Film Studies Archive
The Institutions
From the British Film Resource archiveThis page is part of the site's original film-studies collection and is preserved as an archive text. Historical references and contemporary observations may reflect the period in which the study was written.
A History of British Film
The Institutions
The British Board Of Film Censors was founded in 1912 primarily to keep the foreign imports 'genteel', or rather, to be able to control their numbers on the pretext of unsuitability. Home grown productions had an easier time passing the censors. It was now that the certificates U, for universal and A, for Adult were introduced.
During the 1930's two other valuable assets came along; the British Film Institute and the National Film Archives. They maintained, and still do, a film library not just of British films, but International ones too. They restore damaged prints and transfer nitrate stock onto safety film, as well as funding projects. Without them, many classics would be lost today.