Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Mar 1956)

An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen — Walter Brooks, Director tfcu Can Pf0i)e AltnpM Antfthin^ If if the ^tatUtician^ At this time of year, the statisticians asassemble all sorts of figures to prove what has happened, and to predict what will happen in the future. Personally, we think the statisticians themselves should be laid end to end — to prove that what they find depends on who pays their fees. Allied States Association has been conducting surveys, which are quoted in the most recent Indiana bulletin, to show that the number of annual visits to the movies by each person in America has declined from 34.3 in 1946 to an estimated low of 16.7 in 1955. That could be very misleading, for it doesn't indicate percentages as reliably as they would have you think — without due consideration of other factors. More people, with more money to spend, go less often to the movies today than formerly, but it isn't the product shortage, nor higher admissions, nor extended runs that are to be blamed. On the contrary, business is good for good theatres, with good pictures, at high prices — for the public may stay at home and see television, if they prefer anything else. The government has a big electronic brain that works something like a cash register and rings up a new citizen in this country about every four seconds. The total figure registered as of New Year’s Day, 1956, is an estimated 166,700,000 persons, which is an increase of 15,600,000 since 1950. Then — another set of figures from the Gallup survey says that the American people set an alltime church attendance record in 1955 — an amazing increase since 1950. At one time, less than one third of the population went to church. Now, more than half are regular church goers. There are other and more damaging statistics to prove that we lack the showmanship at the point of sale to command the public’s amusement dollar, or even their leisure time, or the obligation they have to church and home. Recreation adds up to a larger sum than ever before in history, and it costs vastly more than it did in the past — but we’re not getting our fair and reasonable share of these huge totals. The Indiana bulletin wonders if the movies will follow the same path as the legitimate THE MARCH OF DIMES Again, our Industry should welcome its opportunity to work for "The March of Dimes" in the fight against polio, which is our great industry problem and enemy of the box office. This year, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis asks the public for $47,600,000 in a drive that opened Wednesday, January 4th. The year just past has been a year of problems, and of success, in the treatment and prevention of polio. It will be a year to remember, when the twelve month study of the Salk vaccine ended, to show that the treatment was safe, potent and effective. Over 7,000,000 children have received their Salk vaccine shots provided by the Foundation, and 3,000,000 from other sources. The national polio toll of 30,000 cases in 1955 included epidemics in Massachusetts and Wisconsin. By December 1 0th, the disease had struck 3,893 victims in Boston and surrounding areas — more than three times as many as the previous year and six times the average in recent years. In Wisconsin, polio struck in 2,492 cases, four times as many as in the previous year. The Foundation stood by, with iron lungs and emergency equipment, using 2,492 pieces of expensive apparatus to meet this tremendous necessity. Polio is our business, and it strikes so at the heart of film industry that we should never relinquish the obligation that we have assumed at the local level. stage, which is a good question, that must be answered, “Yes, but’’ — the legitimate stage is celebrating one of the best and brightest seasons in their history. One of the critics remarked, “Even the flops are fun.” The “road” is dead — but it died of natural, and local causes, while the top-bracket quality of first-run theatres has never declined below previous averages. Try to buy seats for a Broadway show, and find out for yourself, without the benefit of statisticians. ^ NICE VISITORS, this week, at the Round Table — and all of us at Quigley Publications were glad to see them here. William Wyatt, manager of the Virginian theatre, Charleston, W. Va., who was this year’s Quigley Grand Award winner in small situations, with Mrs. Wyatt — and their four lovely daughters — ages eight to sixteen years. As nice a family as you’ll find in these forty-eight States — from coast to coast and border to border, and beyond. Mr. Quigley remarked, “Which one is the mother ?” — to give you an idea. They came to New York at a busy time, but we’re sure they enjoyed it. It’s even more crowded here than they had thought. They saw “Oklahoma !” and “Guys and Dolls” — and went to Cinerama and the Music Hall, where the lines were around three blocks, with thousands waiting for seats, all day long. They visited the Stanley Warner home office, where Bill checked in as one of their best managers, on vacation. They went to the United Nations, and to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and saw Rockefeller Center in Christmas dress, and Times Square on New Year’s Eve. We hope they had lots of fun — and will come again. ^ RAW FILM use constitutes a barometer of motion picture business that can’t be denied, although the manufacturers have long maintained this information as confidential. One authority claims that Eastman, DuPont and Agfa are now selling more raw and developed film in a single month than was sold in an entire year in 1935. Their total sales for 1955 will exceed 380 million feet. This includes upwards of 200 theatrical feature films in contrast with more than 3,000 films for television, and 200 commercial pictures made for other industries. It is well to note that television now supplies fifteen times as many film subjects as are required for motion picture theatres, but the number of prints for theatres is now often more than doubled because of the special processes involved in our distribution. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 7, 1956 37