Gongman

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 logo was first used on films distributed by General Film Distributors, which was established in 1935 by the British producer C. M. Woolf and J. Arthur Rank; it was C.M. Woolf's secretary who devised the man-with-a-gong trademark. When the Rank Organisation was established in 1937, with General Film Distributors as one of its cornerstones, that logo was adopted for the whole organisation.

The Gongman film logo sequence depicts a man striking a huge gong with a deep resonant sound. 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 "General Film Distributors", " J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors", "J. Arthur Rank presents" or "'The Rank Organisation" appeared over the gong.