The Cine Technician (1943 - 1945)

56 THE CINE-TECHNICIAN July — August, 1944 A Lesson from Austria Friedrich Weiss, the writer of this article, is an Austrian Cutter, now working in England LISTENING to a lecture by George Elvin at the League of Austrian Socialists I not only learned that he was a delegate at the International Workmen's Olympiad at Vienna, but was struck by the similarity of experience of British film trade unionism and our Austrian film trade union, "Filmbund." I was a member of the Executive of the Vienna Filmbund and its chairman for some years. The struggle /of the British film industry against American domination had its counterpart in Austria in our struggle against the German film industry (before Hitler). German industrialists first came as friends, they bought our Austrian films, which did show the Austrian national characteristics, the music, the gaiety, the beauty of our capital cities Vienna and Salzburg, the beauty of our mountains, our baroque buildings. Naturally, our language was understood in Germany, except in our peasant films where the dialect was stronger. The Austrian industrialists were pleased ; Germany with a ten times larger population made possible larger financial returns. But soon our "friends" became our masters. Scenarios had to be sent for O.K. to Germany. German artists had to be used, Austrian dialect was suppressed, Austrian natural scenery was cut out, and we technicians learned soon that we were inferior to German technicians, who came to our country thick as locusts. We had to emigrate to Berlin, try to find work there, in order to be accepted for films produced in our own country. I think that was the first " Gleichschaltung " even before Hitler. Our only major banking institution, the Credit Anstalt, bought Sascha A.G., the firm where I worked for many years, secured control of the major studios and so created a monopoly. These Austrian monopolists soon sold us to the Germans, the Tobis A.G. (Siemen's Halske). A ray of hope came when with almost every Austrian technician unemployed a British firm appeared in Vienna and bought the Vita Studios. Widgey Newman was the only British technician who came with this firm and I and an art direc tor, Arthur Berger, who now works in films in the Soviet Union, were engaged. Unfortuately this firm was interested more in the British Stock Exchange than in producing pictures, very much to the distress of Widgey and of us Austrian technicians, and it did not bring about our salvation. Soon the Germans had swallowed the whole Austrian Film Industry. Austrian technicians who did not like to dance the " Prussian goosestep were unemployed, and it was an easy thing to transfer everything to the Herman Goering Company. By 1934, after the heroic but unsuccessful February revolution of the Austrian working class, Goering's little brother, Wilhelm Goering, had moved in as manager of Sascha. Now, with victory for the United Nations in sight, with the Moscow declaration of Austria's independence, with the Austrian Freedom Front's active fight against the Nazis (already Austrian partisans are fighting in the mountains and together with Tito's Army of Liberation) the future looks brighter. I am glad to have had a chance to work in the British Film Industry and proud to be a member of A.C.T. At our last General Meeting I saw how much we Austrian Trade Unionists can leam from you. We shall certainly copy your " Standing Orders " and the democratic way you conduct your business. We shall certainly try to get our future government, the government of the Austrian people, interested in stimulating and controlling tin new-born Austrian Film Industry, and we shall be on the "Alert," as you are, for any monopolyminded persons. We hope to welcome British technicians in a liberated, democratic Austria, making full use of the natural beauty of our country. We hopi show British films, and especially your documentary films, in our country, and to bring both our peoples closer, and we hope that you will show our new Austrian films showing the history ami dr\ elopmenl ot our nation, which has always been — so far as the ordinary people were concerned — a tolerant nation which in future wants I be nothing more nor less than a good member of the World family of Nations.