Early History (1935 to 1937) – Hammer Productions

In November 1934 William Hinds, a comedian and businessman registered his own film company – Hammer Productions Ltd. – based in a three-room office suite at Imperial House, Regent Street, London. The company name was taken from Hinds' stage name, Will Hammer, which he had taken from the area of London in which he lived, Hammersmith.

Work began almost immediately on the first Hammer film, The Public Life of Henry the Ninth at the MGM/ATP studios, with shooting concluding on 2 January 1935. The film tells the story of Henry Henry, an unemployed London street musician, and the title was a "playful tribute" to Alexander Korda's The Private Life of Henry VIII which had been Britain's first ever Academy Awards 'best picture' nominee in 1934. During this period Hinds met Spanish émigré Enrique Carreras, a former cinema owner, and on 10 May 1935 they formed film distribution company Exclusive Films, operating from a single office at 60-66 National House, Wardour Street. Hammer produced a further four films distributed by Exclusive:

• The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (US: The Phantom Ship) (1936), featuring Bela Lugosi
• Song of Freedom (1936), featuring Paul Robeson
• Sporting Love (1937)
• The Bank Messenger Mystery (1936)

A slump in the British film industry forced Hammer into bankruptcy and the company went into liquidation in 1937. Exclusive, however, survived and on 20 July 1937 purchased the leasehold on 113-117 Wardour Street, and continued to distribute films made by other companies.