Più che un pugno di dollari. Denari americani e cinema nell’Italia del dopoguerra (1945-1950)

For numerous years, after World War II, the rentals of American movies continued to be tied up in our country. The specific cases of their use – both in the film industry and in other sectors – were strictly codified in a series of agreements which ultimately involved the governments of both countries. The existence of the Anica-Mpea agreements (1951-1963) is (fairly) well-known, although very little has been written about it. Almost nothing has been said about the “regulationsµ that guided the use of American funds in the preceding years, from 1945 to 1950. These were rather decisive years, in which Italy’s dependence on the United States was, inevitably, very close; in which foundations were laid for subsequent American investment policies in our cinema. The following essay reconstructs the framework of these regulations, based on documents from that time (measures, interpretative circulars, bank statements, diplomatic correspondence, etc.), which have since remained hidden for a long time.