Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1948)

Family Pictures "What we need is more family pictures, outdoor dramas and comedies. We don't draw crowds or make money on heavy dramas or mystery stories. And definitely not on gangster pictures." * s: "It must be a lot easier for a screen writer to turn out a mystery yarn or a gangster melodrama. And it must be a lot easier to produce them. Otherwise, those, like myself, on the booking end cannot explain why the studios turn out such a high proportion of these type of films. Certainly the patronage for my theatre — serving what I believe to be an average American community — has no liking for mystery and gangster yarns. A higher (much higher) percentage of the entertainment comedy, musical or outdoor story is what the studios should supply if they want to keep the mass of the people interested in movies as an amusement." "I am interested in the box-office and I believe it tells a lot as to what kind of pictures the public wants today. And my box-office tells me it's the wholesome action stories, the comedies and the 'sweet' love stories that satisfy most of the people who are potential patrons for the picture theatre. We get cooperation from all local groups when care is exercised in booking pictures — particularly care in not booking films that are not approved by Women's Club organizations, Legion of Decency, etc." Talent Development "It seems to me that Hollywood is not producing new acting personalities with any such success as was the case in years past. Considering the number of pictures turned out, the number of newer 'luminaries' brought forth during the past couple of years is far from impressive. Too much dependence upon the well-established stars simply means that there's a day of reckoning ahead when the headliners will wear their welcome thin and a feverish push will be on to give a quick buildup to actors and actresses who will lack the training and experience needed to stand up under the ballyhoo and acting responsibilities assigned to stars." "Constructive effort should be made by producers to develop the talents of young actors and actresses. I do not mean the emphasis should be upon rushing a promising player into headline prominence, but rather that the talents of those playing roles in support of the established headliners be cultivated. Those who play in the supporting cast are important too, and steady development will have better final results, in lasting popularity, when the newer artist finally gets into the star circle." Budgets and Pictures "The matter of 'budgets,' so much in the news (detrimentally to the continued 'glamor' of movies, I think) has less to do with the entertainment a picture offers than seems to be generally admitted by Hollywood and the trade. Judging by results on the screen as applauded by the people who pay the price of admission, the cost of the picture has no essential bearing on its quality as entertainment. Some of the pictures that have come along since Hollywood got economy-minded again emphasize this fact. What the patrons want the picture to give them is not expensive sets, but something to think about — not too seriously, of course — a lot of laughs (including corn), a few tears, action, good music and good photography." Stars and Vehicles "Today — perhaps, as always — the stars are as good as their pictures. The majority of picturegoers 'buy' the show, not the star when they decide to go to the movies. If the picture is bad, no name, however glamorous, is going to lift it into good grosses in average situations. Locality has something to do with the popular success of stars, as every showman who has run theatres in different parts of the country knows. But the good picture does business wherever it plays." * ;:• Britain's Pictures "I have tried and tried to play English pictures. But in this locality, it's no dice. The action apparently is too slow for Westerners (maybe they go over all right in the East, where people are slower in thinking and everything else). Also, the dialog confuses my patrons, who, on all my tries to give the English pictures a chance to make good, walk right out — and some are not to gentle in their remarks." * * * "Some means should be devised to prohibit distributors from pressuring exhibitors into playing British product. From my experience, the English pcitures are strictly taboo in small towns and industrial areas." Those Dual Bills "It is my belief that a good single feature, running from one and one-quarter hours to one and one-half hours, balanced with some good, selected, short subjects, offered at a fair box-office price will do more for the future prosperity of the industry than anything else of a policy nature. The motion pictures released by every distributor should be labeled: 'Motion pictures are your best entertainment.' And the picture not living up to that label's promise should not be released at all. When the public gets more confidence that the pictures offer quality, but not quantity, the shows will draw better. Simply because a picture runs 105 to 130 minutes does not mean that it's a good show." Film Buying "I know it seems silly, but my records show that more people turned out for a double-bill featuring two old-time spectacles than for a picture that was rated in the top brackets by its distributor. That's not a very complimentary commentary on the grade of product that was offered during the past season." * « =.<■ "The distributors seem to be shooting for about 3 5 per cent average rentals on all flat deals in the smaller situations." "It's a very discouraging job, this matter of trying to book pictures as close as five days before we open them. That doesn't give sufficient time to do a good job of exploitation and the result is that many of the potential dollars that might be attracted on the picture are lost. And when you fail to get the potential on a picture, every dollar you don't get is gone forever." X Section of SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 103