Movie Age (1927)

MOVIE AGE PAGE 3 EDITORIAL FROM all present indications 1928 holds a good prospect of being a prosperous busi¬ ness year. Consolidations, mergers and other steps of expansion will be fewer in 1928 and the unrest within the industry caused by these moves will be at a minimum. Business ac¬ tivity will go forward at a greater pace than be¬ fore and the industry as a whole should experience its most successful period. The year that is just closing has been some¬ what of a transitional period. The motion pic¬ ture industry seems to have been just “finding” itself. And now that the grand discovery has been made as to what are the faults of the exhibi¬ tion branch and what is wrong with production and distribution, it is naturally hoped that the same mistakes won’t be made over again. Mis¬ takes, though costly, can be profited by, if they’re not repeated. Resolutions, customarily, are made on the New Year. And since such is the case it occurs to us that a certain few should not be overlooked by the various branches of this industry. We sug¬ gest that the wave of economy that has hit the producers with a great suddenness should be har¬ nessed into careful guidance and not misdirected. Most of the industry’s ills have been caused by sporadic actions that seem to come without warning. And without careful or prepared thought these “spontaneous combustions” are permitted to devastate all that is before them. False economy is a great enemy to the producer. Penny wisdom and pound foolishness seems to show up quite frequently. Great waste seems to have been borne to light in the production end of the business and so the axe of economy is un¬ doubtedly going to hit this branch quite forcibly. It is in this regard that we urge producers who have resolved to cut production costs to apply their economy measures with extreme carefulness. Let their resolutions be to cut wastefulness with a care to keep up and as far as possible improve production quality. The exhibition branch of this industry was not without its mistakes this past year. First runs, for example, have gone in for too much “dessert” and have all but forgotten the substantial enter¬ tainment “fare” that has built up their business. Production quality is gauged to a large extent by their requirements. The overdoing of the jazz band and presenta¬ tion policies have forced down the quality of pic¬ tures. Competitive bidding for stage “names” has left little money for pictures. Consequently unless the producer is given a fair price for his product his incentive to produce real pictures is killed. And this policy has been a costly one for the first runs to pursue. Costs continually mount and profits grow smaller. Therefore let the reso¬ lution of the first run exhibitor be to go back to the “mother” of his business and for 1928, at least, be loyal and respectful. And the smaller exhibitors. Let their resolu¬ tions be to follow less the lines of least resistance and extend a greater effort to more thoroughly merchandise their shows; to realize that it is pic¬ tures that they sell to their public and also that comfort plays a big part in satisfying a patron; and of great importance — that projection is a part of the picture and that the proper care and main¬ tenance of this equipment is highly essential to the success of their business. And ourselves — we resolve to put forth our very best efforts to improve our service to our readers and to the industry through the pages of this publication. * * * * DO short subject stars have a box-office value? Only the exhibitor can answer that question, so we wrote one hundred exhibitors in this territory and asked them to name the three comedy stars who are the most popular with their patrons. The response was tabulated in our Holiday Number last week. Twenty-six players are named (counting the “Our Gang” kids as one player). It has, doubtless, occurred to few that there were as many as twenty-six different comedy stars featured in short subjects. And the fact that theatre patrons have so many favorites is definite proof that comedies have a box-office pull. Exhibitors who have been playing short sub¬ jects as just so much filler will find it very much worthwhile to feature them on their programs. In newspaper advertising, on billboards, in the lobby and on the screen, advertise your comedy and other “shorts” attractions. The result will be gratifying.