Thread by @LookNoFurther4

This is Adolph Zukor, one of the 3 founders of Paramount Pictures. Zukor established the major studio practice of requiring movie theatres to show large blocks of films, including bad ones, in order to obtain the right to show the good ones. This system was called blind booking.

When senators got their feelings hurt over their portrayal in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, they passed legislation aimed at eliminating the blind booking arrangement in retaliation against Hollywood.

It is hard for many of us to grasp it now, but in 1939, some people were concerned that Frank Capra's classic film (and Jimmy Stewart's stunning performance) posed a threat to American democracy.

When the Supreme Court sided against Hollywood in 1948, B-movie actors were thrown out of work.

They turned to something new: television.

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PS: Adolph Zukor is the embodiment of the American story.
An orphaned Jewish immigrant from Hungary.
Came to the US at age 16 and got a job in a NYC upholstery shop.
Ended up living to age 103 and, in the process, gave thousands of other people a chance at success.
#America

It was a full house at Washington's Constitution Hall on Oct 17, 1939. It was the premiere of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Director Frank Capra says that some senators in the audience yelled back at the screen. Others walked out in anger.
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'peace in our time'
September 1938
no one looks happy
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Director Frank Capra had hoped to cast Gary Cooper as Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Cooper wasnt available so Jimmy Stewart got the job. Capra soon recognized the Lincoln-like qualities Stewart brought to his character.
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