Across The Pond

Eagle-Lion Films was the name of two distinct, though related, companies. In 1944, UK film magnate J. Arthur Rank, under a reciprocal distribution arrangement with the US company, Pathé Industries, established an Eagle-Lion Films production subsidiary for American distribution. As a note, the Arthur Rank films can be recognized by a sweaty, shirtless man banging an enormous gong before the credits roll. From 1946 to 1949, led by Arthur Krim, Eagle-Lion produced its own B-movies yet most were not profitable, in part due to the large salaries for its actors and producers. 

Eagle-Lion changed its mode of production, using independent producers as a source for new films. Bryan Foy, the former head of the B-picture unit at Warner Bros., was one along with Edward Small, Walter Wanger and George Pal, best known as a special effects wizard. They began making lower-budgeted films, enjoying particular success with film noir. Of ten pictures released during Krim's three years, five earned a substantial profit: T-Men, Raw Deal, Canon City, He Walked By Night, along with an Abbott & Costello comedy, The Noose Hangs High. By 1951, with financial difficulties still looming, Krim was offered the leadership of United Artists which took over distribution of Eagle-Lion's current projects. In 1954, the film lot was purchased by the Ziv Company for production of its syndicated television programs, the more popular being Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt, and The Cisco Kid.