International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1930)

— 228 765 travelling cinemas and 194 stationary ones in the districts around Leningrad (Kino, Leningrad F. 19/383). In Italy (Bollettino delVOpera Nazionale Balilla, Rome F. 16/76) 157 Committees have set up the « Balilla Cinema » (1) for the regular showing of educational and propaganda films. Twenty-six of these Committees have their own theatres and machinery. It is estimated that during the first six months of 1929 the Committees organised 3700 educational spectacles, gratis, for the Balilla and the Avanguardisti (2). Against this programme of general culture and the education of the young, we have the purely national programme connected with exportation and the safeguarding of the home market. From some statistics published by the Canadian Government Motion Picture Studio of Ottawa (Canadian Digest, Toronto F. 12/387) we see that 75 % of the Canadian production in mute films (that is, 2779 films) is shown in the cinemas of the various countries. In Japan, according to the Times (D. 19/381), the cinematograph is becoming every day more popular. During the year 1928 the various shows were attended by 136 million persons. Whereas, up to about six years ago, 90 % of the films shown in Japanese theatres were imported, during the year 1928, 85 % of the films shown were of national production Only 3 1 out of the entire number of cinemas screened exclusively foreign films, 159 gave both foreign and national, and all the others showed only films that had been produced in Japan. The development and technical improvement of the cinema have had the inevitable consequence of increasing attendance at the shows and of facilitating also the exportation of home films. As we have already stated, the weekly number of spectators in the cinemas of the United States is 120 millions, against 50 millions in 1925. (Film Daily, New York D. 19/395). Attendance at the French cinema has, on the contrary, decreased by 30 % during the past year (Daily Film Renter, London D. 19/401), in consequence of the poor qual (1) Fascist Boy Scouts. (2) Advanced Boy Scouts. ity of the films shown in the provinces. Generally speaking, there is an idea that any sort of film is good enough for outlying districts. But the public at Nimes, Aix or Toulouse has a much finer taste in matters of the cinema than is generally supposed, and refuses to attend second class shows. The purely economic principle that quality alone is of value in commerce should be especially rem.embered by producers and managers in the cinematograph industry. That this is the case is once more demonstrated by the American cinema. The capital invested in this industry recently reached a total of more than two thousand million and a half dollars, While the total exportation during the first six months of 1929 (Times, London D. 19/386) was increased by twelve and a half million metres against the corresponding period of 1928, even to countries where there is competition with other English-speaking producers, as in Australia, 80.21 % of whose imported films were of American origin (Daily Film Renter London D. 19/396), the victory of the sound film was confirmed. C. J. North, Chief of the Cinematograph Division of the Department of Commerce of Washington, asserts, in fact, that the advent of the sound film, has so largely contributed to increase the exportation of films that, out of the eighty million dollars received for the sale of American films throughout the world, England alone paid nearly half (Exhibitors Herald World, Chicago D. 19/394). The percentages of the revenue from Am.erican films abroad are given in the Pelicula of Buenos Ayres (D. 19-391): In English-speaking-countries 50 % » Spanish » » 15 % » German » » 9 % » Portuguese » » 6,79 % » French » » 6,49 % » Italian » » 3,56 % » Japanese » » 3,56 % » Scandinavian » 3,56 % » Dutch » » i,55 % This revenue from abroad necessarily has an enormous influence on the hom.e production. It seems that for the work of 1 929-1930 alone, American film producers (Pelicula, Buenos Ayres D. 19/390) intend