Kinematograph year book (1950)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

50 The Kinematograph Year Book. Trade Statistics Kinemas In 1949, there were approximately 4,800 kinemas in Great Britain, with one seat for every 10 people in the country. Some 2,000 are regarded as first-run houses. There are upwards of 30 news theatres with seating capacity between 250 and 500 each. Attendances Estimated total weekly attendance (in millions) for 7 selected years : Peak 1934 '36 '37 '39 war '45 '48 period 10 19 23 25 31 30 28 Revenue The official figures of total box office receipts were : 1945 £117,000,000 1946 £121,000,000 1947 £108,000,000 1948 £112,000,000 The last figure is according to the White Paper on National Income and Expenditure, April, 1949. Other estimates vary the figure a few millions. Average seat range : 6d. to 2s. 6d. Average seat price : Is. 6d. It is estimated that circuit revenues are approximately \ to \ of the total box-office revenues. About 20 per cent, of the circuit boxoffice takings is earned in the London area. Estimated remittances to U.S. in respect of U.S. film rentals. 1946 £17,500,000 1947 £14,000,000 The producers' share of the total earnings of U.S. films in this country from June, 1948 to September, 1949 was estimated at about £14,500,000. Major Circuits Nearly 1,000 of the best kinemas are in the 3 major circuits, while another 1,000 are in smaller circuits. The chief circuits are : Gaumont-BritisrO Odeon }560 A.E.C. 414 G.B. and Odeon circuits came under the control of Circuits Management Association, Ltd., in 1948. Exhibitors' Quota Exhibitors' defaults on their quota of British long films. : 1945/6 1946/7 1947/8 Exhibitors' quota 15% 20% Exhibitors defaults 681 959 1,367 1948/9 1949/50 Exhibitors' quota 45% 40% Exhibitors' defaults Films Registered Number of long films (over 3,000 ft.) registered by the Board of Trade : British Foreign Total Year ending Mar. 31, 1945 67 379 446 Mar. 31, 1946 83 364 447 Mar. 31, 1947 107 367 474 Mar. 31, 1948 170 301 471 Mar. 31, 1949 120 403 523 Censorship Each year approximately 1,000 to 1,600 subjects are examined by the British Board of Film Censors. "A" Cer "U" Cer "H" Certificate tificate tificate 1945 351 902 3 1946 341 1,192 10 1947 276 1,130 2 1948 372 1,230 5 In connection with the 1948 figures, it was necessary for cuts to be made in 194 of the films submitted before a certificate was issued ; 3 films were wholly rejected ; 10 film subjects were rejected in script form.