Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1951)

THE” TOP MONEY-MAKING STARS OF 1951 SEASON by WILLIAM R. WEAVER Hollywood Editor JOHN WAYNE tops the Motion Picture HERALD-Faw^ audit of the American box office for 1951, the 20th year of the original exhibitor poll and the second time it has shown him to be the bestselling box office personality of the twelvemonth. The nation's theatre owners, voting by confidential ballot based firmly on revenues from ticket sales, had placed the star fourth In 1949, 16th in 1948. Winner Wayne is followed by Martin & Lewis, Betty Srable, Abbott & Costello, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Randolph Scott, Gary Cooper, Doris Day and Spencer Tracy, in that order, on the list of the Top Ten Money-Making Stars of 1951. Newcomers to Top Ten Martin & Lewis and Doris Day are newcomers to the Top Ten, but they hardly can be called surprises. Martin & Lewis, Herald readers will remember, were voted top spot in the periodical’s mid-year "Stars of Tomorrow" poll in 1950, and their succession of hit comedies released since that time has proved out the poll prediction Impressively. Miss Day, a relatively recent recruit to the film musical field, had begun to show poll strength in 1950, finishing 24th, and a steady flow of appropriate releases maintained by her studio accelerated her ascent. JOHN WAYNE, First appearance this year, and moving up from fourth to third position the while, headed the list in 1 943. Abbott & Costello, who headed the list In 1941, are In the Top Ten this year for the seventh time. Bing Crosby, making his twelfth appearance in Top Ten company, holds the all time poll championship, earned by taking down Number One position in five consecutive years. Bob Hope, on the Top Ten list for the eleventh time, was rated Number One in 1949. Randolph Scott, who was first included in the Top Ten category last year, gained three positions — tenth to seventh — in the 1951 voting. Gary Cooper makes Top Ten this year for the twelfth time since 1936. Spencer Tracy is a Top Ten-er this year for the eleventh time. Singularly Significant The outcome of the 1951 Money-Making Stars poll of exhibitors is singularly significant in a number of respects. For one. it appears to establish beyond question that the business of the motion picture is by no means so uneasy as the business men who run it. There has been upheaval within the industry, but there has been none within the ranks of the paying public. The public, the poll results show plainly, has undergone no perceptible change of choice, as to personality, nor of liking, as to type of material. The Top Ten breaks down illuminatingly as concerns the kinds of entertainers, and therefore entertainment. In principal favour. Six of the ten positions are held by exponents of comedy and/or song. Three are held by tall, stern and slow-spoken men of the open spaces. The tenth Is held by an actor as skilled in drama as in humour but sticking to the latter during recent seasons. The old, perpetual question about what-the-public-wants appears to be emphatically answered by the exhibitors’ answers fo the poll. Betty Grable, making her tenth Top Ten EXHIBITOR SELECTIONS COMBINED John Wayne MarFin & Lewis Be+fy Grable Abbott & Costello Bing Crosby Bob Hope Randolph Scott Gary Cooper Doris Day Spencer Tracy CIRCUIT John Wayne Martin & Lewis Bing Crosby Betty Grable Bob Hope Abbott & Costello Gregory Peck Gary Cooper Mario Lanza Doris Day INDEPENDENT John Wayne Martin & Lewis Abbott & Costello Betty Grable Randolph Scott Bob Hope Bing Crosby Spencer Tracy Gary Cooper Doris Day Rogers for Ninth Time The Money-Making Western Stars division of the annual poll commonly reflects even slighter variation in public preference than the major section, and this year Roy Rogers Is winner of Number One rank for the ninth consecutive time. And Gene Autry again is runner-up, for the fourth year. Tim Holt gained three rungs on the ladder, finishing third, and Charles Starrett was up this year from seventh to fourth. Rex Allen, a newcomer, finished fifth in the 1951 poll, and Allan Lane, another, took eighth position. Bill Elliott wound up In sixth place, Smiley Burnette In seventh. Dale Evans, only female star, was ninth. George "Gabby" Hayes, who has given (Continued on page 14) 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 29, 1951