863.4061 All Quiet/3: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Austria (Stockton)
11. I have received a communication from the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc.,20 asking that the United States Government take up officially with the Austrian Government the matter of the ban on “All Quiet on the Western Front.” I desire a report from you before I comply with this request, and would like to be advised in regard to the situation and in particular in regard to the possible consequences should the picture be shown in Austria. If you deem it advisable you may discuss the question informally with the appropriate Austrian authorities. You are confidentially informed, in this connection, that the Ambassador in Berlin, notwithstanding the recent vote of the Reichstag favorable to the film, requested me to advise the producers not to try to show the film in Germany, because of the political consequences of the disturbances which might follow. In accord with my suggestion, the producers have decided not to release the picture in Germany.
Please send a short report by telegraph.
- Not printed.↩