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The Company of Youth was an acting school for young contract players for the Rank Organisation who were being groomed for stardom. It was commonly known as the Rank Charm School.
The Rank Organisation acting school, often referred to as “The Charm School”, was founded in 1945. This prep school to the stars launched several careers including those of Donald Sinden, Dirk Bogarde, Diana Dors and Christopher Lee.
In the late 1940s, the British film company Rank ran what was known as the Company of Youth. Today, it is best remembered as the ‘Rank Charm School’, a place that trained young contract performers who were being prepared for stardom on British cinema screens.
The Company of Youth, the Rank Organisation's associated acting school often referred to as "The Charm School", was founded in 1945. It launched several careers including those of Donald Sinden, Dirk Bogarde, Diana Dors and Christopher Lee.
The Rank Organisation called it 'The Company of Youth' but the press quickly dubbed it 'The Charm School', where youngsters from varied backgrounds and with little or no acting experience,...
- 48 min
- 26.3K
- jimproby
Rewind Production's one hour documentary, The Rank School of Charmers, narrated by George Baker, written by Emlyn Harris and produced by Neil Rosser, opens the doors to the school and delves behind the scenes to investigate the academy's idiosyncratic methods, its eccentic pedagogues, and the stepping stones to stardom it allegedly provided.
In the 1940s, Rank brought aboard David Henley, formerly a key figure at Equity and later an agent at the Myron Selznic office, to spearhead their talent acquisition efforts. Tasked with discovering fresh faces, Rank sought to emulate Hollywood's contract system.
