Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1934)

34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD November 10, 1934 PUBLIC RESPONDS TO IMPROVED PICTURES Press Reflects Audience Appreciation of Higher Class Product; Better Attendance Seen Definitely favorable reaction of the public to motion picture product of the new season is reflected in the reaction of editorial writers and dramatic critics. Much of that comment concerns the trends of production since Joseph I. Breen rolled up his sleeves and began applying the functioning of the Production Code Administration directly to the studios, from story to finished production, July 15th last. In the critical expressions of writers in the daily newspapers and the religious press these conclusions appear most frequently : Quality of product has shown marked improvement. Censorship boards are making comparatively few cuts. Dignified and Intelligent themes are prominent In the new films. Producers are concentrating upon general audience appeal. Patrons have elevated their standard of screen taste. Box office receipts have Increased. Historical, biographical and high grade musical offerings are evident. Entertainment value has been heightened. New patronage is being attracted. Following are excerpts from writings in the daily and church press in the past month and from all parts of the country. New York TIMES By Andre Sennwald . . . Not in the recent memory of callous cinema reporters has the Mecca of the Pacific launched such argosies as those which reached Broadway during the past month. . . . The films which Broadway has exhibited in the last four weeks are remarkable not alone for their quality and their general excellence of achievement, but even more for the dignity and lively intelligence of the themes they explore. . . . V Brooklyn (N. Y.) TABLET In less than five months a revolution has taken place in the film world. Mr. Hays, Mr. Breen and the others have vindicated every confidence which the Legion of Decency has reposed in them. The cleanup has been consistent, immediate and almost complete. The producers have kept the agreement and abided by the rules of the game. ... All the lists note a great decrease in "banned" pictures. Our own, the oldest and best known lists, has jumped from 20 to 25 indorsed pictures to SO and 60. Another list . . . 173 pictures. Of these but 21 or 12% are banned. And of the 12% only 3 have come out since Joseph Breen started to enforce the new code . . . the City of Chicago censorship board — a very strict body — in the last three weeks has not made a single cut in any picture, we are told. . . . And in a news dispatch from Rome in the same issue, Most Rev. John /. Cantwell was quoted as follows: I told the Pope that reports have reached me that for several weeks there has been a very notable improvement seen in pictures exhibited for the first time in Los Angeles. The Pope heartily welcomes the change. . . . V Youngstown (O.) TELEGRAM The 15,000 or more people who attend movie theatres in this city each day in normal times have been commenting on a decided upturn in quality within the last few months. And there is something to think about in the fact that the producers are concentrating on what is termed by the trade, "family audience" pictures. . . . V Wilmington (N.C.) STAR . . . There is an added dignity about the cinema in recent weeks that cannot be denied. The change, in our opinion, is not due entirely to the efforts of religious bodies and others to eliminate the objectionable. Rather there has been an improvement in the tastes of the average picture goer. . . . V Detroit (Mich.) NEWS By Harold Heffernan . . . Hollywood has been cleaning up its own front yard so well that local board members have had little to do but sit back comfortably in their easy chairs and watch the celluloid footage whirl through the projectors. . . . V Rochester (N. Y.) TIMES-UNION By Amy H. Croughton . . . The new crop of pictures, made under the supervision of Joseph Breen . . . indicate that the majority of the producers and directors are at least willing to co-operate with the backers of the campaign for decent entertaining pictures. . . . V Greenville (S. C.) PIEDMONT . . . Patronage of movie theatres has increased steadily. Current reports show that so far this year box office receipts are running 10 to 30 per cent ahead of last year's. . . . V Washington STAR The nation-wide church campaign to "clean up" motion pictures has obtained such good results that the West End Citizens' Association Censorship Committee has decided further work will be unnecessary. . . . V Providence {R. I.) VISITOR With the improvement in Providence, at least, there has come an increased attendance, although there have been some pictures that were entitled to a better patronage than they received from those who are desirous of insisting that the film cleanup be made permanent. . . . V Los Angeles (Cal.) TIMES By Chapin Hall The new fall output is now speaking and the result is satisfactory. Historical and biographical presentations, together with high grade musical offerings, are popular. Business at the theatres is improving. Less importance is given to biologic abnormalities. ... V Chicago CHRISTIAN CENTURY By Fred Eastmatt ... I have seen several of the pictures bearing this (Production Code Administration) label and in justice I think I should say that to me they seemed worthy pictures, free from objectionable features. . . . V Brooklyn (N. Y.) EAGLE By Martin Dickstein It is beginning to look as if all that censorial tumult and shouting, instead of discouraging the movie makers, is actually having a stimulating efl^ect upon the manufacturers of celluloid entertainment. Cetainly the town has never had a more bountiful supply of good pictures to see and hear. . . . V Houston (Tex.) CHRONICLE . . . Apparently the new releases are taking on a greatly improved tone. . . . V Phoenix (Ariz.) REPUBLIC The campaign of the churches for the removal of dirt from pictures has been successful, thanks to the ready cooperation of the producers of 90 per cent of the films. . . . V Atlanta (Ga.) GEORGIAN . . . New movie-goers have been recruited from those persons who stayed away from films which offended them. Old movie-goers have been coming back. . . . V Flint (Mich.) JOURNAL . . . The motion picture industry has improved its productions materially. The problem of the future is to keep them so. . . . V Harrisburg (Pa.) PATRIOT . . . There is satisfaction in what seems to be an iniprovement in the films. . . . V Waterbury (Conn.) AMERICAN ... In general, it may be hazarded, the moral quality of the movies was never so meticulously chaste since the far-distant days of John Bunny and Flora Finch. . . . V Wilmington (N. C.) NEWS . . . The quality of films is becoming finer. Whether the pendulum swings back again in another decade is problematical but for the moment things in the industry, from the standpoint of refinement, are definitely on the upgrade. . . . V Boston CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR By E. C. Sherburne Hollywood today is turning out a larger proportion of relatively first-rate motion pictures than ever before. Paramount Race Reel In N. Y. Before Others One of the most decisive international "scoops" in newsreel history was scored by Paramount Thursday morning when the North German Lloyd steamship Bremen docked in New York delivering Paramount's views of the England to Australia air race a full week ahead of the other leels. Paramount had arranged with two of the aviators. Ken Waller and Cathcart Jones, to speed up their return trip and be "expressmen" for Paramount News. Samuel Meyer Dies Samuel C. Meyer, 73, veteran showman of the Northwest, died last week in San Francisco. He was associated for many years with William Ely in operation of the old Hippodrome and Helig theatres in Portland. Sarecky with Wanger Louis Sarecky, former associate producer for Radio, has joined Walter Wanger Productions on the Coast as general manager.