Gainsborough Pictures

Background

Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio that was founded in 1924 by Michael Balcon and Graham Cutts. The studio would become a sister company to Gaumont British) in 1927, producing B-movies and melodramas. The Rank Organisation would soon acquire interests in Gainsborough after Balcon left both Gainsborough and Gaumont British in 1936 after the latter was in a financial crisis. From this period, Gainsborough produced films mostly skewered towards British audiences as well as costume melodramas. After Arthur J. Rank's greater involvement in overseeing Gainsborough's productions caused many specialists of the company to leave, Rank appointed Sydney Box. Thanks to Box's uneven output leading to Gainsborough's dominance at the box office to drastically decline, Rank shut down the studio in early 1949. However, Gainsborough continues to release several more films until the summer of 1950. The studio was briefly revived in 1987 to produce the TV movie, A Hazard of Hearts.

Contents

1st Logo (April 1, 1924-November 28, 1931)	2nd Logo (December 6, 1931-February 1947)	3rd Logo (May 29, 1947-February 1949)	4th Logo (May 23, 1949-August 1, 1950)	5th Logo (December 27, 1987-1989)

1st Logo (April 1, 1924-November 28, 1931)

Visuals: Inside an ornate picture frame, there is a woman dressed in a feather hat (also knows as a "Gainsborough") and a 19th century-style dress turning toward the camera and smiling. Then, it fades to a black screen saying "A Gainsborough Picture" in script.

Trivia: The woman in this logo is Celia Bird.

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: A regal theme or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Seen on British films from the time such as A Warm Corner.

2nd Logo (December 6, 1931-February 1947)

Early shot of the lady
Normal shot of the lady
Normal script
With "Ltd."
Bees in Paradise variant
Still variant
The Root of All Evil variant
Closing variant

Visuals: There is a different looking ornate picture frame, this time with artificial flowers and a rectangular shape behind the oval picture frame. Inside the frame is a woman dressed in a different Georgian-era period costume as before as she turns her head towards the camera and smiles while tilting her head. Then, "Gainsborough Pictures" in a fancy font and "PRESENT" in a more contemporary font fades in and out.

Trivia: Glennis Lorimer plays the lady in this logo as well as the 4th logo.

Variants:

In the early 1930s, an early version of the lady's scene exists where her head is off center and more towards the right of the picture frame.
On The Lady Vanishes, a closing variant has the lady in an oval picture frame with "A Gainsborough Picture" in front of the picture. On top of the logo is "THE END" with a shadow effect on top of a gray, illuminated surface. The bottom section has "MADE AT ISLINGTON, LONDON."
On several films such as Ask a Policeman (1939) and Love Story (1944), the script says "Gainsborough Pictures Ltd. Present".
On Bees in Paradise, the script has a shadow effect and is angled more diagonally, with "PRESENTS" more spaced apart. The light on the wall is also bigger.
On The Magic Bow, just as the lady faces the camera, the footage freezes and "A Gainsborough Picture" is superimposed on the picture, with "Released through General Film Distribution Ltd." underneath.
- The Root of All Evil uses this same variant except the footage is completely still. This appears to be a placeholder for the next logo since the text used in this variant is identical to the next logo's.

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: The opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Seen on most films from this period, although some films from the company simply use either the Gaumont British or The Rank Organisation logos during this time. However, some that do have this logo includes Caravan, Sunshine Susie, The Magic Bow, among others.

3rd Logo (May 29, 1947-February 1949)

1947 version
1947 color version
1948 version
RKO Radio Pictures variant

Visuals: On a decorated wall is an ornate picture frame, this time with ribbons on top of the frame. What appears to be inside the frame is a painting of a 19th-century woman who is once again wearing different clothes than the previous ladies from the older logos. "A Gainsborough Picture", with a shadow effect, is positioned over the bottom half of the frame, with "Sydney Box in charge of production" on the bottom left corner and "Released through General Film Distribution Ltd." on the bottom right.

Variants:

On movies released in 1947, the background is noticeably different with a lighter color and different patterns used. Not only that, but the bottom section simply consists of "Released through General Film Distribution Ltd."
On some films, the text would fade in several seconds after the picture frame appears.
- A color version of this variant also exists on films such as Jassy'.
For movies distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, the General Film notice was replaced with the RKO Radio Pictures logo

Technique: This is a still painting.

Audio: Same as before.

Availability: Once again, this is seen on most movies from this period. One of its first appearances was on Dear Murderer and last was in Vote for Huggett.

4th Logo (May 23, 1949-August 1, 1950)

Color version
Alternate General Films variant
Universal International variant

Visuals: On a striped wall is yet another different looking ornate picture frame. Unlike the previous logo, the lady is in live-action again and is seen facing left before turning her head towards the viewer and tilting her head. She then returns to her initial position. "A Gainsborough Picture" in a shadow effect is, once again, superimposed on the bottom portion of the frame this time more straight rather than diagonally. "Sydney Box in charge of production" and "Released through General Film Distribution Ltd." also return with a shadow effect as well.

Variants:

A color version of this logo exists.
A variant that has just "RELEASED THROUGH GENERAL FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD." on the bottom of the screen exists.
On films released by Universal International, the Sydney Box and General Films info were replaced with "A UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL RELEASE"

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: Same as the 2nd logo.

Availability: Seen on the company's last films such as The Huggetts Abroad, Christopher Columbus, Boys in Brown, and Trio.

5th Logo (December 27, 1987-1989)

Visuals: Inside an ornate picture frame, there is a woman (which is British actress Glennis Lorimer) dressed in a feather hat (also knows as a "Gainsborough") and a 19th century-style dress turning toward the camera and smiling. Then, it fades to a text saying "Gainsborough Pictures" and the bottom the text saying "Presents" in script.

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: Opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Known to have appeared on A Hazard Of Hearts.