British and Dominions was one of the successors to British National Pictures, which began operations in 1925 and was taken over by
British International Pictures in 1927. The British and Dominions Film Corporation was formed in June 1927 by
Herbert Wilcox and was registered as a public company on 13 February 1928. As it had no studios of its own, its first films, which were silent, were made at
Cricklewood Studios. In 1930, the company, which had been incorporated for the purpose of physically producing sound films, bought three new sound stages from British International at Borehamwood before their construction was completed. The new Imperial Studio was the first purpose-built sound studio in Europe.
Blackmail (1929), directed by
Alfred Hitchcock and the first British talkie, had been made at the facility before British and Dominions took it over. Filmmakers who worked for British and Dominions included producer
Anthony Havelock-Allan, who made
Lancashire Luck (1937) there.
Alexander Korda's
London Films produced
The Private Life of Henry VIII, which featured an
Oscar-winning performance by
Charles Laughton, at Imperial Studios. The film's success in the United States and elsewhere persuaded
United Artists and
The Prudential to invest in Korda's proposed
Denham Film Studios. The studio was destroyed by a fire on 9 February 1936, which also destroyed three of the nine stages at the adjacent British International Studios. British and Dominions made a substantial investment in
Pinewood Studios,
Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, and moved production there, including the
Herbert Wilcox production
London Melody (1937) which was in production at the time of the fire. The company's last film was released in January 1938. The support buildings at Borehamwood that remained after the fire were sold off to various companies including Frank Landsdown Ltd, which opened a film vault service.
The Rank Organisation bought the music stage for the production of documentary films. It later became the headquarters of the film and sound-effect library, Cinesound Effects Library Ltd. In 1944, D & P Holdings, a subsidiary of
General Cinema Finance Corporation, acquired British and Dominions Film Corporation. In 1996, a plaque was placed at the location of the former studio. ==Films shot at Imperial Studios==