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94 ^> ^> ^> The Motion Picture Industry
planning. Instead, the company might announce at the beginning of each theatrical year only the number of pictures to be produced in that year.
It is generally conceded by the company that it should continue to make use of all available sources of data indicative of the public's demands and, if possible, to devise ways of organizing this information concretely. A closer cooperation between the company's theater-operating and production departments also is deemed advisable. This might be effected through the development of a sizable chain of theaters on the West Coast, which, by being near the production center, could be used advantageously for laboratory purposes. It is believed, further, that an analysis should be made to determine which of the company's theaters throughout the country are attended by the most representative type of theater patron. Having determined these representative theaters, the production department should be in a better position to analyze the probable tastes of the average motion picture fan.
As a matter of fact, no wholly satisfactory method of determining the probabilities of success of a proposed picture has ever been devised by any company. The method followed is still one of guessing; the producers don't know just what the public wants, and it is doubtful if they ever will know. Their situation is like that of producers of legitimate plays, in which field the list of failures is a very long one. It is a problem involving the factor of style, and in that respect is similar to the problem faced by book publishers. While the problem is admittedly a very difficult one to solve, it must be recognized that, in the case of the motion picture industry, far too little attention has been given to the question until recently. This failure possibly may be explained by the very nature of the industry's development.
During the novelty stage in talking picture development, the industry enjoyed great prosperity and had neither the time nor the inclination to analyze its new medium of expression. Former stars of the silent screen were cast in pic