The assorted Kaisers of the German film industry must have been amused when they got a glimpse of the attached article announcing that America had another Prussian peril to deal with in the form of Fritz Lang and others of his bund. Hollywood tended to believe that the high quality of silent film talent working in Germany had a big advantage over Hollywood as a result the traditions set forth centuries earlier in German theater. In three paragraphs they made their case for legislation protecting Hollywood film production; some of their reasoning is listed below:
• Germany had far better trained performers,
• Germany had men with a far greater technical command of the medium and
• Better directors: men with a keener grasp of the artistic principles of the stage picture..."
To read a 1924 article regarding Hollywood film executive Irving Thalberg, click here.
In 1930 Adolf Zukor was listed as one of the most powerful men in Washington...