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A World on His Shoulders: Nat Cohen, Anglo-EMI and the British Film Industry

Mayne, Laura

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Abstract

Despite being one of the most significant players in the British film industry of the 1960s and 1970s, Nat Cohen remains a curiously neglected figure in histories of that era. At Anglo-Amalgamated he oversaw a varied slate of productions, from B-movies and cheap programmers to box-office successes like Ken Loach’s Poor Cow. He greenlit some of the greatest commercial hits of the 1960, including New Wave dramas (Billy Liar, A Kind of Loving), pop musicals (Catch Us If You Can) and horror films now widely considered to be classics of British cinema (Peeping Tom). After Anglo-Amalgamated was acquired as part of EMI’s takeover of the Associated British Pictures Corporation (ABPC), Cohen headed Anglo-EMI, where his business acumen and shrewd commercial instincts led to him being dubbed ‘King Cohen’ by the press and widely recognised as one of the most powerful men in the British film industry. Drawing on recent scholarly work on the role of the producer, this article will explore links between Anglo-ABPC and EMI through the lens of Cohen’s career and distinctive ‘movie mogul’ persona.

Citation

Mayne, L. (2021). A World on His Shoulders: Nat Cohen, Anglo-EMI and the British Film Industry. Journal of British cinema and television, 18(1), 34-49. https://doi.org/10.3366/jbctv.2021.0554

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 24, 2020
Online Publication Date Jan 8, 2021
Publication Date 2021-01
Deposit Date Jan 15, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of British Cinema and Television
Print ISSN 1743-4521
Electronic ISSN 1755-1714
Publisher Edinburgh University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 18
Issue 1
Pages 34-49
DOI https://doi.org/10.3366/jbctv.2021.0554
Keywords Anglo-Amalgamated; Anglo-EMI; Associated British Pictures Corporation (ABPC); Bryan Forbes; EMI; Nat Cohen
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3694519
Publisher URL https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.3366/jbctv.2021.0554

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