Boxoffice barometer (1960)

Itationwide Poll Names Screen’s Who’s Who ■It Exhibitors, Press and Public Film Groups Make Selections POPULfIRITV merican THE WINNERS Male 1. CARY GRANT 2. ROCK HUDSON 3. GLENN FORD 4. WILLIAM HOLDEN 5. JAMES STEWART 6. JOHN WAYNE 7. GARY COOPER 8. MARLON BRANDO 9. FRANK SINATRA 10. YUL BRYNNER 11. JERRY LEWIS 12. CLARK GABLE Female 1. DEBBIE REYNOLDS 2. DORIS DAY 3. SUSAN HAYWARD 4. ELIZABETH TAYLOR 5. DEBORAH KERR 6. JOANNE WOODWARD 7. SH.RLEY MacLAINE 8. AUDREY HEPBURN 9. KIM NOVAK 10. INGRID BERGMAN 11. MARILYN MONROE 12. LANA TURNER By VELMA WEST SYKES WHY stars?" has been asked by critics and by more than one producer. Some producers have even undertaken to prove that a good picture can be made with a competent cast and no dominant leads. The trouble is, the public makes stars, it believes in them — it even demands them. With this demand for them comes their boxoffice values, which has convinced most producers that the wisest thing to do is to go along and provide what the public wants. Something in human nature seeks symbols to look up to, to idealize, to admire and to identify themselves with the objects of this admiration. Moreover, a star is as important to a dramatic cast as a ridgepole to a roof. A weak Hamlet in the play, no matter how good the direction or the rest of the cast, means a flop, whereas a strong Hamlet and several weak members in the cast can get by. That the public is not always the most discriminating critic does not alter the fact that it has the power to make or break a star's prestige. And the yearly popularity poll which BOXOFFICE conducts has always shown that it is the stars in the boxoffice successes who score highest in it. It also shows that current pictures have much to do with the rise or fall of an actor's popularity, yet every year it is many of the same old faces — and we do mean old, in some instances — which hold the public's interest from one season to another. Looking at this year's results, we find Cary Grant in the top male spot for the second year. "North by Northwest" was not only a smash hit but the Hitchcock vehicle gave him a chance to display his versatile talents to good advantage, and many had also seen him in "Operation Petticoat," riotous fun. Debbie Reynolds, who leads the female stars, has stepped into first place for the first time — and from fourth place lost year and sixth place the year before. Thus her progressive popular appeal is the result of excellent roles in "The Mating Game," "Say One for Me" and "It Started With a Kiss." All of them are ideal for her naive type of effervescent youth. Rock Hudson, who rises to second in the male line this year, was in fourth place last year but headed the masculine stars in 1957. His role in "This Earth Is Mine" was a dramatic one but did not have the boxoffice appeal of "Pillow Talk" which was a delightful romantic romp with Doris Day that hit top grosses. Had it been released a little earlier, he might have given Cary Grant a closer run for first place. Doris herself, in second place among the women, has never quite reached the top but this is her second time to place second, although last year she was in third place. Her pictures this year, "Tunnel of Love," "It Happened to Jane" and "Pillow Talk," were all top hits, the second a Blue Ribbon Award winner, and the last mentioned really hit the jackpot for its popular appeal. Glenn Ford has risen to third place from sixth place last year and ninth place the year before in the male category. While "Torpedo Run" did not rise to top hit position, his success, teamed with Debbie Reynolds in the comedy "It Started With a Kiss," was such that now he is scheduled for further boxoffice triumphs in "The Gazebo." Third place among the women goes to Susan Hayward, which was quite a jump from ninth place last year and tenth place the year before. This was probably due to her starring role in "I Want to Live," which brought her an Oscar. However, the other two pictures in which she starred, "Thunder in the Sun" and "Woman Obsessed" were not widely acclaimed by the public via the ticket barometer. Among the male stars, William Holden drops to fourth place from the next-to-the-top position he had held the last two years. "The Horse Soldiers" finds him holding his own with that boxoffice phenomenon, John V/ayne, and "The Bridge on the River Kwai" carried over Holden's hold on the public from last year. Elizabeth Taylor, who headed last year's feminine stars, drops to fourth place this year. After some excellent vehicles last year, she has not been very active this year but may win back her following in the current "Suddenly, Last Summer." That perennial favorite, James Stewart, who places fifth, had three smash hits this year — "Anatomy of a Murder," "The FBI Story" and "Bell, Book and Candle." James handles the roles assigned him in (Continued on page 23) BOXOFFICE 19