Film year book : 1922-23 (1923)

SWEDEN Originally appearing in "The Swedish Export," a periodical published by the General Export Association of Sweden. The data follows : Sweden is of all the countries in the world the one best supplied with motion picture houses — "Biographs," according to the local designation, and "going to Bio" is the national pastime most intensely pursued at present. With a population around six millions there were at the end of 1919 not less than 600 playhouses of that kind in full swing, in addition to a number of perambulating picture shows. Stockholm itself, with about 500,000 inhabitants, has something like 75 picture houses. Playgoers to picture shows numbered 60,000,000 in 1919 for the whole country, but this figure; has shrunk considerably since that time. The two principal importing and producing concerns, Svenska Biografteatern and Skandia, joined forces in 1919, the amalgamation being now styled Aktiebolaget Svensk Filmindustri, with a joint capital of 35,000,000 kronor. The head of the company is Charles Magnusson. The large studios at Rasunda, near Stockholm, belong to A. B. Svensk Filmindustri, who have a studio in Denmark as well. UNITED KINGDOM The following report on film conditions in the United Kingdom was made last February : During the past few weeks there have been many reports in the newspapers and elsewhere in regard to the alleged falling off in the attendance of Cinema Theaters in the United Kingdom, which is attributed to the inferior class of films which is now being shown before the public. As regards London it is certainly true that even at the best Cinema Theaters, a very inferior class of film is being exhibited in comparison to a year ago. In an open letter to British film exhibitors entitled "Why Cinemas are Empty" published in the "Daily Mail," Arthur Weigall, a well known Egyptologist who has lately associated himself with theatrical and Cinematograph enterprises writes as follows : "You are paying the price now of your blockbooking and blind-booking of pictures you have neither seen nor read about, whether British or American, and which will often not be shown until the passage of months or years has made them almost out of date.* * *" That the slump — if there is one — may be due, as Mr. Weigall says, to block-booking is not altogether improbable. In the United Kingdom there are 4,000 Cinema Theaters as opposed to the 20,000 in the United States. As, practically, the entire American film output is booked for exhibition in the United Kingdom, it is inevitable that such a system must be adopted. In addition, there are on the market a large number of British Films (produced by British companies, photographed in England and featuring English actors), as well as films produced on the Continent, moreover, British exhibitors frequently book the entire output for the year of some well known company, such as "The Famous Players' 'or "The Gaumont Company" without seeing any of the pictures, but relying merely on the past reputation of such firms, and the drawing power of their names. It is obvious that in the annual output of such companies which may amount to fifty or sixty pictures, there must be some failures. Where, in the United States, such failures would be shelved forever, in the United Kingdom they are shown because they have already been booked, and it is natural that the public after seeing a number of such failures, should become discouraged and stay away from the Cinema altogether. Moreover the British films which have been shown to date are inferior to the good American productions. And the patriotism which prompts the exhibitors to show British films, is not responded to by the public who are willing to pay provided they get their movie's worth in amusement. British Films In endeavoring to compete against the United States, British Film exhibitors have set themselves a difficult task. They have neither the experience, nor the funds, nor the climatic conditions which are at the disposal of American producers. This office was informed, moreover, at the London agency of a well known American firm of Film producers that, although film productions cost approximately the same in England as in America, the returns are too small to make such large outlays practicable. This situation is, moreover, not likely to change, as long as there are, comparatively, so few Cinemas in the United Kingdom, and as long as British pictures have such a small market in the United States. Cinema acting in the United Kingdom is hardly a profession in itself, as it is in the United States. The number of film productions in this country is too small to afford anything like regular employment to anyone adopting it as a profession. All the British "Stars" are, or have been, well known actors on the London stage. Film Censorship The London County Council has recently issued certain new regulations in regard to the censorship of films, of which the two most important provisions are as follows : (1) After January 2nd, no films are to be exhibited in any theater holding a Council license unless they have been previously passed by the British Board of Film Censors. (2) After July 1, 1922, no person under the age of 16, unless accompanied by a parent or bona fide guardian, shall be present at any theater, where films passed by the Board for "public" or "adult," but not for "Universal' exhibition, are shown. Films are divided by the Board of Censors into two classes, those called "A" which are suitable for adults only, and those called "U," which the Board considers suitable for universal exhibition. It is evident that block-booking is, to a great extent, responsible for a number of very inferior films being shown. The public, certainly, in any case, as regards London, is as anxious as ever to patronize the silent drama as long as there are good plays to see. The fact remains that many of the foremost picture houses in London are suffering from considerable loss of patronage. This must be due to the class of picture shown. The British public have not lost their taste for film plays; "Way Down East" was produced in London on September 5th at the Empire Theater, one of the largest and the best known music halls in London, and has only just concluded its run. "The Kid," drew large audiences wherever it was shown, and during its exhibition at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, there was scarcely an empty seat in the theater. On the other hand at a small Cinema theater where a British film adaption of Ibsen's "Pillars of Society" was being shown, the audience did not half fill the theater. It would seem that a play like "Pillars of Society" would obviously suffer considerably by being adapted for the Screen, and the subject unsuitable generally for Cinema audiences. Although Cinema Theaters in London are comparatively few and far between, it is seldom that regular theaters are converted for the exhibition of screen plays, as is frequently the case in NewYork. On the other hand The Empire and The Palace, the two best known variety houses in London have both to resort to the Cinema in order to keep their doors open. The Palace at the moment is occupied by a revue, the lessees paying a rent of £700 a week. It was announced in a newspaper some days ago that this contract was likely to be terminated at an early date, because a certain film producer had offered £850. The London Opera House opened by Oscar Hammerstein in 1912, failed in turn as an opera house and a music hall, and is now doing good business as a Cinema. The largest and most luxuriously appointed Cinema Theaters in the United Kingdom are found in the Provincial towns of England such as Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Liverpool, though none of them compares in size and comfort with the Capitol in New York. Prices of Admission These vary considerably according to the tone of the theater and the class of film which is being shown. Admission to the regular first class Cinema Theaters in London range from l/3d 426