Exhibitors Herald World (Jan-Mar 1929)

22 EXHIBITORS HERALD -WORLD March 2,1929 EX H I B ITO RS H E RALD WORLD Martin J. Qui'gley, Publisher & Editor Incorporating Exhibitors Herald, founded in 1915; Moving Picture World, founded in 1907; Motography, founded in 1909; and The Film Index, founded in 1909 Published Every Wednesday by Quigley Publishing Company Publication Office: 407 So. Dearborn St., CHICAGO, U. S. A. Martin J. Quigley, President Edwin S. Clifford, Secretary George Clifford, Asst. Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulation* Copyright, 1929, by Quigley Publishing Company All editorial and business correspondence should be addressed to the Chicago office Other publications: Better Theatres, deveted to construction, equipment and operation of theatres; published every fourth week as supplement to Exhibitors HraldWorld; The Motion Picture Almanac, Pictures and Personalities, published annually; The Chicagoan and Polo, Class publications. Vol. 94, No. 9 March 2, 1929 More on Sound Pictures ' I "'HE influence of sound upon the motion picture indu& try reaches a great deal further than one can appreciate from an inspection of the surface. In a way, the controversy over sound pictures and silent continues. One can still hear occasional voices insisting that the new sound pictures, whether made with dialogue or music, are nothing more than fads. One can still hear evangelists of the new order insisting that the silent picture is doomed and that we will have a new era. These are extreme views, interesting merely as marking the boundaries of the existing controversy. Obviously, the truth lies somewhere between, but we must nevertheless be grateful to the extremists as presenting the situation in such sharp relief that all may see and understand. Whatever the future of sound pictures, close students of the industry have already noted one change. Sound has brought the short feature back to life. At one time, shortly before the advent of sound, the Educational Film Exchanges had some 13,500 theatres on their list; this meant a lively demand for short comedies in many parts of the world. Suddenly, the list began to shrink. Big theatres in the larger cities were dropping the short features to make room for presentation acts. Smaller theatres in smaller cities began to follow suit. Mr. E. W. Hammons, president of Educational, tells the story graphically on another page of this magazine. This brought up a serious problem. It was a problem far more vital to the motion picture industry than a sudden slump in the demand for a certain set of pictures, or the product of any one particular company. It meant that motion picture theatres were drawing further and further away from motion pictures, to present an old hybrid form of entertainment in a new and fresher form. It meant that motion pictures were no longer strong enough to bring crowds into the theatres. And motion pictures, obviously, form the backbone of the industry. Motion pictures are the industry itself. With the advent of sound, the short features came promptly back into their own. Fox showed the way in unmistakable language when he showed Broadway the first of the talking comedies, "The Family Picnic." Educational promptly took the cue and today there is a livelier demand than ever for this type of entertainment. Big theatres which dropped the short comedies for acrobats and singers, orchestras and masters of ceremonies, have come back to short features. Comedies are back in style. The shrinking list is on the mend. Again, it is relatively unimportant to the industry as a whole that the product of any one company is back in favor. But it is highly significant that the theatres are coming back to moving pictures as against saxophones. For what the short comedy has accomplished toward this end, the motion picture industry should extend its thanks and congratulations. * * * The Demand for Films r I AHE staggering totals for motion picture production -L costs, just made public by the United States Census Bureau, show clearly how earnestly and how honestly the industry is striving to better its product. The biennial census of the bureau shows that in 1927 a total of 142 studios and laboratories reported a total production cost of $134,000,000. This is nearly half again as much as the total spent in the corresponding period of 1925, to be exact, 43.5 per cent. Inasmuch as these figures concern the activities of the industry before the advent of sound, it may be predicted with a degree of safety that the figures of 1929 will shame these in comparison. If the industry expanded its costs by 43.5 per cent in the course of normal progress, it will not be too much to expect that the costs for 1929 will represent an increase of more than a hundred per cent over the present totals. Costs in themselves are, of course, nothing to boast about. It need not be a matter of pride that the industry is spending more money than ever before. Money, for all its value, is not an infallible gauge of success. It is reassuring, however, that the huge sums spent are being used in a progressive and an intelligent manner. The industry has not been niggardly about its investigations of sound. It has not skimped in its efforts to educate itself in this new medium. It has been generous, even at the risk of many mistakes, and costly mistakes at that. The motion picture industry has learned that progress is expensive, but at the same time profitable. 'If He Is An EXHIBITOR. He Is A Reader Of The H ERA LD-WO RLD *