Film Weekly 1961-62 year book : Canadian motion picture industry with television section (1961)

Record Details:

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Our Business By N. A. TAYLOR THE YEAR IN REVIEW OST noteworthy of the events in our business during the last 12 months was not the continued closing of theatres, but the manner in which this was affec¬ ted. The principal circuits collaborated to exchange, close and pool theatres in var¬ ious locations in order to keep the re¬ maining ones in the black. Thus, in some smaller cities where previously three circuits had operated in oppo¬ sition to each other, we now find two the¬ atres — or sometimes one — operated by a single circuit or even only one. Statistics in¬ dicate that we are now catering to half the patronage of the for¬ mer peak and it would therefore seem prudent to adjust to these conditions in such a manner. On the whole, business was not good during the past year and unquestionably adverse weather as well as economic conditions were contributing factors. The highest percentage of unemployment since the 30’s continues to plague the economy and unseasonable weather, characterized by an over-abundance of rain in some places and drought condi¬ tions in others, has undoubtedly affected theatre attendances. As predicted here last year, the entry of the eight second TV stations in large centres has brought about increased opposition to theatres. Many of these stations are showing good and comparatively new motion pictures at prime times and spending consider¬ ably money in advertising this fact. For a number of reasons, drive-in the¬ atres do not feel so much of the effect of TV competition as do hard-tops. An upgrading of runs has proved the driveins capable of some fancy grosses, par¬ ticularly in large centres. Since drive-in revenues have become so important to the distributor, this trend is likely to con¬ tinue. The number which operate on a year-round basis continues to grow. The introduction at long last of Sun¬ day movies in the City of Toronto and other places in Ontario, has not proved the boon anticipated. In point of fact, the results have been disappointing. In most cases attendances for seven days are not any greater than formerly for six and operating costs have risen perceptibly. It is anticipated that it will require at least a year or longer before the Sunday moviegoing habit will become a pattern for many people. Foreign films, both dubbed and with subtitles, are commanding a larger slice of theatre playing time because of the continuing shortage of English-language films. However, they continue to attract larger audiences. Notwithstanding the academic furor on the question of dub¬ bing, there is substantial proof that dub¬ bed films will considerably outdraw sub¬ titled ones. Indeed it is only in the large cities that one may expect any worth¬ while attendance at all on subtitled films. In the feature-film field Canada is still sadly lacking in the stature that befits its tradition as a large trading nation and output is minimal. Only two features of any relative importance were produced in the last year. The first to be released is One Plus One, produced by an Amercan, Arch Oboler for a Swiss corpora¬ tion. The other, The Mask, a Taylor-Roffman production produced and directed by Julian Roffman, is an entirely fin¬ anced and produced Canadian effort. It will receive world-wide distribution (out¬ side of Canada) through Warner Brothers — the first time an entirely-Canadian pro¬ duction has achieved such major accept¬ ance. It becomes increasingly clear, how¬ ever, that a continuity of feature-film pro¬ duction is possible only if the Govern¬ ment extends some sort of support. Pay-see-TV, represented by Telemeter in Toronto, has made little progress be¬ yond its initial impact. Its sponsors sug¬ gest that the chief purpose is research for the determination of right economics and programming. Further retrenchment and consolidation would appear to be the watchword for the ensuing year. However, shining above all of this like a very bright star is the fact that films which catch the public fancy earn greater grosses than was formerly considered possible. 23