Stupid--or Worse?

During World War II, the big movie companies made 16-mm. prints of feature movies to show in Army camps and hospitals all over the world. Last week Hollywood was brooding on the adage: a good deed never goes unpunished. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit to compel twelve major film companies to sell their 16-mm. prints to television.

Movie theater owners immediately set up a howl of protest, but Hollywood, though usually thrown into a tizzy by any governmental move, remained surprisingly calm. Viewing the Justice Department action as more foolish than threatening, moviemen pointed out that the case might drag on through the courts for as long as ten years--long enough for Hollywood and TV to come to an understanding of their own. And, even if the Government should win, moviemen felt that their position was impregnable. Said an M-G-M spokesman: "Suppose the Government ordered you to sell Mutiny on the Bounty to TV. You could say, 'O.K., but we want four million bucks.' TV can't pay that, so you're right back where you started. The whole thing's just too stupid." In calling it stupid, Hollywood was being polite. In fact, this action by Attorney General McGranery was an example of deliberate efforts to destroy, by Government interference, freedom of bargaining.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.