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...