Declaration of intents
Item
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Title
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Declaration of intents
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Creator
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Douglas Fairbanks
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Date
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1923-01-30
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Description
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Douglas Fairbanks' version of the Declaration of intents. This was signed by Hollywood actors and directors including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith and Harold Lloyd against censorship, malicious propaganda and destructive forces in the theatre business
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Scholarly Significance
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It shows that there was an unhappiness by Fairbanks against censorship, unhelpful propaganda and people destroying theatre. Although this is one perspective it is understandable due to the echelon of names that followed.
As a businessman his reputation, acting and livelihood was threatened and it was something that he wanted to ratify.
It was not until 1934 when the Hays code introduced the film industry to the Motion Picture Production Code, which is known widely as “the Hays code.” For the first time there was a cohesive censorship guideline for films that were made and distributed in the United States.
This is the fear that Fairbanks and others worried about and they wanted to stop this.
This document shows his influence and his own knowledge of his power within Hollywood. Partially as a co-founder of United Artists but also as an influential star.
Their aim was not to stop new artforms from occurring but to stop the machines within film from determining what actors, directors and producers can make.
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Place
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Place of dispatch - Hollywood
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Rights
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Charlie Chaplin Archive
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Identifier
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ECCI00316102, CH023
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Cataloguer
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Alex Bartholomew
