The Independent'', 1 July 1993</ref> By the following year, [[Rank Organisation|Rank]] had run up an overdraft of £16&nbsp;million<ref name="Warren">Patricia Warren ''British Fiklm Studios: An Illusrtrated History'', London: B. T. Batsford, 2001, p.120</ref> (the equivalent of £{{Format price|{{Inflation|UK-GDP|16000000|1949}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}}), and announced a loss of £3.5 million,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18474161 |title=Film Industry Slipping Out of the Big Money. |newspaper=[[The Sunday Herald (Sydney)|The Sunday Herald]] |location=Sydney |date=1 January 1950 |access-date=7 July 2012 |page=7 Supplement: Features |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> mainly due to big budget flops. One of the largest of these had been ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'' (1945), which was originally budgeted at £250,000, but which eventually cost £1,278,000 (the equivalent of £{{Format price|{{Inflation|UK-GDP|1278000|1945}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK-GDP}}).<ref name="Wood"/>

===1950s===
The ''[[Doctor (film series)|Doctor]]'' film series, produced by [[Betty Box]] and directed by [[Ralph Thomas]], began with ''[[Doctor in the House (film)|Doctor in the House]]'' (1954), the most successful film at the box-office of its year in Great Britain. All of the ''Doctor'' films, running until 1970, were shot at Pinewood. The [[Carry On (franchise)|''Carry On'' franchise]] began in 1958, produced on behalf of Rank by [[Peter Rogers]] (who was married to Box), and directed by [[Gerald Thomas]] (brother of Ralph). The [[Norman Wisdom]] comedies, the last of which was released in 1966, were also filmed at the facility.<ref name="GuardianObit">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/05/sir-norman-wisdom-obituary|title=Sir Norman Wisdom obituary|date=5 October 2010|access-date=6 October 2010|work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Stephen | last=Dixon}}</ref>

===1960s===
[[File:Goldfinger Avenue at Pinewood Studios.png|thumb|right|400px|Goldfinger Avenue]]
During the 1960s, Pinewood was no longer solely dependent on the Rank Organisation to fill its stages. "Renters" (producers hiring the sound stages for a film-by-film agreement) were using half of the stages as Pinewood turned into a [[four walls (filmmaking)|four walls]] facility.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bloom Walden |first=Kiri |title=British Film Studios |publisher=Shire Publications |year=2013 |pages=47–48}}</ref> The [[James Bond in film|James Bond]] franchise began at Pinewood with [[Terence Young (director)|Terence Young]] directing ''[[Dr. No (film)|Dr. No]]'' (1962), and has continued to be based at the studios since then.

J. Arthur Rank (by then Lord Rank) retired as chairman in 1962 and was succeeded by John Davis, who had begun to move the Rank Organisation away from mass film production and towards more profitable and less risky businesses such as bingo and holidays.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

===1970s===
During the 1970s, Pinewood studios were being used more for television programmes, including [[ITC Entertainment]]'s ''[[UFO (British TV series)|UFO]]'' (1970), ''[[The Persuaders!]]'' (1971), starring [[Tony Curtis]] and [[Roger Moore]], and ''[[Space: 1999]]'' (1975–1977). Major films shot at Pinewood included ''[[Fiddler on the Roof (film)|Fiddler on the Roof]]'' (1971), ''[[Sleuth (1972 film)|Sleuth]]'' (1972), ''[[The Day of the Jackal (film)|The Day of the Jackal]]'' (1973), ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]'' (1978) and ''[[Superman II]]'' (1980), ''[[Alien (1979 film)|Alien]]'' (1979), and the James Bond films ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'' (1971), ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]'' (1973), ''[[The Man with the Golden Gun (film)|The Man with the Golden Gun]]'' (1974), and ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' (1977).

===1980s===
Four [[List of James Bond films|James Bond]] movies, ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'' (1981), ''[[Octopussy]]'' (1983), ''[[A View to a Kill]]'' (1985), and ''[[The Living Daylights]]'' (1987), among several other large productions, such as ''[[Pink Floyd – The Wall]]'' (1982), ''[[Superman III]]'' (1983), ''[[Krull (film)|Krull]]'' (1983), ''[[Legend (1985 film)|Legend]]'' (1985), ''[[Aliens (1986 film)|Aliens]]'' (1986), [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'' (1987), ''[[Santa Claus: The Movie]]'' (1985) and [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]'' (1989), were all produced at Pinewood.
<ref>{{cite web |title=Pinewood Group Credits |url=https://pinewoodgroup.com/pinewood-today/credits?studioid=1598&year=1980 |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref>

===1990s===
The 1990s saw large-scale productions, such as ''[[Alien 3]]'' (1992), ''[[Tomorrow Never Dies]]'' (1997), and ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]'' (1999) produced at the studios which kept Pinewood operating.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

===2000s===
[[The Rank Group]] owned the studio until 2001, when it sold Pinewood for £62 million to a group led by [[Michael Grade]] and Ivan Dunleavy and financed by private equity group [[3i]], who held an 80% stake.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=28 February 2000|title=Grade grabs Pinewood for $99 mil|last=Dawtrey|first=Adam|page=31}}</ref> The purchase of [[Shepperton Studios]] from a consortium headed by [[Ridley Scott|Ridley]] and [[Tony Scott]], gave rise to the [[Pinewood Group]], eventually comprising Pinewood Studios, Shepperton Studios, [[Teddington Studios]], [[Pinewood Toronto Studios]], [[Pinewood Indomina Studios]], Pinewood Studio Berlin, [[Iskandar Malaysia Studios|Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios]], and a joint venture in the US with [[Trilith Studios|Pinewood Atlanta Studios]].<ref name=heritage>{{cite web |title=Our Heritage |url=https://www.pinewoodgroup.com/pinewood-today/our-heritage |website=Pinewood |access-date=2020-03-03}}</ref>

In 2009, Pinewood and Shepperton received a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] Award for their Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema.<ref>{{cite news | title = Bafta honour for Pinewood studios |work=BBC News| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7873037.stm| access-date =23 September 2011| date=5 February 2009}}</ref>

===2010s===
The Pinewood Studios Group was subject to a hostile takeover approach in 2011. Manchester-based [[The Peel Group]] acquired a 73% stake, but [[Warren James Jewellers]] retained a 27% stake, so preventing a full takeover. In 2012 [[Financial Services Authority (United Kingdom)|Financial Services Authority]] considered cancelling the stock market listing because nearly all the shares are held by two groups.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Peel takeover cost Pinewood £2.4m |url=http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/other-media/peel-takeover-cost-pinewood-%C2%A32.4m-20120229100956657 |work=How Do |date=29 February 2012 |access-date=18 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608232738/http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/other-media/peel-takeover-cost-pinewood-%C2%A32.4m-20120229100956657 |archive-date=8 June 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In June 2016, five new stages and 10 new workshops were opened at Pinewood.<ref name=heritage/>

In 2019, the [[Walt Disney Studios (division)|Walt Disney Studios]] announced a 10-year lease of most of the Pinewood Studios in September 2019, to start in 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chu |first1=Henry |title=Disney Inks Long-Term Deal to Occupy Most of Pinewood Studios |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/disney-long-term-deal-occupy-pinewood-studios-1203327788/ |access-date=September 9, 2019 |work=Variety |date=September 8, 2019}}</ref>