General Film Distributors

1st Logo (January 1937-May 1955)

Visuals: On a backdrop of draped curtains, there is a shirtless man (Carl Dane), hitting a large gong thrice with his mallet. As this happens, the screen zooms up to the gong, and the words "GENERAL FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD." fade in on the gong, while zooming in.

Technique: A mix of live-action and chroma-keyed camera-controlled animation.

Audio: The three “hits” of the gong.

Availability: Seen on films produced and/or distributed by this company, such as Young and Innocent and Pygmalion, among others.

This is not known to have appeared on any colour films that Rank distributed before the 1944 Rank logo was introduced, as they usually go straight to the logos of the production companies (like The Archers or Two Cities).
This logo is also plastered over by the 1999 Carlton International logo on new prints of We Dive at Dawn (1942), though the 2015 UK DVD release of the film from Strawberry Media plasters it with the 2013 ITV Studios Global Entertainment logo instead.

2nd Logo (February 4, 1937)

Visuals: Against a grey bullseye background, there is a stylized man similar to the previous logo striking a gong that contains a rounded "GFD" in a metallic style. Underneath is the company's name in white and in a 3D format, which is also in a stacked formation.

Technique: A still illustration.

Audio: The opening theme of the film.

Availability: This was most likely used as a placeholder logo, as this is only seen on London Melody.

General Film Distributors

The Rank Organisation

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