In 1993, only 2 films were made in Britain, back in 1967 there was 76. Northern writers and directors saw an opportunity to create gritty kitchen sink drama's including 'Room at the Top', 'Billy Liar', 'A Taste of Honey' and 'Darling'.
The Beatles debut film 'A Hard Day's Night' herald the swinging sixties. Julie Christie, the cinematic face of the 1960s, Vanessa and Lyn Redgrave, Rita Tushington, Terence Stamp, Jane Asher and Michael Caine discuss movies of the period.
The 60s saw great changes in the way the British saw themselves. A number of filmmakers wanted to explore these changes. Screenwriters saw an opportunity to question authorities on class, sexuality and race. Ken Loach discusses making Kes.
By the mid 1960s, Britain became an attractive place to film. Gone were the bombed out buildings, replaced by a new vibrant London. The films of Roger Corman, Roman Polanski, François Truffaut and Michelangelo Antonioni are discussed.
By the mid-1960s all the major American studios had set up offices in London. They promised to make big productions but the most successful was of all was United Artists. They had backed the Beatles and gained the rights to James Bond.