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INTRODUCTION
BY THE PUBLISHED OF THE FILM DAILY
WITH this volume, THE FILM DAILY presents to an international art and tremendous world-wide industry THE FILM YEAR BOOK of 1929. Barked by ten years of intensive effort and the complete support and co-operation of every branch of the business, this book has become universally recognized as the standard guide and reference work of the motion picture industry.
GLANC for a ninete
I LANCING backwards moment we see 1 nineteen twenty-eight as the greatest milestone in the thirty years' progress of this great industry. With its tremendous theaters everywhere, its millions upon millions of investments, its international prestige and its wholesome force for good, the motion picture compellingly Stands today as the giant of the amusement kingdom. The coming of sound and the talking picture have made its position even more secure. Color for more general use is just over the' hill and it is not unlikely that a third dimension will be knocking at the door soon.
THE past year was full of highlights. Among those of unusual interest may be mentioned the entrance of the Radio Corporation into the industry, the buying of West Coast by Fox, the entrance and exit of Aaron Shapiro, the acquisition of Stanley and First National by Warner Brothers, the opening of the Motion Picture Club of New York, the appointment of Abram F. Myers as president of the Allied States Association, the tenth anniversary of THE FILM DAILY, and the revolutionary demand for synchronizing devices as manifested by the large number of equipments perfected and installed all over the country.
THE coming year will prove eventful. Mergers of gigantic proportion.-, are in the air. The sound situation is worrisome, both from the standpoint of the producer and exhibitor. The foreign situation is sensitive. With over-night changes of tremendous significance constantly occurring, it would be a wise man indeed who could accurately chart the course of the industry even for the next few months. Part of its romance has gone, never to return, but its glamor and opportunitiesfor individual achievement will always remain with us.
DECEMBER saw the second Film Daily Relief Fund drive. The response to this annual appeal wa? immediate and generous. The fund is for the purpose of taking care of needy charity cases as they arise in the film business in New York City. The year of nineteen twenty-eight effectively demonstrated the need for this aid to distressed picture folk. The committee in charge anticipates that enough money has now been raised to carry on this humanitarian work in nineteen twentynine.
TO those, from every corner of the world and every branch of the motion picture industry who have contributed and co-operated in the compiling of statistics and informative matter in the following pages, THE FILM DAILY is indeed grateful.
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