The Moving picture world (September 1923-October 1923)

WHERE WE LEAVE THE OLD ROAD ON the following pages you will find the productions to be released by Paramount for the four months of the new season beginning November 1st, 1923. Each picture carries the complete cast, director, detail of production, etc. We firmly believe that in quality and drawing power, these productions will more than meet our expectations. Pages could be written outlining our opinion of their value to the exhibitor, but just as they will prove on demonstration, we feel, to be greater in quality than any previous productions released by this organization, so do we feel that in justice, not only to the product but to the exhibitor, these pictures should be accompanied by a plan which will really and actually demonstrate their true value before the exhibitor is asked to sign a contract. The time has gone by in this industry when there can be any compromise between the good picture and the bad. The time has gone by when exhibitors can be asked to or should buy on a plan that no longer fits the needs of today. However, by the same reasoning, every fair-minded exhibitor should be interested in protecting product that has demonstrated its real value at the box-office and it should be the exhibitor's interest, as well as the producer's, to see that such product receives not less than it is worth. Good pictures must bring their just reward if good pictures are still to be made. Exhibitors throughout the country are in a great state of worry over the quotations received this year for motion pictures which have not yet demonstrated their value to the public. Under the circumstances the prices quoted do present a real problem to the buyer. However, in an effort to protect himself against over-paying for bad pictures the exhibitor is unconsciously working a hardship on the production of real box-office merit. In certain parts of the country, buying combinations are being formed, under one pretense or another, in order to force down prices. Destructive forces are being set at work which can, in the end, do nothing but add further complications to an already difficult situation without solving the question of what good pictures are really worth. The present-day demand by the public for better pictures has resulted in a better grade of productions at a higher cost. But whether the pictures are truly better can only be proven through the box-office. And for those pictures that are so proven, there is unquestionably a higher box-office value. If that greater value is demonstrated, higher production costs are justified and must reap their just reward for the producer. Too many exhibitors today are buying without faith in the pictures. No production, regardless of merit, can deliver its best at the box-office when backed up by an uncertain exhibitor mind. No picture can receive justice at the hands of an exhibitor unless his mind is at ease as to its quality. In no other way can he approach the task of putting over each picture with the degree of confidence that is necessary for a proper result. Just to screen pictures in advance of selling is not quite sufficient. Actual demonstration of box-office power must be made, demonstrations of a character that will form a real and safe basis on which exhibitors can buy with confidence, in any community. To sell after screening, is but half a step forward. Paramount now proposes to take the full step.