- Rank originally wanted a wolf to rival the MGM lion, as the opening trademark of his films. The only wolf available was rather mangy-looking. Someone suggested they bang a gong. The gongs used in the famous opening were actually made of papier-mache, and the strongmen simply mimed their strikes.
- Rank called his fledgling studio Pinewood because the "Holly" in Hollywood is only a bush but the "Pine" of Pinewood is a tree, and a tree continues to grow.
- By the mid-40s Rank would own 600 cinemas worldwide along with two chains, Gaumont and Odeon.
- Co-founder, with Charles Boot, of Pinewood Studios.
- Rank was a proponent of shooting films on real locations whenever possible.
- Along with Pinewood, by the 1940s Rank owned half of the production studios in the country including Denham, Gaumont, Gainsborough, and Elstree as well as an interest in Baird Television.
- Although Rank was a teetotaler, he served alcohol at his parties and smoked 11 months a year but abstained in February in order to exercise self-discipline.
- He instituted an in-house "charm school" at the studio to develop young performers. Claire Bloom, Dirk Bogarde, and Diana Dors were among its graduates.
- He was a deeply religious man who credited his success to his faith and the will of God. During the Twenties he owned a Methodist newspaper, and when he realized the value of films in Sunday school instruction, he entered the film business with British National Pictures in order to improve the quality of these religious films.
- He was made a Life Peer in the 1957 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his public services.
- He infamously cut the budget of Frank Launder's The Blue Lagoon (1949), so Shirley Temple, who was strongly considered for Emmeline, should not be cast, and leading to many scenes not to be shot.
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