The Eady Levy, "the envy of most other European nations": Runaway productions and the British Film Fund in the early 1960s

The Eady Levy had been introduced as a voluntary scheme in the UK in 1950, before being made compulsory as part of the Cinematograph Films Act of 1957 (Terry 1969: 121), the intention of the subsidy fund being to support British film producers and provide them with an increased share of the “amounts paid by the public at the box office” (Stubbs 2008: 3). Contrary to the bleak view laid out by Myers (1964), the Eady Levy intensified the so-called Hollywood runaway production – the relocating of predominantly American-financed pictures to the UK, among other countries – and would profoundly affect the British film industry throughout the 1960s. But despite its intention to favor British film producers, it was American film productions that were reaping most of the Levy yield and were soon heading to the UK in large numbers. The snide remarks by Myers (1964) were perhaps indicative of the attitude held by many in the film industry toward what equated to state subsidization.