Sapphire Films

Sapphire Films Ltd.
IndustryTelevision production
FounderHannah Weinstein

Sapphire Films Ltd. was a British television production company, active from 1955 until 1961. Amongst their best-known series are The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, The Buccaneers, The Four Just Men and Sword of Freedom, produced for Lew Grade's ITC and screened on ITV in the UK, as well as being syndicated in the United States.[1]

Sapphire Films was founded by producer Hannah Weinstein with initial funds from the Hollywood branch of the Communist Party USA.[2] Weinstein hired nearly two-dozen blacklisted American writers to script The Adventures of Robin Hood (and later The Four Just Men) under pseudonyms, and instituted elaborate security measures to ensure that the writers' true identities remained secret.[2]

Sapphire Films ceased to function in late 1961 owing to financial problems caused by Weinstein's then husband, Jonthan Fisher.[3]

Television Productions

This list may not be complete

Year Title Episodes
1955-1959 The Adventures of Robin Hood 143
1956-1957 The Adventures of Sir Lancelot 30
1956-1957 The Buccaneers 39
1958-1961 Sword of Freedom 39
1959-1960 The Four Just Men 39

References

  1. ^ Andreas Fickers; Catherine Johnson (13 September 2013). Transnational Television History: A Comparative Approach. Routledge. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-1-135-76032-8.
  2. ^ a b Matthews, Tom Dewe (7 October 2006). "The outlaws". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  3. ^ Prime, Rebecca (2014). Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture. New Brunswick, New Jersey & London: Rutgers University Press. p. 129. ISBN 9780813570860.


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