THE Rank Organisation may no longer be active in the film business — it sold off its DVD wing last year to focus on other concerns, such as the Hard Rock Café chain — but the reverberations of its opening logo still continue. The famous image of the shiny muscle man banging the gong will echo anew with the release of The Rank Collection, a 70th-anniversary boxed set of Rank classics, on July 18.

The gong can be seen in the collection at the start of such films as Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 version of The 39 Steps, Genevieve, starring Dinah Sheridan, Kenneth More (and some vintage cars), and Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death.

The Rank logo is at the top of the pile of British studio insignia, so famous in its day that it was recognised by 94 per cent of the public. Its majestic image of strength and exoticism conjures up the last hurrah of imperial confidence, even if that didn’t always translate into the quality of the films.

Unlike most brand names, a memorable logo is not essential for a successful studio. Just try remembering the Working Title logo (describe it how you wish, it’s still just a circle). But there was something irresistible about the Rank sequence, the way the gong was hit not once, but twice, like a summons to the temple.

Especially when some of the contemporary logos are so irritating. My nominee for most annoying studio logo goes to DreamWorks’ simpering boy-in-the-moon sequence with its fluffy clouds, cloying, plucked harp and wistful, faraway fishing ending. It’s all so yucky and unassuming.

How much more thrilling is the unabashed showmanship of the roaring MGM lion or the drumroll and horns of Twentieth Century Fox.

There are many logos that have gone the way of their studios. The monolithic eagle of Republic Pictures is no more, as is the beeping RKO “globe and radio tower” logo. One misses too the inviting white pillared mansion of Selznick International, with its fluttering branches and shadows. It is also a rare pleasure to catch the logo of Edward Small Productions, where the letters

S-M-A-L-L are carved out of rock as big as Mount Rushmore.

Without question, a great logo and fanfare definitely add that extra thrill of anticipation when the lights go dim and curtains open. Here then is the story behind some of the great movie logos.

J. ARTHUR RANK — THE GOLDEN GONG MAN

Carl Dane, a 6ft 5in (1.96m) strongman, was the first gong-banger, starting in 1932 and banging on until 1948. Because of deteriorating film stock in the early days, the sequence had to be refilmed every three years. It was no simple task either, often taking several weeks to get right, thanks to the bronze make-up covering Dane from head to foot. “The perspiration would make it streak and we’d have to start all over again,” he remembered.

He spent his early life in the circus ring as part of an acrobatic act where he was billed as the “Boy Hercules”. As an adult he was so strong that he became the first man to pull a London double-decker bus with his teeth. But ironically the gong he pounded so impressively was made of nothing but papier- mâché.

The noise was created by the percussive genius of James Blades, also famous for the “V-for-victory” Morse code signal broadcast by the BBC during the Second World War. Blades used a Chinese instrument called a tam tam for the Rank gong noise.

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