Hollywood Spectator (1938)

Hollywood Spectator Page Thirty-five wholesale shipment of gold for imports unwise. And nationalism grew to a new intensity. The six million dollar income dwindled with each successive year in direct proportion with the increase of supernational consciousness. Currency laws and censorship restric¬ tions began to play havoc with Hollywood’s film import abroad. The case is best stated by Joe Seidelman, foreign chief of Universal, who said for the English trade paper, Today’s Cinema: “Companies had better come to a realization that the foreign markets are shrinking because of currency restrictions and the political conditions prevailing in certain ter¬ ritories.” His was a nice evasion of the pertinent facts by stating the case without naming names. It is no secret that Germany and Japan have ended Hollywood dominance in the motion picture markets of the world by the simple method of keeping the films out and keeping already earned incomes in. German Sphere of Influence . . . UOTED in a past issue of the Spectator is this observation from Today’s Cinema: “Central Eu¬ ropean film developments are increasingly a micro¬ cosm of the larger political world. . . . Germany is the real storm-centre. . . . she is still a large producer . . . and the smaller countries have large German mi¬ norities.” These words were written early in Feb¬ ruary, fully a month before the recent Anschluss. Yet, they clearly forewarned closer trade relations be¬ tween Germany and Austria. Since that time the German spere of influence has spread fanwise as far North as Scandanavia and as far Southeast as Roumania. Even Czechoslovakia, irreconcilably antiNazi, has been forced to admit large numbers of Ger¬ man pictures, to the obvious disadvantage of Holly¬ wood products. Poland, obviously under the influ¬ ence of German trade policies, has been taking Ger¬ man pictures wholesale. An agreement has been reached between Germany and Hungary whereby Budapest will take thirty-five German films for the year. Note that all the five Hungarian pictures accept¬ ed by Germany in exchange, must be made in accord¬ ance with the Aryan (Anti-Jewish) Paragraph of Production. And these thirty-five films represent fifty per cent of Germany’s entire output. South Into the Balkans . . . T IS reliably reported that Roumania and Germany have a reciprocal agreement whereby Germany will accept Roumanian films if they are made under the Aryan clause. Germany, in exchange, will finance the construction of studios and theatres in Roumania. Nor has Italy been silent partner to all this opera¬ tion. The Rome-Berlin axis makes the two coun¬ tries partners in plunder and profit, and they have reached an amicable agreement regarding film ex¬ changes. Of course, all pictures must be made under the Aryan Clause, which prohibits every kind of Jewish participation except that of working capital. That is why Rome and Berlin found Metro’s part¬ nership in the Italian firm ERA through Hal Roach, acceptable. The Italian sphere of influence, and The Motion Picture Relief Fund Deserves the Support of all Film People who are Fortunate Enough to be in a Condition to Extend it. (This space contributed by a friend of the Fund)