Year book of motion pictures (1930)

try's strongest ally. To the talking screen they have given their preference over all other forms of entertainment. Warner Bros, will not stand still for an instant during the coming season. Vitaphone operettas, Vitaphone color pictures, Vitaphone dramas — all greater in entertainment value than ever before — will come to the screens of the world to maintain the high standard that Vitaphone has been able to set in the past. * * * Theater Outlook Favorable By SAM KATZ Pretident, Publix Theaters Corporation WITH theater attendance on the increase in all parts of the country the outlook for 1930 from the exhibition point of view has never been better. Surveys of business conditions already made are most reassuring and there is every reason to believe that the coming year will surpass 1929, which has been a record one for Publix Theaters Corporation. The year 1929 was one of tremendous expansion in our theater department. There has been much progress forward and the public has responded magnificently to our efforts. In 1930 these efforts will be redoubled. A great volume of quality talking pictures is coming from our studios, so it is most natural for us to view the future optimistically. The outlook is most favorable not only in theaters but in all branches of our industry. * * * Radical Return to Pictures By R. H. COCHRANE Vice President, Universal Pictures Corp. WHEN sound came along, the industry went in heavily for various musical forms of entertainment. This was only natural. But the motion picture is a distinct form in itself, and I believe that 1930 will see a radical return to motion pictures as motion pictures. The great technical innovations — such as sound, color and depth — will be fully employed, but they will be adapted to the distinctive needs of the screen and developed along motion picture lines solely, thus creating a form of entertainment that could not be presented in any other medium. * * * Talkers Boost Attendance By HIRAM S. BROWN President, Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corp. IT is difficult to prophesy what the year 1930 holds in store for the motion picture industry. Within the past year we have seen a weekly aggregate increase in motion picture audiences in the United States of no less than 10,000,000 people. This result has been achieved in the main through the increasing box-office draw of the audible film, the quality of which has steadily improved during the year. With this experience as a guide, motion picture producers have every reason to continue their efforts to provide still better product to their patrons. * * * Progress Thru Cooperation By JOSEPH I. SCHNITZER President of RKO Productions, Inc. THE historic conference summoned by President Hoover to preserve and augment the prosperity of America served not only as a distinct tribute to the great President who now sits in the chair at Washington, but emphasized in addition the fact that as long as America is gifted with vision, enterprise and a spirit of mutual co-operation this country need never lack prosperity. By that same' spirit of vision, enterprise and mutual co-operation between producer and exhibitor the motion picture industry can and will advance to even greater heights of prosperity during the year of 1930. Every move, every thought of the producer should be aimed toward the greater prosperity and profit of the exhibitor. To accomplish that aim the producer must anticipate the demands of the exhibitor and public. He must be on the alert to take advantage of every step forward in the progress of science. He must harness these forces of invention thoughtfully and with a showman's sense to the supreme artistry which exists in every channel of entertainment. He must bring to the exhibitor productions worthy of this epic age. * * * Development Still Ahead By SAM E. MORRIS Vice-President, Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. THE motion picture industry will witness its most successful year in 1930. I base this statement on the amazing results achieved this year by our extensive development of Technicolor in combination with Vitaphone. 1929 actually saw a revolution in entertainment, and while results have been most satisfactory, their full development has only just begun. The history of the theater dates back over two thousand years. Never in all that time has the public been so well served at any price and never has it been so well served at so small a price. Entertainment is a physical and mental necessity and talking pictures are admittedly its most popular form. I personally feel that all factors who contribute to talking pictures should look forward to 1930 with every confidence that it will be a banner year for the motion picture industry. * * * Pictures Improving By J. E. OTTERSON President, Electrical Research Products THERE seems to be no reason why the prosperity which the motion picture industry has enjoyed during 1929 will not be repeated and even exceeded in 1930. Since the change from silent to sound pictures the producers have made marked progress in studio technique and pictures are maintaining a steady improvement. Exhibitors are profiting from the change with increased box office returns and, with proper attention to the need for high grade reproduction in their houses, theater owners should be able to still further build up their revenue. The public has learned to discriminate between good and indifferent theater reproduction and the test of a theater's prosperity today is in its ability to provide the highest quality of reproduction. * * * Sound Boon to Comedy Films By E. W. HAMMONS President, Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. THE year just past, in the short comedy field, has been one of momentous progress. Even by virtue of the prosperity we have enjoyed and the confidence we have restored does this year loom as one of utmost significance. But of far greater importance is the fact that during the twelve months just past the foundation of the most stupendous achievement has been laid. In our own field altogether new ground lias been broken. Natural resources have been materially enriched by the advent of sound, and we now offer an unprecedented diversity of material. If during the period of initiation we made definite strides forward, then, with a whole year of practical experience behind us and the sympathy of the public and press inspiring us to bigger things, certainly this year should be one of tremendous success. 560