Harrison's Reports (1938)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1879. Harrison's Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: 1270 SIXTH AVENUE Published W-eeMy by United States $15.00 Rrtrtm , ft1 o Harrison's Reports, Inc.. U. S. Insular Possessions. 1G.50 Ko°m 1BU Publisher Canada 16.50 New York, N. Y. P. S. HARRISON, Editor Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 , .. _. . _ . _ . fp0!,t Tjritair, ik7k A Motion Picture Reviewing Service Australia , New ' Zealand." Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Established July % 1919 India, Europe, Asia ... . 17.50 . ,. . . ' „ ,r„ ' Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Circle 7-4622 a ^opy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XX SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1938 No. 45 HAS THE "MOVIE" CAMPAIGN HELPED THE BOX OFFICE RECEIPTS? In the last three weeks I have heard much adverse exhibitor criticism against the "Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment" campaign. Some of the critics criticized one feature of the campaign ; others other features, while some condemned the campaign in its entirety. The Movie Quiz contest came in for considerable criticism. Some of the critics went so far as to say that this feature of the campaign will eventually do more harm than good, by reason of the fact that there will undoubtedly be received more than one million correct answers but there will be, they say, only one fifty thousand dollar prize to hand out. Consequently, every one of those who will have sent a correct answer but will have received no prize, either large or small, will feel aggrieved and he and his relatives and friends will become the industry's enemies. Conceding that each such person exerts influence over five other persons, there will be created, they figure out, anywhere from five to ten million enemies. It seems to me as if all those who have criticized and are still criticizing the movie campaign have overlooked the primary objects for which this campaign was instituted. For several months previously to the starting of the campaign the industry's reputation was at its lowest. Radio commentators took ghoulish delight in maligning the entire industry by telling the public that the producers in Hollywood had lost the public's "touch," that the pictures they were producing lacked merit, that the picturegoing public had been fed up with them, and that the motion picture industry was in a tight corner. Exhibitior organizations were telling the industry, by means of paid advertisements, which were afterwards discussed in the daily press as well as over the radio, that a certain number of the stars were box-office "poison." Certain industry leaders were giving to the newspapers interviews telling the American public that Hollywood can no longer make good pictures. The result was that the theatre box offices took a dip that frightened not only exhibitors but the entire industry. Less money was sent to Hollywood for the production of pictures, and those in charge of production began to discharge stars, directors, actors, producers, writers, technicians and others in an effort to fit their budgets to the lowered income. Every one in the industry was in a panic. At this juncture some one conceived the idea of starting a campaign to offset the malicious propaganda against the industry. The campaign is now several weeks old and, although its end is still several weeks off, an opportunity is offered to us to render some judgment whether it has or has not benefited the industry in general and the theatre box offices in particular. But before placing ourselves into a position where we may render a correct judgment, it is necessary that we ask ourselves whether the primary object of the campaign, that is, to stop radio commentators from maligning the industry and to recapture the public's good will, has or has not been accomplished. Let us examine the facts : The radio commentators no longer treat the industry and motion pictures with the disrespect, not to say the malice, with which they treated it before the campaign — if anything, they are now treating them with respect. Exhibitor organizations no longer buy space in trade papers to tell the industry how "poisonous" to the box office are some stars. Producers no longer give out interviews telling the American public that the quality of the pictures produced today are poor. Hundreds of newspapers have told, and are still telling, the public, through their editorial columns, that the motion picture industry is sound, and that the producers in Hollywood are making highly entertaining pictures ; they are congratulating the industry for its efforts to serve the public. So changed has been the sentiment of the newspaper editors toward the industry, in fact, that a recent check-up showed that, out of five hundred editorials that appeared in the newspapers of the nation, more than ninety-five per cent were highly favorable. And additional favorable editorials have been printed since. Can the industry point out to another such record ? All these facts prove conclusively but one thing, that the campaign, as concerns the recapturing of public good will, has been highly successful. Let us now discuss whether the box offices of the theatres have been helped or not. When thousands of theatres throughout the land use attractive advertisements in the marquees, in the lobbies and on the screens, calling the public's attention to the industry's efforts to give it good picture entertainment ; when banners are stretched from one side of the street to the other with the same object in view ; when newspaper advertisements appear extolling not any particular pictures but the industry itself ; when millions of pieces of literature are mailed to the picture-goers calling their attention to the coming, as well as the current, attractions ; when parades are held for the same purpose ; when so unprecedented an activity to bring the industry to the attention of the public is resorted to, can any one doubt that the theatre box offices have benefited? And the campaign is not yet over. In view of the fact that the critics of the movie campaign have been mostly subsequent-run exhibitors, before we can know the results to them we must wait until the campaign is over. And this is not the only benefit that the industry is going to receive as a result of this campaign ; it will benefit also from the improvement in the qual (Continued on last page)