The Investigation: Operation Abolition

By the slick technical standards of Hollywood, Operation Abolition is one of the least likely film hits since nickelodeons first started to charge a dime. The movie is an abrupt, badly edited 45-minute short. Its eye-jolting camera work is murky, its sound track raucous and shrill. But its impact is pure boffo. Prints of Operation Abolition are booked months in advance by Army camps, student groups, American Legion posts, political meetings, churches and corporations. Pennsylvania Democrat Francis E. Walter, chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, estimates that more than...