England's movie industry was reeling after The Great War when its filmmakers were decimated by personal loses as well as a public whose concentration was focused on just surviving the war. At the same time, the United Kingdom's theaters were overwhelmed by a deluge of popular movies from Hollywood. Of all the motion pictures shown in Britain's cinema houses in 1926, only 5% were UK product. Rare was a British movie shown outside the kingdom's commonwealths, which included Australia and Canada. The Slump of 1924 resulted in a number of UK film studios to go bankrupt.
In a rarity during that span, one of England's films drew good crowds in oversea's markets upon its release: British National Pictures' July 1926's "Nell Gwyn." Part of the explanation for its success worldwide, especially in the United States, was that it was a darn good picture portraying an orange seller becoming one of King Charles II's favorite mistresses in the 17th century. Another reason is that the movie features Dorothy Gish, Lilian's younger sister. Adapted from Marjorie Bowen's 1926 novel 'Mistress Nell Gwyn,' the bio pic portrays a vivacious lower-class wanna-be actress whose personality engages everyone who is lucky to be near her.
The New York Times was highly praising of the film. "Whatever may be the shortcomings of English motion picture producers," the paper's reviewer wrote, "If they can put together other pictures as simply and with as much dramatic effect as this story of Nell Gwyn, they should have no difficulty obtaining a showing for them anywhere."
Dorothy was different from her more serious sister Lilian by her more light-hearted roles. Director/producer Herbert Wilcox knew the story of Nell Gwyn afforded the plot's central character to be expressively jubilant. Wilcox felt there could be no better actress to portray her than Dorothy Gish, despite her American background. As one reviewer wrote, "I've never seen a Gish perform with such abandon and must observe that filming must have been delayed by regular wardrobe malfunctions." Dorothy's top apparel could not possibly be any lower, as seen on the screen. It's been noted that her appearance in such a costume would not be permitted on the United States screen after the new Movie Moral Code was enacted in the summer of 1934.
The success of "Nell Gwyn," however, didn't stop the United Kingdom Parliament from enacting the 'Cinematograph Films Act 1927' to support its faltering industry. The Act established a quota for its UK's theaters to show 7.5% commonwealth-produced movies, filmed in the kingdom's studios containing a British subject or theme comprised of a 75% film crew from the UK. That quota of UK-produced films to be shown in the kingdom's theaters was raised to 20% in 1935. The Act lasted until 1960 when it was repealed.
