POST-WAR FILMS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 78, Issue 7015, 4 February 1949, Page 3

POST-WAR FILMS

ITALIAN INDUSTRY IMPRESSES HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVE

Italian moving pictures are the most impressive in post-war Europe ; Mr B. B. Kreisler, Hollywood film executive, who is conducting a survey of the motion picture industry in 17 European countries, said in London.

Mr Kreisler, who is not studying British film production, is making the

survey on behalf of the Harvard School of Business Administration.

“Without any doubt, the greatest renaissance in the post-war film industry has taken place in Italy,” he said.

“The Italians have achieved stark realism in their treatment of everyday things of life—the need for food and shelter.

“The greatest tendency I have noticed in post-war film production is the ever-increasing interest which governments are taking in the industry,” Mr Kreisler said. “In some countries of eastern Europe, the state-controlled film industry is developing into a propaganda machine but everywhere governments are encouraging film production.” Mr Kreisler’s main conclusion after visiting Europe was: “On every side, public and government interest in the possibilities artistic and commercial, of the cinema is increasing.’”