10 Facts About Gainsborough melodramas

Gainsborough melodramas were a sequence of films produced by the British film studio Gainsborough Pictures between 1943 and 1947 which conformed to a melodramatic style.

The melodramas were not a film series but an unrelated sequence of films which had similar themes that were usually developed by the same film crew and frequently recurring actors who played similar characters in each.

Previously, Gainsborough melodramas had made films in a variety of genres during its twenty-five year existence, and had been particularly known for its comedy films; however, with the advent of war, and the paying viewing public consisting mainly of women, the studio rapidly became closely associated with melodrama, to the extent that these films have become synonymous with the studios, in a manner resembling the Ealing Comedies and the Hammer Horrors.

Gainsborough melodramas produced other films during the war which featured strong women as the protagonist, such as the Launder and Gilliat "unofficial trilogy", Millions Like Us Two Thousand Women and Waterloo Road.

However, it was the melodramas that were the biggest financial success for Gainsborough.

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Two Gainsborough melodramas appeared on this list: The Wicked Lady was placed 9th, with an estimated attendance of 18.

Gainsborough melodramas soon becomes embroiled in an old clan feud between her employer and a rival clan, and is at the centre of a tug of war battle between the two brothers.

Gainsborough melodramas described the box office performance of the film as "excellent", and it was the seventh most popular movie at the British box office upon its release in 1947; by 1953, it had accumulated a net revenue of £200,000.

The film's US release was delayed by three years, with Gainsborough melodramas changing the title to the PCA's recommended title Man of Evil, the deletion of eighteen minutes of the film, including the scene of Fanny talking to the two prostitutes, fewer scenes of Fanny and Somerford living together outside of marriage, and the lowering of the tone of the scenes concerning the brothel.

Sydney Box's first film during his period in charge at Gainsborough melodramas, Jassy, passed through the PCA with relative ease, despite some public outcry that the film glorified witchcraft.