Kinematograph year book (1927)

54 The Kinematograph Year Book. two Italian firms, who control the theatres, have not been as successful as in other European countries. The Italian firms were in competition with each other, but now one has absorbed the other ; thus the film industry is in the hands of one vast Italian company. It is stated thatSignor Mussolini takes a keen interest in the Italian film industry, and that his was the hand which brought about the recent amalgamation, and most significant is the news that all the money for the new concern is Italian and that the administration is purely Italian. It is generally believed that the cause of this establishing of Italian supremacy was the recent efforts of a certain group of foreign film producers to obtain a real outlet for their product by buying one of the existing Italian exchanges who controlled a large number of theatres, but. that before any sale could be made the matter was brought to the notice of Mussolini, who saw the danger of the screens of Italy coming into the hands of' foreigners. With his characteristic boldness he took steps to avert this ; thus the present Italian control of its own industry. THE UNITED STATES OF EUROPE. The language difficulty which has kept the countries of Europe in a state of isolation from each other is almost insurmountable ; but the film which knows no nationality may mean the breaking down of the barriers, so that eventually there will be two great production territories of the world, i.e., Europe, as a whole, and America. In America the basis of production is simplification in itself, as each national company, controlling its own theatres and renting organisations, schedules a certain number of productions necessary for its needs yearly, which are eventually produced in its studios, which it also owns ; whilst its foreign branches take care of the distribution of its product outside America. In Europe there is no purely European film company which has its own distribution offices in every country, thus another means of production which will enable films to be distributed in the best possible manner had to be found. This resulted in the " co-operative" productions movement which has been found to be a good financial proposition for those who undertake it. The co-operative production arrangement is an agreement between two or more firms who decide on a story, mutually agree on the cast and make the film according to the taste of their own country, each financing it according to the size of the country in which they are interested. This may seem difficult at first sight, but in actual practice it has been found to work out very satisfactorily. There is no doubt that the increasing cost of production all over the world will force distributors in different countries to consider this method of production more and more and will eventually prove to the benefit of all concerned, because by their united efforts and financial support they will be enabled to obtain more costly films with a much reduced liability, such films being on a scale which would be., generally speaking, impossible for them to finance individually. This will thus lead to the purely European costly production being soundly financed, which should be equal to the costliest of American and yet be, in sentiment and ideals, European.