Political Repercussions

New Zealanders were naturally concerned about these goings-on, and about the degree of monopoly that was developing in the industry. Kerridge Odeon and Amalgamated between them owned 177 cinemas including practically all of the city ones. Most of the concern was about the fact that Fox was involved in both chains and the Labour government appointed a Committee of Inquiry in 1948 to look into the matter.

Among the things that the committee had to consider was the extent to which the New Zealand cinema industry should remain in the hands of British and New Zealand nationals. This reflected the anti-Americanism underlying the resentment against Fox. The Labour government apparently preferred British investment to American, an attitude that is still common. American firms operating in New Zealand come in for a lot of (deserved) criticism, particularly in radical papers and magazines, British firms escape comparatively unscathed, despite the fact that there are still a lot more of them.

This attitude is apparently common in Australia too. In a private letter commenting on the New Zealand situation, An Australian show-biz personality John Tait wrote, The picture business in New Zealand now will be absolutely controlled by the Rank, Kerridge and Fox interests, which in many respects is a pity, but it is nice to know that English and New Zealand money is the dominating factor.'

When the Committee of Inquiry issued its report in 1949, it said that it was 'even' a bit dubious about the British investment. However as it didn't propose doing anything about it, it didn't make any difference.