Moving Picture World (May 1919)

652 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD May 3, 1919 CHART SHOWS PULSE OF INDUSTRY Box Office Analysis of Paramount and Artcraft Films Indicates General Upward Trend of Business ANALYSIS of box office values of all Paramount and Artcraft pictures produced during the past year, made by the production department of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, and based on reports from^ first-run exhibitors in all sections of the country, shows not only a steady upward trend of the drawing power and qualities of the pictures themselves, but the remarkable fluidity with which box office receipts respond to general national conditions in business and industrial life. Analysis from the receipts themselves shows that in the three months' period, December, 1918, to February, 1919, only six subjects did not qualify as "good," which was the average classification of the entire output i'n the nine months preceding December, 1918. Chart Covers 39 Films in Three-Month Period. The last three months' period shown in the chart covers 39 releases as compared with 90 releases in the preceding nine months. The average classification of the 90 releases is "good" and of the 39 releases "very good," and within 3 per cent, of "great." The 90 releases included ten "record" features. The 39 releases included 11 "record" features, comprising one Griffith, one De Mille, one Hart, one Ferguson, one Ray, one Fairbanks, one Washburn, two Gish and two Reid subjects. "Record" productions are those reaching a percentage of 97J/4, or practically universal box office success. That the exhibitor's business is now entering into a period of the very greatest prosperity that has ever been experienced, is indicated by the zigzag line of the chart. Low Point Winter of 1918. The low point at the beginning of the line marks the end of the "heatless days and lightless nights" period of the winter of 1918. The line rises at the end of that period until the next draft, when it sags. It recovers strength, gaining steadily until the succeeding draft and the influenza epidemic put a general crimp in business, when it sags to the date of the signing of the armistice. From that point it rises very sharply, and with added gains after each temporary decline of a point or two. A careful study of the zig-zag lines will convince the exhibitor that right now he is in the beginning of the best business period he has ever experienced. TREND OF BOX OFFICE VALUES ,„■•"„. 571-* ftOKOrricc cthssiFtc^Tion. ntcontf ....... r »'-" /\ i„ti«.... / ,/ ° 1 Lawton Launches Big Advertising on Fox Film FITCHBURG, MASS., is a city of 40,000 to 50,000 people— an ideal town for a motion picture showman. There the live exhibitor can make his theatre's name a household word if he takes the trouble to exploit his productions in the proper way. A. B. Lawton, of Shea's Theatre, Fitchburg, when he booked "Cleopatra" for a week launched the biggest exploitation campaign Fitchburg ever had seen. In the first place, he "spread" in the Fitchburg newspaper, using big advertising displays. On the strength of this advertising alone he obtained considerable reading-matter publicity, because he has made it a point to cultivate the city editors of Fitchburg's papers. Then he got 2,000 heralds from the Fox Film Corporation's exchange in Boston, and on the opening day of the engagement had the name "Cleopatra" flying all over the city. Besides these heralds, he got the following publicity aids from the Fox Boston office : Fifty one-sheets, twenty-five three-sheets, ten six-sheets, four twenty-four-sheets, one hundred window cards, a slide, one set of 8x10 photograpns, two sets 11x14 photos, two sets 22x28 photos and a number of striking iramed paintings of Theda Bara and scenes m "Cleopatra." Besides this he had a big two-horse wagon, covered with a huge display of "Cleopatra" paper, on the principal streets of the city for the entire week. The result was that the production played to capacity every day for the whole week, and Mr. Lawton made the biggest clean-up in the history of his house. $4,756,057 Is Amount of February Ticket Tax A Keeping Tabs on Releases. Famous Players-Lasky chart which follows the course of every production. DMISSION taxes paid for the month of February amounted to $4,756,057.52, according to a report just made by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, an increase of $1,047,754.47 over the collections of February, 1918, which amounted to $3,708,303.05. The collection of this sum brings the total admission taxes for the first eight months of the current fiscal year to $29,839,945.28. Taxes collected on theatres, circuses, and other places of amusement during February amounted to $15,995.48, an increase of more than $5,000 over the $10,846.61 collected in February, 1918. Other taxes collected during the month, which the motion picture in dustry helped to pay, were freight $8,638,833.21; express, $1,337,865.50; personal transportation, $4,968,423.31 ; seats, berths and similar accommodations, $323,550.16; telegraph and telephone messages, $1,367,862.05. Total collections for the month were $129,164,716.79, and for the period from July 1, 1918, to February 28, 1919, $1,084,485,708.10. Canton Consular Report * Shows Pictures Popular ACCORDING to the consular report of Albert W. Pontius, United State Counsul at Canton, China, the number of motion picture theatres in that city now totals over ten. The Southern Palace, seating 1,000 and equipped with chairs of the latest design, was recently opened at Wing Hon road, and is due to eclipse all other establishments in the city. It has a stage for professional or amateur dramatic performances. The Sun Company, a big foreign goods department store, has reserved a section of its building for a photoplay house. The Kwongchow Cinematograph Show at Sup Pat Po, a popular street in the western suburb of Canton, is being reconstructed with the idea of increasing its capacity to over 1,000. There are also theatres in Fatshan and Kongmoon catering to Chinese patronage exclusively. The prices of admission range from 60 cents local currency or 48 cents gold to 6 cents local currency or 4.8 cents gold. The average receipts are from $800 to $900 weekly in each theatre. A provincial tax of $150 monthly is levied on each house. The Canton theatres secure their films from three Hongkong firms, Pathe Phono-Cinema-China, Victoria Cinematograph and R. Basa, 8 Des Voeux road. New Owners' Corporation Organized in Northwest THE Theatre Owners Corporation perfected its organization at a meeting of twenty-five prominent moving picture theatre proprietors of the Northwest in Minneapolis. Assets of the members already enrolled are placed at $2,000,000 and it is announced that the new concern is out to buy some of the best film productions in the open market. The following officers were elected: President, Thomas Furniss, Duluth; vice president, John McCarthy, of McCarthy Bros., operating a string of theatres at Fargo, Grand Forks, N. D., and Watertown, S. D. ; secretary-treasurer, Williams Hays, Fairmont, Minn. Louis Coen, formerly in charge of the Minneapolis Universal branch, has been selected as general manager. Membership in the company, according to Mr. Coen, will be limited to forty exhibitors of this territory. The first purchase of a film by this concern for distribution in the Northwest was "Mickey," the Mabel Normand production, which is now playing an indefinite run at the Minneapolis New Lyric. The picture played to steadily growing crowds on the first three days of its run and indications are that it is going to be a big box office success at the Lyric.