Which boxer struck the gong

Richmond's stone frame and walk-on roles led Rank to approach him in about the gong role, which he immediately accepted. That the job should have been there at all was largely down to chance. J Arthur Rank, a flour mogul and devout Methodist, originally sought a wolf to rival MGM's lion but the only available specimen was mangy. It was at this stage that somebody suggested, "bang a gong" and, after that, every film started with a gong that filled two-thirds of the screen.

As every self-respecting cinema buff knows, the echoing gong accompanied the words: "A J Arthur Rank Presentation. He used a Chinese instrument called a tam tam for the gong noise. The millions of filmgoers who watched Richmond were looking at a man who had a marked aversion to violence.

He was a conscientious objector during the Second World War and served several months in prison, according to friends. But as gong-bangers go, he became irreplaceable.

In , Rank discovered the bronzed, blond Martin Grace, who had been known for his Milk Tray adverts. Grace remained on the cutting room floor and Richmond was still used until Rank announced last year that it was preparing to sell its last remaining film assets. By that time, the former Olympian had long since devoted himself to a life as Jehovah's Witness.

His work as a missionary took him to Malta and he also doted on his wife, Valentina, whom he met in the film scene and married in the mid-Sixties. They had no children and she died 10 years ago.

This sceptred isle. Root of all evil. Ethical conundrums. This sporting life. Stage and screen. Birds and the bees. I have a sneaking feeling that this may not be true; perhaps someone can put my mind at rest. Michael Manning, Chessington, Surrey. THE trademark of a musclebound man banging a gong at the beginning of every Rank film was dreamed up in the s by the publicity manageress of General Film Distributors, which then distributed J Arthur's films.

The lady had in mind Bombadier Billy Wells, "Beautiful Billy"to his fans, who had been British heavyweight boxing champion from In he became the first Heavyweight to win the Lonsdale Belt, which had been introduced for British champions at all weights in Wells, who was 6 ft 3 in 1. Wells was also famous for being the third person to fill the role of the "gongman" - the figure seen striking the gong in the introduction to J.

Arthur Rank films. The Gongman is a company trademark for the Rank Organisation. It was used as the introduction to all Rank films, many of which they shot at their Pinewood Studios, and included those Rank distributed. The Gongman logo first appeared on films distributed by General Film Distributors, which was established in by the British producer C.

Woolf and J. Arthur Rank; it was C. Woolf's secretary who devised the man-with-a-gong trademark. When the Rank Organisation was established in , with General Film Distributors as one of its cornerstones, the logo was adopted for the whole organisation.