Moving Picture World
Jan-Feb 1927
- Title:
- Moving Picture World
- Date:
- Jan-Feb 1927
- Author:
- Chalmers Publishing Company
- Publisher:
- New York, Chalmers Publishing Company
- Volume:
- 84
- Language:
- eng
- Subjects:
- Motion Pictures, Film Industry Trade Magazine
- Collection:
- Early Cinema, Hollywood Studio System
- Format:
- Periodicals
- Source:
- Print
- Contributor:
- Museum of Modern Art Library, New York
- Coordinator:
- Media History Digital Library
- Description:
- Moving Picture World, founded in 1907 by J.P. Chalmers, was one of the motion picture industry's first trade papers. Published on a weekly basis in New York City, Moving Picture World informed exhibitors about films available for rental and editorialized on behalf of the growing industry (improving the quality of movies through higher filmmaking standards, not government censorship, was a frequent topic). The paper reached its height in the mid-to-late-1910s--a fact reflected in the circulation figures and the huge amount of advertising that filled every issue during the period. In the 1920s, Moving Picture World lost ground to other competing weekly trade papers -- including Variety, Exhibitor's Herald, and Motion Picture News. In 1927, Moving Picture World ceased publication when it was acquired by Martin Quigley's Exhibitor's Herald. Across the 20 year run of Moving Picture World, readers can watch the transition from short film programs to feature films and witness the transition from the dominance of Edison’s Trust to the rise of the so-called Independent film companies that ultimately became the Hollywood studios. Silent film historians have utilized and cited Moving Picture World more frequently than any other trade paper, and the publication still has many insights left to offer. -- Eric Hoyt, 2012/2013