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Hollywood v Washington 1938

With the Department of Justice breathing down the collective necks of Hollywood because of their monopolistic practices, Will Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDA) and the heads of the eight major studios met President Roosevelt at the White House in Washington DC to argue for self-regulation. After the meeting the formation of an industry committee to propose practices that would avert the growing pressure for legislation was announced by its chairman, Sidney Kent of Twentieth Century-Fox.
        At least three Bills had been introduced in Congress. The Hobbs and Dies Bills proposed investigation of various monopoly practices and the Neely-Pettengill Bill sought to ban block booking and blind selling of films.


Film men at the White House [left to right]: Barney Balaban (Paramount), George Schaefer (Paramount), Harry Cohn (Columbia), Sidney Kent (Twentieth Century-Fox), Nicholas Schenck (Loew's MGM), Nate Blumberg (Universal), Will Hays (president of the MPPDA), Albert Warner (Warner Bros), Leo Spitz (RKO)

 

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1954

Page updated 28 July 2008
© David Fisher