A history of how the American film industry succeeded in dominating the film markets of Canada and Great Britain in the period 1920–1950, this book shows how well-organised and effective the American industry was overseas. It addresses Hollywood operations in Canada and various unsuccessful official attempts to curb them, and in Great Britain where legislation was enacted to control them, achieving some but by no means complete success. The study deals with the complexity of the situation in the United States, where the film industry coped with internal divisions, hostile pressure groups, and ambivalent administrations and shows that the secret of success is in the mastery of organization and supply.