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352 <^> -v> ^> The Motion Picture Industry
stitute an issue of immediate importance. The public apparently attended the theaters in large numbers regardless of the quality of the film shown, provided that it was an "all talkie". Attendance was increased from 50% to 100%; midnight shows and the showing of from five to seven programs daily with from three to five full houses were not uncommon. Individual theaters and small circuits acquired by the large chains returned substantial profits with little or no promotional effort.
The depression which began with the market crash of October, 1929, did not at first affect motion picture theater attendance. However, box office receipts began to decrease later, in some cases starting in the late winter of 1930, and in others not until the middle of 1931. This decrease, while explainable partly because of the depression, was caused largely by an influx of low-quality pictures and by the diminishing novelty value of sound films. As has been indicated, at first the decline was not taken seriously by motion picture executives, many of whom had become overconfident as a result of the period of unprecedented prosperity through which they had just passed. Before long, however, it became apparent that, while total box office receipts had decreased considerably, pictures of more than average merit still filled the theaters in all sections of the country.
Confronted with these conditions, the circuits first demanded higher-quality films. Producers in turn expanded their budgets and tried to improve the quality of their product. Satisfactory results, however, were not easily attained. Producers' reliance on the novelty of sound to carry their pictures had seemed to lessen their ability to make pictures that would succeed on their own merits. It was found, moreover, that, since sound films required a new technique, the elaborate devices in which producers had made large investments and which had contributed materially to the success of silent films were not so adaptable to sound pictures.
Having asked their affiliated producers for improved product, the chains turned to an analysis of their own organ