Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

Vote William Holden Money-Making Star In Annual Exhibitor Selection for 'Fame' WILLIAM HOLDEN, Star of Stars by JAY REMER Perhaps there are some startling changes taking place in the motion picture industry— perhaps 1956 is the exceptional year that proves the rule — perhaps the public is even more fickle than advertised. Whatever the reason, there are some stunning upsets in the latest Money-Making Stars poll conducted by the HERALD for “Fame.” Most important of all, there is a new Number One star, in addition to which five names were shaken loose from their illustrious positions and were replaced by four newcomers and one short-time absentee. As usual the men, for some inexplicable reason, dominated the winners by a huge majority, taking 18 of the top 25 spots. And the man among men is Academy Award winner William Holden, who has been laboring fruitfully since way back in 1939 when he made his debut in the prophetically-titled “Golden Boy.” In the 17 intervening years, he has not been exactly idle, but fate and fame finally caught up with each other. However, it should be consoling to all west coast luminaries that only 13 of their cohorts have made it to the top in the past quarter of a century. At any rate, Holden’s coup this year was aided mainly by “Picnic” and “The Proud and Profane” and to some degree by “Toward the Unknown” which was just getting started when polling time came ’round. The other exclusive nine in the Top Ten playing follow the leader are, in the usual order, John Wayne, James Stewart, Burt Lancaster, Glenn Ford, Martin and Lewis, Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak and Frank Sinatra. Miss Novak and the Messrs. Lancaster, Ford and Sinatra are the newcomers while Miss Monroe is the returning member. They replaced Grace Kelly, Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, June Allyson and Clark Gable. The two ladies and Brando still remain in the top 20, however. The 25th annual Herald-Fame poll was conducted as were the previous ones — by direct mail ballot to all the exhibitors in the United States and Canada. The U.S. theatre men are split into circuit houses and independent houses and the final tally is the total of both. And although it would seem the choice of public and therefore exhibitor would have little to do with type of theatre, there is a definite difference of opinion between the two. The accompanying tables illustrate this graphically. The exhibitor, of course, is the individual who would best know the box office value of any star, because not only does he count the receipts but also he comes in direct contact with the paying customer. And the latter is, after all, the ultimate judge and jury no matter how often it changes its collective mind. However, there was unanimity on one subject and that was the selection of Bill Holden as the champion money-maker in the country. (Canada embraced the goodneighbor policy by voting the same way.) The recognition now coming his way from every direction took many years and a carload of pictures. The quality of these films kept fluctuating from year to year and even picture to picture until his most solid triumph as the Academy Awardwinning meanie in “Stalag 17.” Since that propitious event nothing has stopped the man. In his first appearance two years ago in this annual story he placed a comfortable seventh, last year he moved up three notches and this year another three. He cannot go any further so he’ll try to stay where he is with “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” The eighth consecutive appearance of John Wayne keeps his record intact. He has never been lower than four and has been top dog three of these fruitful years. Primarily seen in topnotch Westerns, it vas such a film that kept him rolling this year — “The Searchers,” of course. “The Conqueror,” too, was no slouch at the box ( Continued on page 14) EXHIBITOR CHOICES COMBINED CIRCUIT INDEPENDENT William Holden William Holden William Holden John Wayne John Wayne James Stewart James Stewart James Stewart John Wayne Burt Lancaster Burt Lancaster Glenn Ford Glenn Ford Glenn Ford Burt Lancaster Martin & Lewis Kim Novak Martin & Lewis Gary Cooper Gary Cooper Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe Gary Cooper Kim Novak Frank Sinatra Rock Hudson Frank Sinatra Martin & Lewis Kim Novak 12 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 8, 1956