The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically-integrated film company in Britain, owning production, distribution and exhibition facilities. It also diversified into the manufacture of radios, TVs and photocopiers (as one of the owners of Rank Xerox). The company name lasted until 1996 when the name and some of the remaining assets were taken over by gaming company The Rank Group Plc.
The company logo, the Gongman, first used in 1935 by the group's distribution company General Film Distributors and seen in the opening titles of the films, became an iconic film emblem.
Read more about Rank Organisation: Origin, Growth, Film Making in The 1940s, Crisis and Diversification, Declining Involvement in The Film Industry, Select Filmography
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