Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1955)

Record Details:

Title:
Motion Picture Daily
Date:
Jan-Mar 1955
Publisher:
New York [Motion picture daily, inc.]
Volume:
Motion picture daily
Leaf #:
00036
Language:
English
Subjects:
motion pictures, Motion pictures -- Periodicals
Collection:
Hollywood Studio System
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Library of Congress, MBRS, Moving Image Section
Sponsor:
Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
A New York-based daily trade paper published by Martin Quigley. The companion to Quigley's better known weekly publication, MOTION PICTURE HERALD, and a direct competitor to THE FILM DAILY, which was also published out of New York. Established in 1930, MOTION PICTURE DAILY enjoyed a circulation of roughly 5,000 readers most years of its four decades in print (a nearly identical circulation to THE FILM DAILY, but only one third of the readership of MOTION PICTURE HERALD, which reached a wider audience of exhibitors). In the 1930s, the MOTION PICTURE DAILY's editor, Maurice Kann, called on the movie industry to shift more production back to the East Coast. Any productions that filmed in New York received ample attention. New York City never regained its production lead over Hollywood, but the major studios used the Big Apple for their corporate and distribution headquarters. As a result, MOTION PICTURE DAILY tended to focus on economic and regulatory issues confronting the film industry. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014
Date Added:
December 02, 2023
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6 Motion Picture Daily Wednesday, January 5, 1955 'Fame' Poll {Continued from page 1) Radio Champions of 1954 Jack Benny Eve Arden Fibber McGee & Molly Perry Como Dinah Shore 4 Jack Webb Guy Lombardo Bill Stern George Fenneman Don MeNeill Groucho Marx Robert Merrill Rise Stevens Edward R. Murrow Irving Cummings Prod., Lux Theatre Howard Barlow Cond., Firestone How Dimitri Mitropoulos Cond., N. Y. Philharmonic Lawrence Spivak Prod., Meet the Press Jimmie Nelson Jack Stapp Prod., Grand Ole Opry Benny Show, ended up in third place this year in that division. Jack Webb's "Dragnet," which was third in this classification in 1953, ran out of the money this year but still garnered a Fame first place, Best Mystery Show of 1954. Lux Radio Theatre was also named by the critics as Best Dramatic Program on radio of the past year. Completing the best Performer championship division, Bob Hope was in third place and also was voted second place honors in the Best Comedian class. Garroway's radio show, "Friday with Garroway," was also tied for third place in the Best Musical Show balloting. Little New Talent During the past year, the radio networks did not develop new talent to any extent, thereby causing much concern and anguish to the critics in their efforts to select a young man or woman as "Star of Tomorrow." After the votes were tabulated, the critics' choice for the Most Promising Star was Jimmie Nelson, frolicsome young ABC radio star. Runner-up in the balloting was Gary Crosby. Votes for a Most Promising Star in the female division were in a minority, causing the tabulators of the annual Motion Picture Daily-Fame poll to eliminate the classification from the 1954 balloting. The American newspaper and magazine editors, critics and columnists named Perry Como, winner of Fame television honors, as Best Popular Male Vocalist, and Dinah Shore as Best Popular Female Vocalist. The previous year's male victor, popular young Eddie Fisher, was second and Bing Crosby third, with Rosemary Clooney and Jo Stafford in line for Fame honors also. Groucho Marx also retained his popularity with the critics, being voted third place in the Best Comedian class and his program, "You Bet Your Life" being voted Best Quiz Show. Arthur Godfrey's popularity and brand of humor seem to be palling on critics who placed him behind The Breakfast Club in the Best Daytime Show division in radio during 1954. Double Win "Meet the Press" was another winner in two separate classifications. This perennially popular program in the annual Fame radio polls was voted Best Educational and Best Public Service program. NBC swept first, second and third places in the balloting for the latter award. "Weekend" was the second choice of the critics and "American Forum of the Air" was third. Other programs and performers which have been at the top in most oi the polls and surveys during recent years, and which reappear there in the 1954 poll, are: Fibber McGee & Molly (Best Comedy Team) ; Eve Arden (Best Comedienne) ; Robert Merrill (Best Classical Male Vocalist) ; Rise Stevens (Best Classical Female Vocalist) ; Edward R. Murrow (Best News Commentator) ; George Fenneman (Best Announcer), and Bill Stern (Best Sportscaster) . Also, New York Philharmonic (Best Classical Orchestra) ; Guy Lombardo (Best Popular Orchestra) ; Voice of Firestone (Best Classical Musical Show) ; Perry Como Show (Best Popular Musical Show) ; Grand Ole Opry (Best Country Music Show) ; and Let's Pretend, a CBS show now discontinued, Best Children's program. The critics and editors displayed a continuing lively interest in radio, evidenced by the huge number of ballots returned in the 1954 poll, many more than in the preceding year, and by the spirited comments pencilled in on the ballots. Radio has been reported during the past year, in some quarters, as "being on the way out." However, there are still vast audiences tuning in — the millions who ride with the medium in automobiles ; the millions who buy portables and use them year 'round or seasonally ; other millions out of reach of VHF or UHF television in the home ; millions who turn to radio when the summer replacement shows come forth on TV, and the many others who listen to radio at home or at work, where daily performance of duties rules out the inactivity required for viewing, but not for listening. The American newspaper and maga zine critics urge broadcasters to keep this vast radio following in mind and give it worthwhile, original programs which could be compared to the top shows on television. They point out the large following of disc jockeys and the continuing popularity of good classical and popular music and shows. It is very clear, from a critic's viewpoint, that radio "is not on the way out," and that the medium is far from "dead," insofar as they are concerned. Many of them, in fact, confidently predict a resurgence of popularity for radio in many homes.