MARTIN SCORSESE, a giant of American cinema, might never have become an award-winning director had it not been for a forgotten British film. The Magic Box, created for the Festival of Britain in 1951, is the single work that inspired him to go to Hollywood.

He is so grateful to British cinema that he is working on a documentary charting the rise and fall of the industry. “Growing up in the late 1940s and Fifties, British cinema was prominent in America,” Scorsese said.

“One of the first movies I ever saw was The Magic Box in 1951 and, quite literally, it made me want to make films. I owe that film a lot. British films such as The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia also affected me greatly.”

The Magic Box was hugely controversial at the time of its release because it claimed that cinema was invented by William Friese-Greene, a Briton, rather than by Auguste and Louis Lumière.

John Boulting, the director, used the patriotic fervour of the Festival of Britain to assemble a star-studded cast. Robert Donat played Friese-Greene and other cast members included Richard Attenborough, Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Peter Ustinov, Margaret Rutherford, Joyce Grenfell, Thora Hird and Sid James. It was not a success, however, and faded into obscurity.

Scorsese, who has been planning his documentary for four years, told Bafta’s Academy magazine that his documentary would be his personal view of British cinema rather than a comprehensive chronicle.

One of his chief influences as a director were the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who are best known for Black Narcissus and 49th Parallel. Powell, who died in 1990, directly influenced Scorsese with Goodfellas by persuading him that he could do something new with the gangster genre. The pair became friends after Scorsese found that his hero had dropped out of the film industry because of the critical derision poured on Peeping Tom, his 1960 horror film.

Scorsese helped Powell by having Peeping Tom shown at the New York Film Festival in 1979; Powell was later an ally in getting Goodfellas made.

Scorsese said that Powell’s encouragement gave him the impetus he needed. “Without that phone call and Michael’s enthusiasm, Goodfellas might not have happened,” he said.

Scorsese will complete his documentary after the release of his latest film, The Departed, and between preparations for a biopic of Theodore Roosevelt and Silence, a film about Jesuits in Japan in the 17th century.

FIVE OF THE BEST

The Magic Box (1951) biopic of William Friese-Greene, cinema pioneer

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) David Lean’s story of courage in a Japanese prisoner-of- war camp

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Peter O’Toole stars as a British Army officer

49th Parallel (1941) Eric Portman stars as a U-boat officer attempting to escape to then-neutral America

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s classic