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

| smaller number of people, and gathered less money, according to the figures issued by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics. In totalling theatres the DBS counts 16 mm. commercial operations and its “Regular” category is made up of those and 35 mm. ones. The Canadian Film Weekly and the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association list only 35 mm. theatres. Regular theatre attendance dropped to an 18-year low in 1957 when paid admissions totalled 146,755,828, a decline of 10 per cent from the preceding year’s 162,859,006, according to DBS official figures. Peak year’s attendance was 247,732,717 in 1952 and the next lowest was 137,898,668 in 1939. Patronage of drive-in theatres rose to 9,945,630 from 9,705,982 in 1956, but the year’s total was some 20 per cent below peak attendance in 1954 of 12,380,246. Receipts (exclusive of amusement taxes) of 1,716 regular motion picture theatres (1,849 in 1956) were down 5.2 per cent to $76,486,177 from $80,666,267 in 1956 and 24.2 per cent from the all-time high of $100,889,361, reached in 1953. In contrast, similar receipts from 229 driveins (237 in 1956) rose from $4,409,426 in 1952 to a peak of $6,316,947 in 1954, fell to $5,394,296 in 1956 and edged up again to $5,725,311 in 1957. Regular and auditorium motion picture theatres (non-drive-ins) in Canada grossed $75,584,425 in 1958, a decline of $901,752 (1.2%) from 1957, while admissions, at 137,326,088, were down 9,429,740 (6.4%) against 1957, estimated statistics based on reports submitted by 78 per cent of the situations indicate, says the DBS. “Although it is not expected that these figures will be much different in the full coverage report to be submitted at a later date, they should serve only as indicators and not as an account of theatre operations in 1958,” the DBS Special Statement warns. Amusement taxes, at $7,014,401, declined by $800,803 (10.3%). The average admission price was 55c compared to 52c, which helped protect exhibitors. This, coupled with gains in reducing the amusement tax, was helpful. The saving on amusement taxes usually goes to the exhibitor. Effect of economy and the closing of theatres is indicated by a 696 drop in the persons employed (11,948) and a $407,779 decline in earnings ($17,219,718). Estimated admissions and receipts for 40 1958 per province are: Newfoundland — 2,505,616-$1,029,031; Prince Edward Island — 460,758-$183,940; Nova Scotia — 5,942,619-$2,470,046; New Brunswick — 4,185,264$1,720,298; Quebec — 31,588,386-$19,385,056; Ontario — 51,671,470-$29,527,981; Manitoba — 7,395,426-$3,489,499; Saskatchewan — 7,769,005-$3,566,538; Alberta — 11,855,543$6,230,757; British Columbia (including Yukon and Northwest Territories) — 14,402,001-$7,981,279. SEATING N 1958 Canada had 844,439 seats in its 1,568 35 mm. auditorium theatres, while its 240 drive-ins had a total car capacity of 92,423. The nine legitimate theatres, some of which play films, had 9,785 seats and the drive-ins 725 walk-in seats. A rough six-year comparison can be made through the use of the 1953 figures of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association, which, however, cover a fiscal year ending March 31. In 1953 the CMPDA listed 1,924 35 mm. standard houses with 963,914 seats — greater by 356 theatres and 119,439 seats. By these figures Canada’s indoor cinema seating declined by a little over 12 per cent in the six years since Canada began its own TV production, while the number of theatres was reduced by 18 per cent. Why are the percentages different? Because those theatres which have been eliminated were mainly small ones with a couple of hundred seats. The larger theatres, with the greater capacity, haven’t been hit as hard. Of the 1,568 theatres with 844,439 seats in Canada at the end of 1958, Ontario had 396 with 284,411 seats, Quebec 401 with 225,193, BC 127 with 76,717, Alberta 181 with 72,881, Saskatchewan 190 with 60,062, Manitoba 116 with 51,579, NS 65 with 35,254, NB 52 with 24,972, Newfoundland 23 with 8,757 and PEI 17 with 4,613. Canada’s 240 drive-ins and their car capacity of 92,423 were made up of Ontario’s 96 with accommodation for 43,606 cars, Alberta’s 36 with 12,904, BC’s 36 with 12,604, Saskatchewan’s 35 with 8,739, Manitoba’s 14 with 4,484, NB’s 13 with 5,070, NS’s eight with 3,316 and PEI’s two with 700. It is interesting to note that although Quebec had five auditorium theatres more than Ontario, it had 59,218 seats fewer, indicating that the average situation in Ontario was quite a bit larger than the average Quebec one.