Typed Letter Signed

("J. Arthur Rank") 1 page, March 29, 1949 to studio executive Eddie Mannix. 10 1/2" x 7 1/4". Fine. Rank thanks Mannix for his congratulatory letter after Rank's film. "The Red Shoes" won two Academy Awards (Best Art Direction; Best Music). The film received a total of five nominations, including Best Picture. J. Arthur Rank (1888-1972). born December 22, 1888; died March 29, 1972; millionaire flour miller and devout Methodist who got into films to spread the gospel; some early films that he was involved with didn't get a very good circulation he realized that control of the movie theatres was the key to success; established the Odeon chain of cinemas, with builder Charles Boot he bought the grounds of an old Victorian house (Heatherden Hall) in Hertfordshire and turned it into Pinewood Studios. A long term collaborator of Rank was 'Lady Yule' the wife of a Jute merchant. She helped him with the building and running of Pinewood studios. Films Rank produced include: "Caesar and Cleopatra" starring Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains, 1945; "Bush Christmas" 1947; "Portrait from Life" 1948; "A Queen's World Tour" 1953; "All for Mary" 1955.…