"Tuesday's Documentary" The Rank Charm School (TV Episode 1982) - Barry Norman as Self

Barry Norman : In 1946 the British cinema industry was at or near the peak of its success - cinema audiences were higher than they'd ever been before or indeed would ever be again, the number of films in production was about to be raised from about forty a year to a hundred, optimism abounded in every area save one - Britain simply didn't have enough stars to fill all these films. We had Margaret Lockwood and Jean Simmons, we had James Mason and Stewart Granger and a few more, but not many more, and so the question was - where were the necessary new stars to be found?
Barry Norman : Well, at this point enter J. Arthur Rank, a staunch Methodist, a millionaire, and the man whose organisation controlled 60% of the nations cinemas and more than 50% of its film production. He was in short the first and,come to that, the last tycoon of the British film industry, and tycoons are of course on a par with God and can therefore do anything.
Barry Norman : And so J. Arthur said "let there be stars" and lo, there came into being overnight if not stars exactly, then an outfit whose avowed intention it was to create stars, to find and groom young talent for the top-most pinnacles of stardom. And J. Arthur looked upon his work and found it good, and decided to call this outfit "The Company of Youth"' but the press, gazing thoughtfully and cynically into its collective glass of gin, came up with another and more mocking name for it - the Rank Charm School.

Barry Norman: Self