The first images we see are of who other than Laurence Olivier as Henry the Fifth. Ian Nathan introduces this episode and telling us "it' s all about glamour". Stephen Armstrong talks about how Cecil Hepworth was the first British film mogul to set up a studio for silent films. And we see Helen of Four Gates from 1920. Hepworth made Alma Taylor the most popular British star. She once made eighteen films in one year! But Neil Norman tells us how the studio failed and her films were lost. Melted down for the silver nitrate.
We then see a clip from The Lodger (1927) where Ivor Novello is "a huge sensation" says Christina Newland. We hear a lot about Olivier and how actors transferred from the stage to the studio. Neil Norman said that they could also write as well as act. Christina describes how Vivienne Leigh had "huge charisma" and was "the consummate actress". We see another star in Margaret Lockwood appearing in 1938's Bank Holiday. The highest paid actress of her generation. She was very photogenic and Hitchcock was impressed when he directed her in 1938's The Lady Vanishes. Up next was 1945's Brief Encounter with Celia Johnson.
Christina talks about Jean Simmons who gained a seven year contract with the Rank Organisation. She was a huge star from a very early age. But then RKO from America bought out her contract to appear in Hollywood movies. Other actors who were a success included Michael Redgrave, James Mason and Deborah Kerr. Stephen Armstrong mentions how the male stars were all of a type; "caddish and roguish" as well as English gentlemen. In the 50's it was all about celebrity.
But come the sixties, we are into working class heroes. Albert Finney and Laurence Harvey are "angry young men". Then Michael Caine and Terence Stamp and on to The Beatles films and James Bond with Sean Connery. And that changed everything. A long way from Ivor Novello.
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