Gongman

 

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The trademark version of the man with the gong, used by the Rank Organisation until the 1990s.)
The trademark version of the man with the gong, used by the Rank Organisation until the 1990s.)

The Gongman (also known as the "man-with-the-gong") is a company trademark for the Rank Organisation. It was used as the introduction to all Rank films, many of which were created at their Pinewood Studios).

The gongman sequence combines a depiction of a man with the deep resonance of a huge gong. The gongs used in the films were props made of plaster or papier-mâché, with the sound of the gong done by James Blades on a Chinese instrument called a tam tam. During the sequence the text 'J. Arthur Rank presents', 'The Rank Organisation' or 'Rank Film Distributors' appeared over the gong. People who have played the Gongman include Carl Dane, "Bombardier" Billy Wells, Phil Nieman, and Ken Richmond.

Parodies

The Gongman was often parodied over the years. In Carry On up the Khyber, Kenneth Williams' character refers to an over-enthusiastic gongman's attitude as "rank stupidity". In addition, the opening to the ATV Thursday Picture Show used an animated version. According to Sub-TV, who has a video of the opening, "the gong-smasher here is a non-muscley man in an old-fashioned swimming costume and a cloth cap!" The man whacks an ATV logo, not a gong, and the logo smashes into pieces when it gets whacked.

The now defunct Swedish film distributor [Triangelfilm] had a similar vignette with an animated man hitting a dito triangle.

In the closing seconds of the video to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, percussionist Roger Taylor mimics the Rank gong man by striking a large tam tam stripped to the waist.

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