Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1940)

Showmen Select Last Season's Outstanding Box Office Stars THE LEADING STARS Points First; Mickey Rooney 2205 Second: Tyrone Power 1555 Third; Alice Faye 1504 Fourth; Myrna Loy 1347 Fifth: Bette Davis 1202 Sixth Spencer Tracy 982 Seventh; Shirley Temple 840 Eighth: Clark Gable 763 Ninth; Sonja Henie 633 Tenth; James Cagney 588 THE SECONDARY GROUP Points First: Ginger Rogers 559 Second: Errol Flynn 513 Third: Deanna Durbin 510 Fourth: Jeanette IVIacDonaid 476 Fifth: Jane Withers 465 Sixth Judy Garland 409 Seventh: Robert Taylor 368 Eighth: Henry Fonda 335 Ninth: Wallace Beery 323 Tenth: Gary Cooper 293 THROUGH no fault of its own, Hollywood often overlooks one of the most important factors connected with the whole exciting business of screen stardom. This is the fact that a lot of theatremen operating showhouses in big towns and small all over this country can, by collective decision, tell to a scientific nicety exactly who really rates as a public attraction and who does not. Also, in precisely what degree of relative importance one star ranks with another, is a matter which can be decided better by these theatremen than by any other group in or out of the industry. Hence, the news printed on this page, giving in terms of relative importance, the standing of screen stars as measured in the exacting terms of box office draw, is something which Hollywood well might find more interesting and important than much of the comment and estimation over which great concern is expressed throughout studio circles. What the Poll Reveals The exhibitors' poll on the stars with the greatest drawing power at the box office reveals a number of interesting things. First of all, last year's Leaders' poll was the only one to show Mickey Rooney as the top box office star. This year, not only does he rank first in the STR poll again but all other polls rank him similarly. Furthermore, the fact that Rooney and Tyrone Power hold the first two places indicates the more pictures a star makes, the more popular he becomes. For each of these stars appeared in a number of pictures in the period from Nov. i, 1938 to Oct. 31, 1939. Rooney, in fact, was in five. The stars are grouped together regardless of sex and the interesting thing to note from this is that an equal number of men and women are in both the Leaders' group and the Secondary group. Alice Faye, who ranks third this year is ahead of Bette Davis but the latter has gained considerably as a residt of her work in some of the later pictures of the year. Shirley HONORABLE MENTION These stars and featured players received more than 120 points. Claudette Colbert Bing Crosby Loretta Young Jean Arthur James Stewart Norma Shearer Priscilla Lane Irene Dunne Dorothy Lamour Don Ameche Lionel Barrymore Bob Burns Joan Crawford Dead End Kids Ann Sothern Cary Grant Carole Lombard John Garfield Barbara Stanwyck Ann Sheridan Nancy Kelly Richard Greene Lew Ayres Hedy Lamarr Paul Muni Olivia de Havilland Joan Bennett Edward G. Robinson George Brent Jackie Cooper THE LEADING WESTERN STARS First: Gene Autry Second: Bill Boyd Third: Roy Rogers Fourth: Three Mesquiteers Fifth: George O'Brien Sixth; Charles Starrett Seventh; Tex Ritter Eighth; Bill Elliott Ninth: Buck Jones Tenth: Bob Steele Temple, until this year the very tops among the box office stars has slipped to seventh place. Clark Gable appears in the poll despite the fact that he appeared in only one picture and that one didn't rate in the first 75. But the Gable name is still a draw at the box office, it seems. In past years, Ginger Rogers has been linked with Fred Astaire but now, standing on her own she ranks as first in the secondary group and just a shade behind James Cagnev who stands tenth in the first group. Astaire, having made but one picture does not figure among the leading stars this year at all. In the Secondary Group, although the men and women are equally divided, the first six in this group are on the distaff side. The grouping, according to points is much closer in this division than among the Leaders, where Mickey Rooney has a commanding lead. Note that among the secondary group, Deanna Durbin trailed Errol Flynn by only three points, which one ballot could easily have upset. The oldest star among either of the two groups in point of service is Wallace Beery, who has practically grown up with the industry. Most of the others cannot count more than ten years in pictures and Sonja Henie is the newest star in point of service. Among those who received honorable mention is James Stewart whose popularity has leaped following "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "Destry Rides Again," which was released too late to be included in this year s poll. Pictures Make the Stars The progress that many of these stars have made brings new confirmation to an old and honored Hollywood saying: "a star is as good as his last two pictures." That puts the matter quite drastically. Nevertheless, there is but one conclusion to be drawn from the annual polls conducted by Showmen's Tr.ade Review and Leaders of the Motion Picture Industry. This is the plain fact that it takes fine players to make fine pictures, but no player ever climbed to the heights of stardom and stayed there very long, widiout the sustaining, if not the dynamic force of outstanding vehicles capable of impressing the public and bringing the star into the limelight for public adulation. Be all that as it mav. The fact remains that it takes an extraordinary gift and a level head for those who seek careers in films to reach and sustain a position so trying of capabilities and personal magnetism as is demanded of a person, male or female, who attains to the eminent place of stardom in pictures. LEADERS of the MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY Page 39