National Film Awards / Herbert Wilcox

Glancy, Mark (2010) Going to the pictures: British cinema and the Second World War. Past and Future (8). https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/2810/1/Glancy,_Going_to_the_pictures.pdf

Herbert Wilcox’s Spring in Park Lane was the most successful film at the 1948 British box office. Reuniting Michael Wilding and Anna Neagle—Wilcox’s wife and longtime collaborator—the stars of Wilcox’s first major box office hit from the previous year, The Courtney’s of Curzon Street, Park Lane is a romantic comedy following a plucky love story that develops between the footman and secretary of an eccentric art collector. In 2004, Park Lane was ranked fifth in all-time attendance by the British Film Institute—with a total attendance of 20.5 million, making the film the most popular British-made film of all time.

The present lot is the second National Film Award presented to Herbert Wilcox over the course of his life as a filmmaker. Wilcox began his film career as a salesman of American films to Yorkshire exhibitors immediately after completing his service in World War I. By 1919, Wilcox used his war gratuity to found his first distribution company Astra Films and would begin producing and directing his own works just a few years later in 1922. Over the next 30 years, Wilcox would become one of Britain's most successful producers. Wilcox’s films were defined by his site-specific ethos, and he remained dedicated to celebrating British stories in British settings for the entirety of his career.

First awarded in 1946, The National Film Awards were Britain's earliest national award ceremony celebrating achievements in film and film performance in the country. Hosting the inaugural ceremony at London’s Dorchester Hotel in the first year of post-WWII reconstruction, the National Film Awards reflect the primacy of cinema to British cultural identity at that time. From 1940 to 1945, cinema attendance in Britain rose from 1 billion tickets sold per year to 1.5 billion—in 1943, The Wartime Social Survey found that 32% of Britons went to the cinema at least once a week or more (Glancy, 9). Even at the height of the blitz, historical accounts document audiences lining up for tickets at their local cinemas first thing in the morning with last night’s fires still raging. With the first awards being conferred to James Mason and Margaret Lockwood for their “outstanding” performances during the war years, the National Film Awards were a celebration of the art form that had captivated British audiences during one of the darkest periods in recent history.

Further reflecting the award’s role as a reflection of a collective cultural moment, the NFA’s were sponsored by the Daily Mail, with readers of the iconic daily paper voting for the three presentation categories of Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Actress at cinemas across the country. Even the final look of the award itself stems from a Daily Mail competition, with a schoolmistress from Southport winning Best Design.

Offered directly from their archives, this lot is one of the selections to be sold to benefit The Film and Television Charity, which celebrates its centenary year in 2024. Sotheby’s is proud to collaborate with The Film and Television Charity in their Centenary celebrations—the Charity provides essential wellbeing and financial support to more than 200,000 professionals in the film and television industry.

The Consignor (The Film and Television Charity) is donating 100% of the hammer price from the sale of this Lot, to be sold in Sotheby’s Popular Culture online sale held from 29 August – 12 September 2024.