Eric Johnston

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Eric Allen Johnston (born December 21, 1895 in Washington, DC - † August 22, 1963 ) was an American businessman , President of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States , an activist of the Republican Party and President of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA ). In his capacity as President of the MPAA, he shortened the name of the organization, convened a closed meeting of film officials at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, which led to the Waldorf Declaration in 1947 and then to Hollywood's Black List and the Hays Code . On the other hand, it is primarily thanks to him that the market for American films was opened abroad and that for US films expanded worldwide.

biography

Education, activities First and Second World War

Johnston's father was a pharmacist and his family name was Johnson when he was born. When his parents divorced in 1911, his mother Ida later changed her surname and that of her son Eric to "Johnston". Johnston attended the University of Washington and joined the Theta Delta Chi Brotherhood there. He graduated in 1917. He worked temporarily in the port, as a columnist for a newspaper, as a library secretary and as a shoe seller. When the United States entered World War I, Johnston joined the United States Marine Corps . There he made a career up to a captain, fought in the Russian Revolution and worked in Beijing as a military attaché . He acquired knowledge of the Mandarin language, traveled extensively in Asia and successfully speculated in Chinese currency. A physical attack in Beijing in which he was seriously injured led to his discharge from the corps on medical grounds in 1922. Johnston returned to Spokane and there married his longtime girlfriend Ina Hughes. In the following years he worked as a businessman with great success. In 1931, Johnston was elected President of the United States Chamber of Commerce and headed other companies.

During World War II , Johnston served President Franklin D. Roosevelt on several war commissions. Joseph Stalin invited Johnston to Russia in 1944, after which Roosevelt appointed him an envoy from the United States.

In 1945 Johnston retired as President of the Chamber of Commerce and in 1947 was awarded the Medal for Merit , the highest civilian honor in the United States.

New beginning in the MPPDAA

After Johnston was named President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDAA), the predecessor of the MPAA, at the request of Will H. Hays , his predecessor, in 1946 , he immediately changed the name to the Motion Picture Association of America . In September 1947 the so-called Hollywood Black List was introduced . It was spread in inflammatory pamphlets that communist sympathizers were supposedly pro-Communist embassies in films. This incitement led to Johnston approving the aforementioned list after a meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel by submitting the so-called "Waldorf Statement" in a two-page press release marking the beginning of the blacklist.

During his time with the MPAA, Johnston gradually and unobtrusively liberalized the Hays Code. He was also involved in major initiatives aimed at shares in the overseas cinema market. He also tried to keep the requirements that American films had to face in other countries to a minimum.

Johnston appeared several times as a presenter during the presentation of the Academy Awards , for example at the Academy Awards in 1946 and 1947 , where he presented the "Best Film", and the Academy Awards in 1960 , 1961 and 1962 , where he presented the "Best Foreign Language Film" .

further activities

In January 1951, Johnston were appointed administrator of the Agency for Economic Stabilization by President Harry S. Truman . He only did this for a short time.

Johnston was appointed Special Envoy to the President of the United States by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to deal with the Jordan water issue in 1953 .

In 1958 Johnston went to the Soviet Union and met Nikita Khrushchev there . During a return visit by the Russian head of government to Washington the following year, he was seen at his side several times.

death

Eric Johnston was President of the MPAA until his death in 1963. After suffering a stroke on June 17, he was admitted to George Washington University Hospital, where he had a second stroke. Johnston fell into a coma on August 5 and died on August 22, 1963. He was 67 years old.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1946: The 18th Academy Awards
  • 1947: The television press conference, episode of November 13, 1947
  • 1947: The 19th Academy Awards
  • 1957: Person to Person, episode 5.5 about Johnston
  • 1960: The 32nd Annual Academy Awards
  • 1961: The 33rd Annual Academy Awards
  • 1961: British Pathé News - Prime Minister Nehru Makes Deadline Visit to Hollywood
  • 1962: The 34th Annual Academy Awards
  • 1962: Committee on UnAmerican Activities (documentary on Johnston)
  • 1976: Hollywood on Trial (documentary about Johnston and the MPAA)
  • 1979: Has Anybody Here Seen Canada? A History of Canadian Movies 1939–1953
    (TV documentary about Johnston and Top Hollywood Studio Rep.)
  • 1987: Hollywood the Golden Years: The RKO Story - Dark Victory (documentary about Johnston for television)
  • 1996: Red Hollywood (video documentary about the President of the Motion Picture Association of America)
  • 2000: In the Shadow of Hollywood (documentary about Johnston and the Motion Picture Association of America)
  • 2003: American Masters - None Without Sin (TV documentary about Johnston)
  • 2006: This Film Is Not Yet Rated (documentary about the MPAA President 1945–1963)
  • 2007: Trumbo (documentary about Johnston)
  • 2007: Close-up - Bela Lugosi: Dracula's Dubbelganger (documentary for television)
  • 2008: Hollywood versus Franco (documentary about Johnston and the Motion Picture Association)

Web links

literature

  • Ralph A. Edgerton: The Pacific Northwesterner , Vol. 33, No. 4 (Fall 1989), pp. Ed .: David Wilma, pp. 55-62

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i The Eric Johnston Story sS historylink.org (English)
  2. ↑ Eric A. Johnston sS wnyc.org (English)
  3. ↑ a b Eric Johnston see newspaper clipping from the Hamburg World Economic Archive, accessed on January 10, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Johnston, Eric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johnson, Eric Allen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American businessman, President of the Chamber of Commerce and the Motion Picture Association of America
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington, DC , United States
DATE OF DEATH 22nd August 1963
Place of death Washington, DC