Motion Picture News (Jan-Feb 1922)

January 7 , 1922 379 Government Issues a Survey of the MotionPicture Industry gA broad by$y\S.\Consular Agents Published irijleport Information Gathered A COMPLETE survey of the film industry abroad has just been received by the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry through its Washington Bureau. The survey is embodied in a report to the United States Senate by Secretary of Commerce Hoover. It is the result of a resolution introduced by Senator Wadsworth of New York calling upon the Department of Commerce to furnish the Senate with a survey of the motion picture industry in foreign countries and the extent of film importation into the United States. The information was gathered by United States Consular agents abroad and computed by the Department in Washington. The report shows that film imports by the United States have increased from 11,725,000 feet, valued at $685,000, in 1911, to nearly 150,000,000 feet, valued at more than $4,000,000, in 1921. The greatest period of expansion was between 1911 and 1914. In 1914 our imports were 64,774,000 feet of film valued at $2,302,000. The bulk of these imports, however, have been raw stock. In 1914, for instance, 44,717,000 feet of raw stock was imported and, according to the government report, the 1921 figures, available in September, indicate that the raw stock imports for 1921 will be in excess of 130,000,000 feet or about three times the 1914 figures. “Our imports of exposed film, however, have shown a decrease,” says the report, “and for 1921 they will apparently be about half as large as in 1914. During the war imports fell from 20,057,000 feet in 1914 to the low mark of 2,267,975 feet in 1918. Recovery since 1918 has been rapid, imports increasing in 1920 to 6,233,000 feet, and for 1921 will probably be approximately 10,000,000 feet. The total value of this exposed film is likely to be about the same as in 1914, the price of film, like prices of other commodities, having changed. “During the war, the development and expansion of the American motion picture industry proceeded with great rapidity. Imports of exposed film declined and the effect of foreign competition in the domestic field became less important. Exports of exposed film increased from 32,192,000 feet in 1913 to over 150,000,000 feet in 1919. “In 1920 our exports of exposed film were i75>233.°oo feet, which is more than five times the highest pre-war figure. For 1921 the total export will probably be somewhat less than in 1920. “There are no official figures on the domestic production of motion pictures with which import figures can be com pared. But as compared with our domestic exports of exposed film imports are of relatively small importance. Even for the current year, in which imports have increased and exports decreased, the import will probably be only 10,000,000 feet, while exports will be at least 140.000. 000 feet. Since many of the pictures sent to this country by foreign producers are not saleable and are never shown before American audiences, the figures for the import of exposed film are slightly of less significance than they first appear. Further in gaging the importance of import, the rapid development and expansion of the domestic industry must be taken into account. An import of 1.000. 000 feet of film into the United States today means much less to the industry than the importation of a similar amount meant in 1914. The domestic market has so developed that 20,000,000 feet (the import of 1914) would be more easily absorbed today than a much smaller amount in 1914. Except for four German and one Italian film, pictures of foreign make, imported since the war, have not been especially successful. “More than four-fifths of the raw film and two-thirds of the exposed film imported into the United States come from five European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.” The report says further that of our 1920 importation of raw stock, 30,833,000 feet came from Belgium and that in 1921 the same country has supplied the United States with approximately 40,000,000 feet. Belgium, however, is not an important exporter of exposed film. American films are holding their own in Belgium in the face of severe European competition. In 1920 the United States imported more than 62,500,000 feet of raw stock from France and returns for 1921 indicate that such imports from France will reach 75,000,000 feet. Our imports of exposed film from France in 1921 were approximately 2,200,000 feet, a slight increase over 1920. “The industry (in France) is unable to produce the elaborate feature pictures which require special and expensive equipment,” says the report. In 1921 the United States imported from Germany about 2,000,000 feet of exposed film, or about 26 t>er cent of our total importation of exposed film. In the first nine months of 1921 we imported over 29,000,000 feet of raw stock from Germany, over 20 per cent of the total unexposed film which entered the United States from foreign countries. Before the war about one-sixth of our exposed film imports came from Italy. During the war, however, these fell away to practically nothing. In 1921 imports from Italy were about 600,000 feet, which is far below the import level of 1914. “It is doubtful if the import of exposed film from Italy will regain its prewar importance,” says the report. “American producers have become firmly established and can produce film enough to satisfy the American demand. The gap which Italian film filled in pre-war days no longer seems to exist.” In 1920 there were 82 producing companies in Italy, capitalized at 100,000,000 lire and employing 300,000,000 lire working capital. The total production of new film in Italy that year was 5,250,000 feet. In South America, the report describes brisk competition between American, German and Italian films. “The cheapness of European films seems to be a determining factor, and they are used in increasing amounts, although inferior in quality,” declares the report. From the United Kingdom before the war, we imported over 25 per cent of our exposed film, according to the report. For the year 1921, however, imports from the United Kingdom will not exceed 2,000,000 feet, it is declared. No imports of raw stock from there were reported during the first nine months of 1921. The report estimates that 50 per cent of the pictures used in the United Kingdom are American made. Censors Will Not Review Films in Albany, N. Y . No pictures will be reviewed by the New York State Motion Picture Commission at the Albany bureau, according to an announcement which has been made by Mr. Cobb, chairman of the Commission, following a visit to the Albany bureau. The Albany facilities are limited, and moreover, Chairman Cobb feels that the present arrangement of reviewing all pictures at the New York office is perfectly satisfactory and entails no hardship even though a producer or an exchange may be located in Buffalo. The annual report of the commission will go into the legislature on January 15. It is now being drafted. According to Mr. Cobb, about 1,200 pictures have been reviewed by the commission this year. He declared the other day that a majority of the pictures being submitted to the commission are such that no deletions are necessary. He also stated that there are no wilful violations of the law these days by producers, exchanges, or theatres.