Harrison's Reports (1937)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at tiie poet office at New York, New York, under the act ol Marcn 3, l»7a. Harrison's Reports Yearly Subscription Rates : 1270 SIXTH AVENUE Published Weekly by United States S15.00 Unrm 1 ftl 2 Harrison's Reports, Inc., U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 tvowln 1014 Publisher Canada 16.50 New York, N. Y. P. S. HARRISON, Editor Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 , .. . _ _ Great Britain 15 75 Motion Picture Reviewing Seroce Australia, New Zealand, Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors B»t»bUahed July 1, 1919 India, Europe, Asia .... 17.50 _ . _ , rwv Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Circle 7-4622 a L-opy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XIX SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1937 No. 52 Box Office Performances of 1937-38 Season's Pictures — No. 2 Paramount "She Asked for It," with William Gargan and Orien Hayward, produced by George Auerbach and directed by Erie C. Kenton, from a screen play by Howard I. Young : Poor. "Bulldog Drumniond Comes Back," with John Barrymore, John Howard, and Louise Campbell, directed by Louis King, from a screen play by Edward T. Lowe : FairPoor. "High, Wide and Handsome," with Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott, Dorothy Lamour, and Charles Bickford, produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr., and directed by Rouben Mamoulian, from a screen play by Oscar Hammerstein, II: Good (some reported fair business). "Partners in Crime," with Lynne Overman, Roscoe Karns, Anthony Quinn, and Muriel Hutchison, directed by Ralph Murphy, from a screen play by Garnett Weston : Fair-Poor. "This Way Please," with Charles Rogers, Betty Grable, Porter Hall, Ned Sparks, and Lee Bowman, produced by Mel Shauer and directed by Robert Florey, from a screen play by Grant Garret, Seena Owen, and Howard J. Green : Fair. "Thunder Trail," with Gilbert Roland and Marsha Hunt, directed by Charles Barton, from a screen play by Robert Yost and Stuart Anthony : Good-Fair. "Angel," with Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, and Melvyn Douglas, produced and directed by Ernest Lubitsch, from a screen play by Samson Raphaelson : GoodPoor. "Hold 'Em Navy," with Lew Ayres, Mary Carlisle, and John Howard, directed by Kurt Neumann, from a screen play by Erwin Gelsey and Lloyd Corrigan : Fair. "The Barrier," with Leo Carrillo, Jean Parker, James Ellison, and Robert Barrat, produced by Harry Sherman and directed by Lesley Selander, from a screen play by Bernard Schubert : Good-Fair. "Night Club Scandal," with John Barrymore, Lynne Overman, Louise Campbell, Charles Bickford, and Harvey Stephens, directed by Ralph Murphy, from a screen play by Lillie Hayward : Fair. "Thrill of a Lifetime," with Dorothy Lamour, Yacht Club Boys, Eleanore Whitney, and Johnny Downs, produced by Fanchon and directed by George Archainbaud, from a screen play by Seena Owen, Grant Garrett, and Paul Gerard Smith : Poor. "Ebb Tide," with Oscar Homolka, Frances Farmer, Ray Milland, and Barry Fitzgerald, produced by Lucien Hubbard and directed by James Hogan, from a screen play by Bertram Milhauser: Very Good-Fair. "Texas Trail," with William Boyd and Judith Allen, produced by Harry Sherman and directed by Dave Selman, from a screen play by Jack O'Donnell : Good-Fair. "Blossoms on Broadway," with Edward Arnold, Shirley Ross, and John Trent, produced by B. P. Schulberg and directed by Richard Wallace, from a screen play by Theodore Reeves : Poor. "Love on Toast," with Stella Ardler, John Payne, and Luis Alberni, produced by Emanuel Cohen and directed by E. A. Dupont, from a screen play by Richard Connell, Jane Storm, and Doris Malloy : FairPoor. "Born to the West," with John Wayne and Marcia Hunt, directed by Charles Barton, from a screen play by Stuart Anthony and Robert Yost : Fair. Twenty-four pictures have been released since the beginning of the season, rated as follows : Very Good, 1 ; Very Good-Good, 1 ; Very Good-Fair, 1 ; Good, 2; Good-Fair, 3 ; Good-Poor, 1 ; Fair, 7 ; Fair-Poor, 5 ; Poor, 3. The first 24 of the 1936-37 season, excluding westerns, were rated as follows : Excellent, 1 ; ExcellentVery Good, 2 ; Very Good, 1 ; Very Good-Good, 2 ; Good, 3 ; Good-Fair, 2 ; Fair, 3 ; FairPoor, 9; Poor, 1. This season's box-office performances so far are below those of the 1936-37 season. Last season there were 1 Excellent and 2 Excllent-Very Good, whereas this season there is none. The "showing" this season begins with Very Good, with 1 picture. There was 1 picture of the same rating also last season. But there is only 1 of the Very Good-Good this season, whereas there were 2 in last season's group ; and 2 Good, whereas last season there were 3. If the "showing" is poor now, what will it be later on in the season, when the paring of the budgets will begin to "tell" ? RKO 1937-38 Season "Forty Naughty Girls," with James Gleason and Zasu Pitts, produced by William Sistrom and directed by Eddie Cline, from a screen play by John Grey : Fair-Poor. "Music for Madame," with Nino Martini, Joan Fontaine, Eric Blore, and Alan Mowbray, produced by Jesse L. Lasky and directed by John Blystone, from a screen play by Robert Harari and Gertrude Purcell : Fair. "Saturday's Heroes," with Van Heflin, Marian Marsh, and Richard Lane, produced by Robert Sisk and directed by Edward Killy, from a screen play by Paul Yawitz, Charles Kaufman, and David Silverstein : Fair-Poor. "Stage Door," with Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, and Adolphe Menjou, produced by Pandro S. Berman and directed by Gregory LaCava, from a screen play by Morrie Ryskind and Anthony Veiller : Excellent-Good (mostly Excellent) . "Fit for a King," with Joe E. Brown, Paul Kelly, and Helen Mack, produced and directed by Edward Sedgwick, from a screen play by Richard Flournoy : Fair. "There Goes the Groom," with Burgess Meredith, Ann Sothern, and Onslow Stevens, produced by Albert Lewis and directed by Joseph Santley, from a screen play by S. K. Lauren, Dorothy Yost, and Harold Kusell : Fair. "Fight for Your Lady," with John Boles, Jack Oakie, Ida Lupino, and Margot Grahame. produced by Albert Lewis and directed by Ben Stoloff. from a screen play by Ernest Pagano, Harry Segall, and Harold Kusell : GoodFair. "Victoria the Great," with Anna Neagie and Anton Walbrook, produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox, from a screen play by Charles deGrandcourt and Miles Malleson : Good-Fair. "Living on Love," with James Dunn and Whitney Bourne, produced by Maurice Cohen and directed by LewLanders, from a screen play by Franklin Coen: Poor. "High Flyers," with Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey. and Lupe Velez, produced by I^ee Marcus and directed by Eddie Cline, from a screen play by Benny Rubin. Bert Granet, and Byron Morgan : Poor. The number of pictures RKO has released this season up to "High Flyers" is 12, rated as follows: ( Continued on last paqc)