The Hollywood Studio System

History and practices of the major studios, and the independent producers who protested the studio system

• Block Booking: "The Root of All Evil in the Motion Picture Industry"
• Block Booking: Public Outcry During the Great Depression
• DOCUMENT: National Civic Groups Protest Block Booking
• List of U.S. Congress Anti-Block Booking Bills
• Block Booking Battle in Congress: The Neely Bill
• DOCUMENT: Actors and Actresses Letters to Congress
• The Aftermath of Block Booking

More on Block Booking:

• SIMPP's Anti-Block Booking Pamphlet, 1942
• The Famous Players-Lasky Case (1928-1930)
• The Paramount Case (1938-1949)

The Hollywood Blacklist

• The Independent Producers Face the Hollywood Blacklist: Introduction to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
• DOCUMENT: The Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals: "Statement of Principles"
• DOCUMENT: The SIMPP President Presents the Waldorf Agreement to the Independents (includes the full-text of the Waldorf Conference Statement)
• Dore Schary: An Eyewitness Account of the Hollywood Blacklist Agreement
• The Committee of Five: An Account of the HUAC in Hollywood

Title Registration

• What's In a Name?: The Little-Known Secret of Title Registration in Hollywood
• DOCUMENT: SIMPP Reforms MPAA Title Registration, February 29, 1944
• Charlie Chaplin's Title Registration Problem

Theater Monopolies in Old Hollywood

• The Crescent Case
• The Griffith Case
• The Schine Case

The Movie Theater Chains of the Media Giants: Hollywood Studios Get Back into the Theater Business