Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry (1959)

Our Business By N. A. TAYLOR NEW PATTERN for our business is taking shape visibly. Its silhouette indicates that we must find a way to adjust to changing conditions and the permanence of television. The public continues to be selective in the type of motion picture entertainment for which it buys tickets. Although the last year saw the release of a greater number of blockbusters than at any time in the past, it was not always those with the best critically-rated content to which the public responded in the largest numbers. Many gimmick films and others perhaps inferior were able to roll up sizeable grosses based on comprehensive and ingenious campaigns. For the first time since the inception of television the boxoffice shows signs of regaining stability. While one cannot conclude that theatres will stop closing, the rate has slowed down and again it is mostly the antiquated and obsolete which are being shuttered. Drive-in theatres in many places have found an increasing possibility of prosperity where they have been able to arrange day-and-date runs with nearby hardtop situations. This is evidence that the public considers timeliness almost as important as quality. Some remarkable grosses have been achieved by drive-ins in morepopulated locations where they. have been able to improve their runs. A recent innovation has been the allyear drive-in, winterized and supplying the patrons with propane-gas in-car heaters. Despite one of the worst winters in years, two drive-ins in Toronto operated continually and emerged with some profit. Others may try the same policy but should be aware of the need for an early run for successful results. There is a growing realization that the boxoffice can no longer be taken for granted. Even good attractions with established stars have to be sold harder—and at a local level—than at any time in the past. Distributors who have co-operated on this basis with enterprising exhibitors have had very favorable results. Those who have chosen to let their product speak for itself have often been answered by only a faint whimper from the boxoffice. 23 The ‘long-promised debut of Telemeter should become a reality by the end of 1959. Plans have been put into effect and a large sum allocated for its launching in a suburb of Toronto. There has been opposition to it in certain quarters but it will proceed nevertheless and the result will be awaited with great anticipation by almost everyone in our business. The distribution pattern continues to remain fairly static. Distributors still complain about operating six offices, with the attendant overhead, in a country of such a comparatively small population. Yet the area served is so large that it is difficult to imagine getting along with less. Therefore the possibility of one or more mergers between companies is not to be discounted. The experiment of assigning to a third party the handling of posters has not been too successful and may have been costly to both exhiibtors and distributors. Too often have important theatres been caught without advertising and posters for their lobbies and fronts. The situation cries loudly for a remedy. Production is slowly but surely becoming a permanent feature of the Canadian scene. New and larger studios are being built for the making of television and feature films, the latest being located on a large ranch on the outskirts of Toronto. Television series are being produced regularly and several theatrical features were made in the last year. Producers are making a strong bid for Government support and they deserve it. Ours is the only trading country in the world which does not enjoy a respected position in the realm of theatrical film production. The general healthy state of our business must be affirmed despite the fact that all theatres are not necessarily prosperous. Many are in dire straits and it is doubtful if anything can be done to save them. On the other hand, some theatres are more prosperous than ever before. More 70 mm. installations will be made in the coming year and reserved-seat policies will become almost commonplace in the larger cities. These things are part of the new pattern of our business, which continues to change somewhat quickly these days after years of comparative stability.