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Eady levy these films were able to use British studios and be filmed in England via the hiring of various British staff, but the principle aesthetic of these films was very much international and largely American. For example, it was American director Richard Lester who made A Hard Days' Night' in 1963. It is little wonder then that the Film Council sees an appetite' for American movies in Britain since this was very much encouraged in the Golden' era of British cinema. As Dickenson and Street write, after 1961 it became increasingly difficult to define any part of the industry as British rather than Anglo-American.' (Petrie, 1996. pg 607) What the 1960s achieved was to turn Britain into Hollywood, England' (ibid. pg 608). Whilst a national identity' through cinema may have been lost it becomes increasingly difficult to understand this problem, if indeed it is a problem. Ultimately, it examples the adoptive nature Britain took to American films, almost like a second home. Cinema in the U.S and the U.K had become an entertainment medium first and foremost, and the globalisation of the texts was making national identity through cinema less easily decipherable. In a sense the question must be asked, should the Film Council support art-house' niche market cinema, or mass-market entertainment that will sell locally and abroad? As cinemas in Britain are mainly owned by American companies it seems only logical that appealing to the mass-market (American's especially), is the only way to a viable and economically safe industry.

When the Eady Plan was supposed to work for British Films it failed because the Americans used it for their own gain and this was proven when most American finance stopped in the late 1960s because British-made films weren't making enough money. This resulted in a lean period for the industry in the 1970s and 1980s as cinema audiences hit an all time low in 1984 with just 55 million tickets sold compared to 123 million in 1996 (Wayne, 2002. pg 9). The government did little either incentive to assist revival or prevent collapse' and their actions were almost entirely negative'. (Petrie, 1996. pg 613) They stifled the independent production companies in the 1980s who were making comparatively popular films. The Conservative government stopped the Eady Levy which had not been abused since the sixties and was actually assisting films such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail' to be produced through tax incentives. Not only this but in order to provide

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