When J. Arthur Rank decided that he wanted to make films which would ‘do children good’ he created the Children’s Film Department, a division of Gaumont British Instructional Films (in 1947, the department was renamed Children’s Entertainment Films). The CEF, headed by Mary Field, aimed to produce a full programme for children to enjoy at the Odeon and Gaumont cinema clubs. One of their most successful series was Our Club Magazine.
Despite the popularity of the clubs, they were never profitable for either producers or exhibitors, and Rank found that production of films for these clubs was just too expensive to continue. In 1950, the CEF was wound up. It’s activities would later be picked up by the Children’s Film Foundation [qv].
Sources
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1148379/index.html; Accessed 26 February 2007.