National Box Office Digest (Jan 1940-Jan 1941)

4 THE BOX OFFICE DIGEST The Hijtyu* IMPRESSED BY ACADEMY AFFAIR AID IMPRESSED BY MEEK'S LACK OF HEADLINE HEMS We will hand it to Monty Banks, 20th Century’s important British producer, for the most pertinent remark heard during the course of the Academy Awards affair last week. Said Monty, as the coveted Oscars were being awarded, on the basis of an industry-wide vote by those connected with all branches of picture production; “I am only a few days off the boat that brought me from the war zone. And what is happening here tonight makes me gulp and choke up a bit. Here an organization of workers located in America, six thousand miles and more from England, and the top two prizes are going to Britishers. Another to a negro player. The others scattered around among all races and creeds. And all these awards the result of ballots filled out by fellow picture workers who probably represent even Mohammodan . . . Gosh, what a situation! In no other country in the world could it happen. And if those folks over in Europe would only get a bit of this spirit — what a different world it would be today . . . This scene of people from all climes fraternizing, people of all races applauding each other — well, it just hits the heart of a fellow who has so recently arrived from ‘over there.’ ” HEARST BOW-OUT MARKS A LANDMARK News that William R. Hearst is about to completely fold up his picture activities — which have been semi-folded for some time now — makes an old-timers memory tingle . . . Back to those lucious serial days, when a single serial backed with the magic of Hearst exploitation, could showT a net profit shaming many of our present day epics . . . Those were the gold mine days . . . Then the expansion into feature production on the “money is no limit” scale . . . Some grand pictures, remember? .... The original “Litle Old New York,” “When Knighthood Was in Flower?” . . . Big money makers for exhibitors . . . And many bloomers . . . Big headaches for all concerned . . . Then the affiliations with major distributors, in which the Hearst nation-wide newspaper punch put quite a bit of heft behind a varied assortment of pictures . . . Made many a box office for pictures that should have been ordinary attractions . . . Then the decline . . . All of which reminds of the antique, fables, but classic remarks of Hearst as an honor guest at a New York banquet when he said he had been asked, “Is there any money in the picture business” — and he replied. “There should be. All of mine is in it.” WAR WORRIES ARE GETTING MORE DEFINITE Barney Balaban said considerable when he stated a week or so ago that the motion picture industry would be compelled to rely for ninety per cent of its revenue for some \ 9 FEATURES "GOING UP" 1. Gone With The Wind. MGM.. .381.. .384 2. The Fighting 69th WAR.. .147 . .151 3. Of Mice and Men UA 102 105 4. Remember the Night. ...PAR.. . 96 .100 5. The Wolf of New York REP 68.. . 70 6. The Lone Wolf Strikes. COL.. .. 66 .. 70 7. Everything’s On Ice....RKO.. .. 67 .. 69 8. Thou Shalt Not Kill REP 64 67 9. The Secret Four MONO . . 57.. .. 61 > 7 time to come on the American market . . . NINETY PER CENT! ... We happen to know that he is right . . . All this space-filling flub-dud about expanding the Latin market, and the markets in Timbuctoo and Afghanistan which followed the outbreak of hostilities and kidded a lot of people out of all logic, was merely flub-dub, and no more. In the first place, the companies have been spending plenty of money and have had capable men in these markets for a decade. Just because someone declared war in Europe and a New York executive waved a wand in search of new markets, it did not mean that they were going to be able to go out and knock the natives over the conk for two dollars where only one grew before . . . And. secondly, and most important, if you did multiply the dollars by three — you wouldn’t meet the cost of pre-production work on a single big Hollywood picture . . . No, those markets have been the welcome crumbs, can never, be much more because of language barriers. And now we face the truth . . . Which isn’t such bad news for American exhibitors, who at the first sour news from Hollywood believed that the war would mean a curtailing of quality . . . The producers can’t curtail quality — the laws of nature and commerce are all against them . . . But the necessity of getting that ninety per cent out of the American market just forces them to bear down on pictures made for entertainment and exploitation in the 15 FEATURES "GOING DOWN" i. Pinocehio RKO 164 153 2. The Shop Around The Corner MGM 97. 95 3. The Light That Failed. PAR . .101 94 4. Invisible Man Returns UN TV.. . 95 91 5. Invisible Stripes WAR . 93. 91 6. Raffles UA.. 93. 91 7. Congo Maisie MGM 89 87 8. Charlie McCarthy, Detective.. UN IV.. .. 87... 82 9. The Big Guv UNTV .. 77.... 75 10. Henry Goes to Arizona MGM .. 75.... . 72 11. Granny Get Your Gun WAR 74 71 12. Our Neighbors, The Carters PAR .. 75 70 13. Music in My Heart ...COL.. .. 72.... 70 14. British Intelligence WAR.. . 71 68 15. Money To Burn REP 71. 67 American market . . . .Human nature being what it is, they can’t be entirely blamed for some of the psycholorgy that was frequently used in recent years which said: “Oh, well, we know it won’t be so hot for the United States, but, shucks, we are certain of the production cost from the British market alone. Let’s make it — and let the American exhibitor squawk.” . . . And, aside from the benefit that will come to the American exhibitor by concentrating on American audiences, who knows but that distributors may start giving some thought to helping the exhibitor get more money out of the hidden American market? . . . Too much of their attention to date has been given to the easier line of getting more money out of the exhibitor. Selah. STUDIO NEWS NOT SO EXCITING THIS WEEK There were not any tremendously important items of news to be gathered around the studios this week . . . Maybe the Santa Anita combination with the Academy furore kept the big shots from making and un-making the deals that make top headlines . . . Even the Dies news was weak, with the Congressman now apparently willing to play ball and come to Hollywood for his hearing instead of asking the entire industry to suspend operations while he dragooned its members to Washington ... At that, we would probably dig up a list of a few or more who could just as well be taken to the Capitol for the hearings without the slightest hinderance to the progress of affairs in Hollywood . . . Which reminds us, that the mail of one radio commentator we happened to see would indicate that the wily Texan outmaneuvered the vocal part of Hollywood with the grand and glorious public . . . Eighty per cent of the letters put Hollywood on the defensive. Which is just too bad for the ninety-nine per cent of Hollywood which had nothing — and has nothing — to do with the fight . . . We are still waiting to hear Mr. Hays come out and say, with extended hand, and typical smile, to Mr. Dies: “Maybe there are a few stray Communists in Hollywood, and many more not of Hollywood sponging on them. Let’s join hands and go out there ad find them . . . We are getting a kick out of the advance news on that “Virginia City” trip — gathering space-writers from all corners of the nation. That Warner gang of Charlie Einfeld’s is going to town . . . And, speaking of Warners, Hal Wallis is back from vacationing, play-viewing, and authorcontacting, so expect some live production news concerning next year’s line-up to be breaking from Burbank in the coming weeks . . . WRile still on the subject of Warners, it is good news to hear that Edmound Colliding has won his fight with Kid Pneumonia and is at home after an extended hospital (Continued on Page 14)