Mayflower Productions
Mayflower Productions was a British-based film production company of the 1930s and 1950s. Mayflower Pictures Mayflower Pictures was formed in July 1937 by German-born film producer Erich Pommer and British actor Charles Laughton. John Maxwell was on the board. They announced they would make three films, all to star Laughton – Vessel of Wrath (1938), St. Martin's Lane (1938) and Jamaica Inn (1939). The films were all made. Jamaica Inn was the last film directed by Alfred Hitchcock before he left for America and marking the star debut of Maureen O'Hara, who was put under contract to the company. In March 1939 Mayflower signed a contract with Paramount for the latter to distribute four of their films in the US. The fourth film would be a version of The Admirable Crichton with Laughton, Elsa Lanchester and O'Hara There were also plans to make a movie about a journalist written by Bartlett Press. However the disappointing financial performance of the films saw the company lose its main backer, John Maxwell. Laughton went to America to appear in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pommer went with him to negotiate American distribution rights for the films; after this, war broke out, and