Exhibitor's Trade Review (Nov 1925 - Feb 1926)

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December 26, 1925 Page 79 Outlook for Coming Year With the country in the prosperous condition which prevails today, I expect that 1926, so far as the motion picture industry goes, will be one of the banner years, in the history of the business. However, all prosperity in the motion picture business depends on one thing — the quality of the pictures. This brings into sharp focus a weakness in the picture industry which has grown up because of force of habit through the years. This weakness is the belief that good pictures cannot be profitably made and shown during the Spring and Summer. Where the Fallacy Lies A little thought will show the fallacy of this reasoning. There are no seasons in the motion picture business. The public has shown repeatedly that it will patronize good pictures just as well in the Spring and Summer as in the Fall and Winter. We know this as a result of our experiences in our own theatres. We know it also from the testimony of those progressive showmen who have refused to believe that the public cannot be attracted to the theatres in the Summer, and, by installing cooling plants, have made their houses the most attractive spots in town even in the hottest days of midSummer. Therefore, Paramount this year proposes to take another great step forward and, beginning February 1st, will release a group of thirty pictures, whose investment and screen value represent the best that this company has ever put out for any season of the year. We do this in the firm belief that progressive showmen will appreciate our efforts toward raising the income of the picture business in the Spring and Summer to the high peak of Fall and Winter. A Heavy Investment We are making this heavy investment in negative and we are making this extraordinary effort in exploitation to correct a habit of mind which has cost this industry millions of dollars. We are making this negative investment because we appreciate thoroughly that if theatres are to be as prosperous in the Spring and Summer as in the Fall and Winter, they must have pictures By ADOLPH ZUKOR President Famous Players-Lasky Corp. ADOLPH ZUKOR that represent the best in screen entertainment. We expect — we hope — that other producing companies will follow our example. If rhey do it will mean that once and for all the bugaboo of poor business in the Spring will be killed. However, whether other companies follow our example or not Paramount is committed to this new and progressive policy, which can be summed up in the words "There are no seasons in the motion picture business." Only Good Pictures But, as I said in the beginning, the basis of box-office prosperity in this business — whether it be in the Fall or in the Spring — depends entirely on good pictures. That is what we propose to give the motion picture industry for this Spring and Summer. Metro Goldwyn Mayer's Line Up for 1926 (Continued from page 77) A record that surpassed all expectations was compiled by MetroGoldwyn-Mayer during the past year. It was my distinct pleasure to be able to personally thank the various department heads at our studios recently for the remarkable line of box office productions that we sponsored in 1925, a wonderfully consistent schedule of pictures made possible by their brains and cooperation. It is indeed a record that we all may well be proud of. Elaborate plans are already in operation for 1926. After conferences at the studios with Mr. Mayer and his associates I am firmly convinced that the new year will see MetroGoldwyn-Mayer forge further ahead. Among our 1926 productions will be found stories by such authors as Rafael Sabatini, Blasco Ibanez, Rex Beach, F. Marion Crawford, Frank L. Packard, Max Brand, Justice Myles Forman, Alice Hagens Rice, Elbert Hubbard, Jules Verne, Robert W. Chambers, Frank Swinnerton, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sutton Vane, Er nest Pascal and John Balderston. With our staff of directors and the players under contract to us I expect to see several of these stories develop into even greater successes than "The Big Parade," "The Merry Widow," "The Unholy Three" and other of our outstanding hits of 1925. We already have over forty productions planned for the coming year. One of them, which was nearing completion while I was on the coast, is the Lillian Gish production, "La Boheme," which will undoubtedly be hailed as this great actress's outstanding contribution to the screen. She and John Gilbert are simply superb in this King Vidor offering. 1926 will see us "the talk of the industry" more than ever. During the next twelve months we will top everything that has been done before and I take this opportunity to thank and extend the season's greeting to all those who have in any way contributed to our past success and bespeak the continuation of their efforts in our behalf.