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cent of the total population live in small towns, the remainder live in cities of over fifty thousand population and the small towns want their entertainment clean. A more facetious survey, nose-thumbing the reformer, informs us that forty millions have no bath tubs so why worry about dirt?
To the foregoing ruminations let us add the speculations of the wish-thinkers : If the public has any particular motive for going to the theatre it is to escape life's realities. Hardened and rebuffed by adversity, their dreams and hopes trampled upon by circumstances not of their own creating, they seek some confirmation of a better world here as well as hereafter. And the theories on the moron:
The poor moron is in the minority. His day is over. Millions of mechanics and clerks, stenographers and factory hands are now reading serious books, patronizing worthy plays, going to concerts and art galleries, developing an appreciation of decoration, music and literature. They are becoming art conscious. They are the new masses crying for a higher level of artistic and intellectual expression and this evolution of the greater middle class demands an artistic transition toward better things in the movies.
All of which sums up to what ?
Any indication of audience likes gleaned from a study of box office, the high court in most cases, produces half truths or special truths, the box office report more a story of showmanship, of weather or competition, or an indication of star draw, a curiosity-arousing quality in the title or an interest pumped up by press-agency for the Broadway play or best-seller before it became a movie.
With educational facilities increasing and improving, belief that audience intelligence is rising has some foundation. However, the extent to which theatre attendance reflects that rise cannot be determined.
One answer to what the public likes and dislikes is contained in this pungent, terse but conclusive observation handed down by the forefathers of the theatre : 'The damned public doesn't know what it likes so how can you expect us to know?" An annoyed but none-the-less honest expression of complete bafflement.
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