Sharp criticism of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for abandoning production of “It Can’t Happen Here,” projected film version of the Sinclair Lewis novel, was voiced today in a letter to Louis B. Mayer, president of MGM, by President Henry Pratt Fairchild of the Film Audiences for Democracy. Abandonment of the anti-Fascist film in the middle of production, Prof. Fairchild said, “was doubly surprising as you are not only a leading personality in our country, but also a Jew.” He urged the company, in the event it did not feel justified in re-opening production, to sell the film rights to another firm, and cited the financial success of such anti-Fascist films as “Confessions of a Nazi Spy” (Warner Bros.) in refutation of the MGM contention that the public was not interested in “propaganda” films.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.