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

Mayne, Laura

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 2, 2021
• Journal: Journal of British Cinema and Television
• Print ISSN: 1743-4521
• 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