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58
EXHIBITORS HERALD
January 7, 1922
U. S. Figures on
Film Importation
(Continued from page 29)
meant in 1914. The domestic market has so developed that 20,000,000 feet (the import of 1914), would be more easily absorbed today than a much smaller amount in 1914. Exctpt for four German and one Italian film, pictures of foreign make, imported since the war, have not been especially successful.
Sources of Imports
More than four-fifths of the .raw film and two-thirds of the exposed film imported into the United States come from five European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
In the normal year, the United States imports between one and two million feet of film from countries other than the five selected. These imports come from all parts of the world in smalf amounts, a few thousand feet from each country made up of travel pictures, news service, pictures taken abroad by American companies and an occasional photoplay made by a foreign company.
BELGIUM
Belgium, the first of these countries is important only as an exporter of raw film, as Table 4 shows.
Before the war the raw film industry had gained a foothold in Belgium and in 1914 several million feet of raw film were exported. But by the end of 1915 the war had put an end to its production for export, and in the four years, 1915-1919, we imported no raw film from that country. In 1920, however, .50,833,000 feet, nearly one-third of our total unexposed film import came from Belgium, and in the current year probably 40,000,000 feet, or about the same proportion of our total import, will come from the same source.
Belgium is not an important exporter of exposed film. The motion picture industry, that is, the producing of plays, has not developed. Our imports of exposed film from that country in the last ten' years have been negligible in both quantity and value, less than 15,000 feet have been imported, and 90 per cent of it has come in during the last two years.
Belgium is an excellent market for the disposal of finished pictures. Competition is strong, as French, Italian, German and American producers are in the field. The fact that American film exports to Belgium have substantially increased during the last two years indicates that American films are holding their own in the face of this severe competition from European producers.
FRANCE
The United States imports more motion picture film from France than from any other country. About half of our raw film and nearly one-third of our exposed film imports have conic' from that country. (Table 5.) ' ;
Before the war our imports of raw film from France were growing in importance, and by 1015 were in excess of ',0 per cent of total raw film imports. Daring the war imports of French raw film did not begin to decline until alter 1'iir. From that time the fall was rapid until in 1919 we imported only 13,3 19,000 feet or less than one-fourth of the 1916 amount. In 1920 imports of French raw film more than quadrupled, jumping from 13 400.000 in 1919 to slightly more than (•,2500 000 feet. The returns for the first nine months of this year indicate that the total for the year will not be far from
75,000,000 feet. Imports of exposed film from France greatly decreased during the war. In 1917 they had fallen to about one-third, and in 1918 to approximately one-ninth of the 1913 figure.
In 1919 our imports of French exposed film increased slightly to 869,000 feet, and in 1920 they were 2,162,000 linear feet, or more than double the 1919 figure. The imports for the first nine months of this year indicate that the total for the year will be about 2,200,000 feet, or a slight increase over 1920. This is about one-third of the quantity imported in 1913.
* * *
Prior to the war the French, motion picture industry' itself had a steady growth and development. Production was well organized and foreign markets were established, particularly in Austria, German}and Russia.
The war put a stop to the progress of the French motion picture industry, crippling it in two ways:
(1) It took personnel of producers organization and seriously interfered with the exhibition of films.
(2) It prevented exportation of films to former markets: Austria, Germany and Belgium.
When peace came the industry was not on stable foundation. Handicapped by a lack of modern machinery and equipment and a scarcity of working capital, recover}was slow. There is in France no organization of companies and production on the scale with which we are familiar in this country. The industry is unable to produce the elaborate feature pictures which require special and expensive equipment.
* * *
Foreign competition is particularly severe in France from Italy and the United States. American pictures have been popular and in great demand from their introduction. The French "Association National d'Expansion Economique" estimated in 1918 that more than half of the film exhibited was of foreign make. The French industry has thus been dependent on the development of markets in other countries to a great extent.
Tt is certain that a large proportion of the exports are unexposed film, but exact figures are not available. Table 6 shows clearly that the French export trade suffered a severe setback during the war. Germany, Austria and Belgium, imported no French film after the outbreak of the war, while in 1913 they took over 25 per cent of the total French export. With the loss of these markets, France turned to South America, and by 1915 exports to Brazil and Argentina were important. Exports to nearly all countries in 1918 showed a great decline over the 1913 level.
GERMANY
In the present year imports of German film have been given great publicity. Table 7 gives our import of German films during the last ten years.
In the pre-war period imports of film from that country were growing rapidly, but it was not until 1913 that they became important.
In the following year about one-sixth of our total import of raw film came from Germany. The war at first slowed down and finally stopped German export of raw film until after the Armistice. In the two years 1^19-1920 we imported no raw film from Germany. In the first nine months of this year, however, over 29,000,000 feet, or over 20 per cent of the total of unexposed film entering this country, came from Germany. It is clear that the German raw film industry, little, d'Sturbed by the war, is in a strong position.
Before the war, imports of German exposed film were relatively unimportant prior to 1913. The growth of our import was rapid from 1911 on, until the high mark of 2,159,231 feet was reached in 1914. During the war imports of exposed film from Germany declined and finally ceased in 1917.
In 1919 the import was negligible. In 1920 slightly more than a half million feet of exposed film were imported. But in the present year, imports from Germany will probably be more than 2,000,000 feet, and in excess of those from any other country. German film makes up at present about 26 per cent of our total exposed film import in feet. In value, however, it is only 16 per cent of the total, or less than the somewhat smaller imports from France and the United Kingdom.
In the first nine months of this year nearly two million feet of exposed film have come from Germany. It is estimated that over 150 complete pictures have been imported. Four of these pictures — "Pass-'on," "Deception," "Caligari," and "The Golem," have met with startling success. The fact that these four were successful has led the general public to believe that all the films we import are as successful as these four. This is evidently not the case. Trade magazines say that less than four per cent of the German films imported are ever exhibited.
The cost of producing these four successful pictures was large, even when converted into dollars at the depreciated exchange rate. Reliable figures as to the German cost can not be obtained. However, since the salaries paid the personnel are much lower than those paid here, and since wages are a very large item in producing cost, it is probable that the cost of production in Germany was less than it would have been in the United States.
Exact and reliable figures concerning the German industry are not to be had. It is certain that during the three years since the Armistice the German industry has received a great stimulus. Observers of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce in Germany say that German public opinion has been strongly opposed to the presentation of French and Italian films which were formerly so popular. This attitude has been a not unimportant factor in recent development.
According to the "Economist Francaise" of September 3, 1921. the four leading: companies are the Ufa, Decla May-film, and Efa (European Film Alliance). The first three are strictly German, the fourth was created by the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation of America.
ITALY
In Italy the motion picture industry is one of the ranking industries. The greatest development in the industry outside of the United States has taken place in that countrv. Table 8 gives the imports of Italian film into the United States in the last ten years:
The production of raw film in Italy has been slight and imports into the United States from that country have been negligible. In the production of exposed film, however, it has gone far ahead of other European countries for two major reasons:
1, It has been peculiarly favored by physical conditions — climate and scenery.
2. The Italian Government favoring the industry as a means of attracting tourists aided in the more effective organization of the industry.
Before the war, about one-s;xth of the total cxnosed film import came from Italv. The amount of Italian film imported fluctuated slightly, but no general trend was apparent. Imports from Italy
(Concluded on fage 6o)