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Preface
My studies on political parties, of which my book on Max Weber and German Politics was intended as a first instalment, have always kept alive in me a deep interest in films, for it seemed to me that the emotional, non-rational impact of films, particularly of feature films, shaped in the widest sense 'political' opinions.
When, therefore, in March 1944 friends introduced me to Mr. J. Arthur Rank and the latter seemed to share my interest in a closer sociological investigation of film reactions, I gladly shelved my studies on political parties for a while and proceeded to prepare the present book which follows Mrs. Thorp's America at the Movies to which I have written a short introduction. Another volume based on about 200 motion picture autobiographies will follow the present volume shortly.
Without Mr. Rank's technical and financial facilities which he generously gave, these studies would not have been possible. I am glad to have an opportunity of publicly acknowledging my sincere gratitude to him. Moreover, many free and fairly long conversations with Mr. Rank and with some of his chief collaborators gave me an opportunity of studying the minds of the present masters of the British film industry, a knowledge which seems indispensable for a realistic sociology of film. What I learnt from local managers would be difficult to put in one sentence. I am very grateful to all of them.
By June 1945 Mr. Rank and I agreed to part from each other. We did not quarrel; we simply terminated a vaguely defined agreement in favour of an independent sociological investigation. As Mr. Rank has seen vital parts of this book in the form of reports (Chapters I, V, VII, and Appendix II), he will not be surprised by my general conclusions. A writer cannot serve any individual. He should only serve truth and society as a whole. Besides, this book does not dream of attacking individuals. What Marx wrote in the preface of Das Kapital in 1867 is fully applicable in our case: 'To avoid possible misunderstandings one word is necessary: the personalities of capitalist and great landowner are by no means drawn in rosy colours. They are only meant to be persons in so far as they are personifications of economic categories, bearers of definite class
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