Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry (1957)

FACTS ABOUT EXHIBITION FRENCH-LANGUAGE HOUSES: Quebec theatres showing only French films in 1956 numbered 159, five more than in 1955, one more than in 1954, 29 more than in 1953 and 117 more than in 1952. Those playing motion pictures in both English and French totalled 156, 14 less than in 1955 and 1954, when it was 170, and 33 more than 1953’s 123. Theatres using English-language films exclusively fell from 92 in 1955 to 84 in 1956 and this was four less than in 1954 and 110 less than in 1953. Several importing companies offer exhibitors films produced in France and other exchanges provide dubbed versions of Hollywood films. Of the 21 features films produced in Canada since 1945, 13 were in French and these obtained almost 100 per cent of their Canadian grosses from exhibition in the Province of Quebec. THEATRES OPERATING (35 mm.): According to the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association there were 1,888 35 mm. situations operating in Canada as of March 31, 1957, of which 1,656 were auditorium type and 232 were drive-ins. By exchange territories these figures broke down to 138 standard-type and 25 driveins in Vancouver; 260 and 51 in Calgary; 304 and 44 in Winnipeg; 394 and 89 in Toronto; 399 and none in Montreal; and 161 and 23 in Saint John. COMMUNITY SHOWS: In 1955, 156 35 mm. and 460 16 mm. theatres were operated as non-profit enterprises in churches and hall by religious, service and fraternal organizations, as well as Boards of Trade. The majority of the community enterprises, it is reported by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, are situated in Quebec and Saskatchewan. While most of the halls used 16 mm. equipment the 156 halls where 35 mm. was used accounted for 56.4 per cent of the receipts and 53.9 per cent of the total admissions. Only Manitoba and Prince Edward Island had more halls using 35 mm. equipment than 16 mm. PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE: The per capita expenditure for theatregoing in Canada in 1955 was $6.74, which compares 25 with $7.80 in 1954, $8.30 in 1953, $8.21 in 1952, $7.72 in 1951, $7.12 in 1950, $6.89 in 1949, $6.50 in 1948, $5.77 in 1945 and $5.01 in 1942. Alberta led the provinces with $9.39, then came British Columbia with $8.48, Ontario with $7.66, Saskatchewan with $6.66, Nova Scotia with $6.46, Manitoba with $6.35, New Brunswick with $5.23, Quebec with $5.11, Prince Edward Island with $4.90 and Newfoundland with $4.52. The average ticket cost was 52c. Newfoundland was lowest with 42c and Yukon-NWT highest with 70c. CAPACITY UTILIZED: There was a drop of four per cent from the 27 per cent total of 1954 in the number of admissions sold in 1955 as against the maximum possible. The “‘capacity utilized” potential is obtained by multiplying the number of seats in each theatre by the number of performances and cumulating the results. The 1955 percentage is the lowest since 1940, the highest having been 1946, when the figure was 37.6. PAYROLL: The collective wages and salaries of 14,451 people in the employ of Canada’s 1,950 (regular) theatres totalled $19,447,690 in 1955, a drop from the 15,786 employees receiving $20,154,337 in 1954. Sixty-four film distribution companies working from 153 exchange offices paid their employees $4,370,833, as compared with 48 companies paying their personnel $4,166,942 in 136 exchange offices. LANGUAGE: Of the 1,493 35 mm. films listed by the DBS as ‘New Films Released, 1955” in all languages, 1,156 were in English, 276 in French and 61 in other languages. The 969 16 mm. films were made up of 677 in English, 279 in French and 13 in other languages. SCREEN ADVERTISING: The 1,950 (regular) theatres and 242 drive-ins operating in Canada in 1955 had a combined revenue of $194,244 from the screening of commercial films, according to the DBS, which gave these figures for the first time in its latest report. Drive-ins got $100,128 and auditorium theatres $94,116.