Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry (1954)

FILM RENTALS FILM rentals for Canada in 1952 rose by almost 13 per cent over the 1951 total to an all-time record. The gain in rentals kept pace with that of receipts, which increased by over nine per cent in also setting an all-time mark. Rentals for 35 mm. film totalled $30,629,502 in 1952, as against $27,331,406 the year before, an increase of $3,298,096. The grand total of rentals, which include a record $2,281,540 from 16 mm. and a few thousand dollars from 8 mm. for 1952, was $32,911,042. There were 36 film distribution com¬ panies in 1952 and these had 129 ex¬ change offices. In 1933 the rental figure began to climb out of the low place to which it had fallen into during the depression In 1930, the first year of the depression, the figure was $9,536,200 and by 1933 it had dropped to $6,797,600. — a loss of about a third. From that year on it has been a steady climb, increasing about an average of $1,000,000 a year until 1948, when the gain over 1947 was a record up to then of $2,195,693. In 1949 the gain was $3,334,975, setting a new high, which was topped by 1950’s $26, 800,789. In 1930 there were 907 situations in Canada and these declined to 762 the next year. Not until 1936 did the num¬ ber of theatres exceed the 1930 figure, with 956 operating in that year. A con¬ tinuing increase from 1936 brought the total to 3,416 places of exhibition in operation in Canada in 1952. Admissions to theatres, including drive-ins and itinerant operators, totalled 262,963,287 in 1952, an increase of 10,804,162 over 1951’s total of 252,159,125. The following table of annual rentals, in which each figure represents the com¬ bined 16 and 35 mm. yield, shows the progressive increase: Years Firms Branches Rentals 1930 — 59 $ 9,536,200 1933 — 59 6,797,600 1934 — 60 7,370,200 1935 — 61 7,404,500 1936 — 66 8,358,900 1937 — 63 9,471,100 1938 — 62 10,218,700 1939 — 67 10,315,500 1940 — 72 11,445,167 1941 — 69 12,368,446 1942 — 78 13,892,093 1943 23 87 15,163,355 1944 23 88 16,516,073 1945 26 86 17,490,264 1946 29 91 18,652,892 1947 29 114 19,464,706 1948 29 118 21,591,712 1949 37 119 24,893,657 1950 36 118 26,800,789 1951 33 123 29,225,867 1952 36 129 32,911,042 Some of these figures include several thousand dollars for 8 mm. rental. The figures from the years previous to 1940 include receipts from advertis¬ ing and other sources. The totals from 1946 on are presumed to be from every type of exhibition, including drive-ins. As a guide to the amount of rentals for 35 mm. only the following figures for 16 mm. theatrical and non-theatrical rentals will help: Years Rentals 1944 $ 967,179 1945 1,198,016 1946 1,173,170 1947 1,180,170 1948 1,444,872 1949 1,684,953 1950 1,713,813 1951 1,894,461 1952 . 2,281,540 Revenue from the sale of advertising material was $567,144 and from other sources it was $501,413. In 1952 there were 1,200 exchange employees and these received $3,128,527 in salaries. In 1951 there were 1,120 employees and these got $3,071,545 in salaries. In 1952 1,626 new 35 mm. films and 3,563 new 16 mm. films of all types were released and these included 712 35 mm. features and 954 16 mm. fea¬ tures. Of the standard-size films 1,290 were in English, 301 in French and 35 in other languages. Of the narrow-gauge films 3,295 were in English, 261 in French and seven in other tongues. In the total 35 mm. releases are included 466 newsreels, of which 72 were in French and the rest in English. And in the 16 mm. field there were 659 news¬ reels, of which 23 were in French and the rest in English. 109