The circumstances that brought about the creation of the National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC) were remarkable in many respects – not least of which was the speed and alacrity with which the government acted once it had decided upon a course of action. By mid-1948 the production crisis had become so acte that the Board of Trade, having previously opposed the idea of a state-funded film bank, made an extraordinary volte face and hurried through legislation to create just such a body. Initially, at least, Harold Wilson seems to have envisaged that private investment could be unlocked without the need for state aid. In March 1948 he told the Cinematograph Exhibitors’ Association that ‘he had now concluded talks with various banking houses in London, and was convinced that there was sufficient capital available to make sure that the British film production programme could go through as planned by producers at the moment’. However, at some point during the spring or early summer of 1948 Wilson concluded that the only way to ensure the continuation of domestic film production was through some measure of state funding. In July he announced that a ‘Government Film Corporation’ would be set up for this purpose as soon as possible.

On one level the decision to establish a state-funded film finance agency can be seen as a short-term response to the financing and production crisis of the late 1940s. In April 1948 the Kine predicted that there would be only 45 first features from British studios in the calendar year – a total wholly insufficient for exhibitors to meet their quota. In early July a deputation from the British Film Producers’ Association met Harold Wilson ‘to acquaint him with the seriousness of conditions currently existing in British studios’ and told him that ‘there will shortly be no more studios to close down, so seriously is closing down outstripping putting up’.