La Cinématographie Française (1937)

293 SITUATION OF FRENCH CINEMA IN 1938 A SETTLED INDUSTRY WITH LARGE RESOURCES by P.-A. HARLÉ An examination of the development of the Cinéma in France, since it originated, gives evidence of the ready pliancy of its organs of work ; their capacity for rig'hting themselves after the slumps; their tendancy to balance expenses and receipts, 1938 finds the French Cinéma in a particularly stable situation. Each of its branches of activity yields sufficient returns to assure its own future. None of them develop excessively. Their industrial pushes are parallel. They are ail progressing at the same time. The machinery îs working well, and economically at that. Yet, however, it conserves a very large reserve of power. In this lies the security of its future. Let us review, in order to demonstrate clearly, the equipment and the staff at the disposai of the French Cinéma in 1938. 4000 EQUIPED THEATRES OF WHICH 1,000 WITH FIRST CLASS FITTINGS The new conversions into real estate, caused by the fitting up of the théâtres of France and North Africa, with sound equipment for talking films, is estimated at 400 million francs, ($ 14,000.000). Tins financial effort lias been progressive, as one may see by the numbr of sound equipments installed per year: 1930 552 1934 3.228 1931 1.215 1935 3.450 1932 1.797 1936 3.650 193,3 1.537 1937 4.070 It commenced with the modernization and the construction of the largest and most comfortable théâtres, full equiped with first class fittings, comfortably heated and air conditioned, which are spread throughout the important centres. Smaller houses followed this movement until the total sound equipment of ail the théâtres in the country. This financial effort was rarely undertaken by big concerns. Generally speaking it is a question of expenses personally undertaken by the owner of only one theatre. The amortization has been rapid, due to the receipts brought about by the rush of the talking film. Thus, French exploitation is actually, in the most cases, free from estate debts, and can assure a normal payment of its programmes. The characteristx of the exploitation in France, if one compares it w.th that of other producting countnes, is its individuality and indépendance. Theatre chains uncer the control of a film di tributor, number four. The largest circuit handled by distributors are actually Pathé with 40 théâtres, and G. F. F. A., with 20. There are about ten theatre chains with a central programmation. The most important is actually the Siritzky circuit with 20 théâtres. A few groups of mdependents for a common programmation also exist. But the general type of motion picture enterprise thus remains the independent theatre, of which the owner alone assures the financement, the programmation, and the management. In order to détermine some figures it would be well to remember that the experts estimated the total turnover for France and North Africa Théâtres at one billion francs in 1936. Paris alone gave 336 million francs of this total amount, paying 60 million francs in entertainment taxes, (about 20 percent of the receipts) . One cannot doubt when one observes the previous expériences of centralized exploitation, that tins individual exploitation is the best adapted to the French population, which is dishevelled, impulsive and diverse in tastes. It demands from the exhibitors, qualifies of finesse, smartness, prudence and sometimes of audacity. Commercially speaking it gives the best outputs. The institution of the payment of films on the percentage basis with a minimum guarentee upholding the effort of programmation, the smcerity today acquired in the accounts of receipts, hâve kept off the danger of a restriction in prices that tins free exploitation used to weigh on films rented. The indépendant exhibitors bave thus freed themselves of the producing-exhibiting trusts, which hâve no reason to be, and which are now limited. to a few theatre façades in Paris and in certain large towns. THE BEST PRODUCTION AND THE MOST ECONOM1CAL We do not Write self awarded praise. The world wide success at the Venice Biennial of three of our films, three out of twenty others of nearly equal artistic and spectacular value, has, tins year drawn the attention of professionals to the high value of French fi'ms. It is neither a miracle nor merely accidentai. The actual quality of the French film is above ail due to the fact that Paris now possesses fairly large film umts, speciahsts versed in each branch of the work. Not only hâve we got directors, cameramen, and players as we had ten years ago, but also speciahzing writers, production managers, decorators, « make up » men and excellent sound engineers. Our cameramen know their job. They make an art of it, an art which enables them to earn their living in the Cinéma business alone. At the disposai of these techmcians are fully equipped studios, senous printing laboratories, good staff, wood-work and painting workshops. They known what work means. For the last six years France has been turning out 1 1 0 feature films per year, and thanks to the Exhibitors, thanks to the wisdom of the Importées, thanks to the confidence of its financiers, the Production more or less recovers what it spends, and can at last keep up and animate, by regular work, real professionals. While in 1926-28 the exhibition and the exportation yielded to the production only 50 million francs with which to pay for the films made, it now yields about 200 mill.on francs. The portion alloted to manual labor in these sums, received in salaries 25 million francs, in 1928, and will receive 125 million francs in 1937. It is to be addecl that not only does the French techmcian receive a salary which enables him to earn lus living entirely in the cinéma business, but the number of films made give him the possibility of keeping his hancl up and remaining competent, no longer by working on one film only every eighteen months as in 1926, but by working on two, three and sometimes four films per year. The quality of the films ought to be founded on their whole number, in this country, in which the artistic sense, the love of work well done, and the spirit of initiative are frequent vertues The material of the French Production includes 1 8 studios, with a total of 40 sets, 5 printing laboratories, and 6 studios specializmg in dubbing. Their equipment is of the finest quality. In order to réalisé the power of these annexed industries, it suffices to remember that, when one incluces in their number, manufacturer of studio, laboratory, and theatre equipment, and the manufacturer of raw film, they total 390 million francs’ capital, 260 francs’ turnover, and 7,800 workmen and employées. The 111 fi'ms produced in 1937 with the help of the technical staff and production equipment were made by 90 small indépendant societies. Most of these societies made only one film. Those who helped in the makmg of there 1 1 I films : directors, cameramen, decorators, and players, named in the cred.t titles, to mention only the principal categories of the artisans of the film production. Thus it is to be seen that: 1", the characer of the small independent companies we mentioned in the exploitation, is to be found again in the Production itself. 2°, that the reserve of productiveness of these producing societies and technicians’ units, is very great. For example, one may count 300 cameramen employed in the making of newsreels, documentary pictures and small films.