ABSTRACT
In 1932, Pope Pius XI gave his blessing to a company to increase the Catholic Church's influence in the international film industry. This company, founded in Amsterdam and called International Eidophon NV, would apply itself to the production of Catholic talking pictures. Eidophon, however, promised to be the most ambitious attempt to date at launching the production of Catholic films for the international market. Around 1930, 'sound film' was a considered a magic word that appealed to the imagination and preoccupied people throughout the world. The new technology had caused the international film industry to splinter in 1929, and the biggest electronic companies in the world fought over the scraps. In December 1931, Brenninkmeyer and Konemann sent their foundation plan for International Eidophon NV to potential financiers. The plan was supposed to convince wealthy Catholics that financial participation in the project did not involve any excessive risk and that its idealistic objectives alone made it worthwhile.
