Sodom and Gomorrah : the story of Hollywood (1935)

228 SODOM AND GOMORRAH Theaters Corporation — it went bankrupt. And su did Warners, RKO, and Paramount. There are several other angles, however, to this sorry tale. Their greed for profits made the producers so short-sighted that they forgot what would happen to the production business if the exhibiting of pictures fell off. The invasion of the exhibiting field by the big producing corporations resulted in the failure and bankruptcy of thousands of small exhibitors. Before the advent of the producer-controlled theaters, people went to their neighborhood houses to see the celluloid dramas. Now, however, when Miss Mae West comes out in a new feature, everybody dashes down town in his automobile, where he can be shocked at least sixty days before he could at his neighborhood theater. Moreover, for only ten or fifteen cents more than it would cost him at a small house, he can see not only the first-run feature, but a well-balanced program of added attractions, frequently including a glamorous stage show with personal appearances of great celebrities. And all this takes place in an enchanted palace which cost more than a million dollars to build. It is obvious how this has hurt the business of the small independent exhibitor. He loses half or more of his patrons. Eventually he is forced to give up the ghost and retire. This has happened so often that as a result the market for