1l

TOP FEATURES GOING STRONG;
REST OF PRODUCT IS LAGGING
15 Spring Releases Reach
Hit Class, Exceeding
'47 Spring Grosses
The boxoffice story remains the same. The
top pictures are doing exceptional business,
but the run-of-the-mill product isn't doing
so well. This has been the trend all season,
and the current quarterly analysis of first
nm reports from key cities—for the March-
April-May period—serves only to emphasize
what exhibitors have been saying all year:
you can do good business on important pictures,
but the shopping approach of the
average film fan is keeping grosses down
when the in-between features are booked.
Nonetheless, the general picture is one of
substantial business. The three top hits of
the spring quarter did a combined average
business higher than the top trio in the corresponding
period a year ago, as well as
above the top hits of the preceding quarter.
And the combined average of all hit pictures
for this season—that is, features which did
120 per cent or better—is higher than the
combined average of top business getters of
the 1946-1947 film year.
THREE TOP FEATURES
Fifteen features released during the
spring months reached the hit class. The top
three are "Gentleman's Agreement" (20th-
Poxi, which has played to 127 per cent; "Fort
"Apache (RKO), which has a 160 per cent
>rating, and "The Naked City" (U-I), which
to date has recorded a 146 percentage in its
key playdates.
Other spring releases which earned their
way into the hit class are "The Bride Goes
Wild," "Good News," "State of the Union"
and "Three Daring Daughters," from the
MGM studios; "The Big Clock" and "Saigon,"
Paramount; "Fury at Furnace Creek" and
"Sitting Pretty," 20th Century-Fox; "The
Arch of Triumph" from Enterprise by way of
United Artists' distribution; "Lady From
Shanghai," a Columbia production, and "The
Naked City," and "A Double Life" from the
Universal-International lot.
The 15 hits of the spring quarter had a
combined average of 164 per cent. This compares
with the 162 per cent recorded by the
three top features of the winter quarter,
and the 139 per cent average of the 1947
spring hits. In other words, the big three
of 1948 did 24 per cent better at the boxoffice
than the 1947 toppers. The big films
then were "My Favorite Brunette," "Sinbad
the Sailor" and "The Farmer's Daughter."
In general, the averages of the 1947 quarter
reflected a slump in business, which did not
correct itself until some time in June. It was
in mid-June that Barney Balaban. Paramount
president, reported to his board that
a recession, which had hit the industry, had
turned the corner in the first ten days of
June—as indicated by receipts at Paramount
theatres.
SOME PHENOMENAL DATES
"Gentleman's Agreement" encountered some
phenomenal dates in its run of the key theatres,
more than doubling average business in
Seattle, San Francisco. Philadelphia, New
York, Minneapolis, Denver and Cincinnati.
It played 28 weeks in New York, 25 weeks
in Chicago, 8 weeks in Los Angeles and held
over in all except two key dates. "Fort
Top Hits of the Season
(September 1947 through May 1948)
Arch of Triumph (UA-Enterprise)
PERCENTAGES
'-Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. The (RKO) ;
Big Clock, The (Para)
i
- Bishop's Wife, The (RKO) ,
Body and Soul (UA)
,
Bride Goes Wild, The (MGM)
i
Call Northside 777 (20th-Fox)
Captain From Castile (20lh-Fox)
Crossfire (RKO)
-Cass Timberlane (MGM)
Dark Passage (WB)
Double Life, A (TJ-I)
Down to
Earth (Col)
•Forever Amber (20th-Fox) i
Fort Apache (RKO)
Foxes of Harrow, The (20lh-Fox)
Fugitive, The (RKO)
i
Fun and Fancy Free (RKO)
i
Fury at Furnace Creek (20lh-Fox)
Gentleman's Agreement (20th-Fox)
a
Good News (MGM)
Green Dolphin Street
(MGM)
«-iI Remember Mama (RKO) i
It Had to Be You (Col)
Killer McCoy (MGM)
Lady From Shanghai (Col)
•Life With Father (WB)
Miracle of the BeUs, The (RKO)
Mother Wore Tights (20th-Fox)
UMy Wild Irish Rose (WB)
Naked City (U-I)
Road to Rio (Para)
Saigon (Para)
OSecret Life of Walter Mitty. The (HEO)
Sitting Pretty (20th-Fox)
State of the Union (MGM)
T-Men (EL)
Three Daring Daughters (MGM)
To the Ends of the Earth (Col)
Treasure of Sierra Madre (WB)
Tycoon (RKO)
Unconquered (Para)
Voice of the Turtle, The (WB)
Su Where There's Life (Para)
Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (U-I)
sjBlue Ribbon Award Winners
•Roadshows
Apache" also played strongly across the
country, had a 200 per cent mark at the
Warner Theatre in Pittsburgh, recorded 185
at the Golden Gate in San Francisco and
did 180 per cent at the Boston Theatre in
Boston and the Albee in Cincinnati. "The
Naked City" played to a number of exceptional
runs. Business was doubled in Boston
and Philadelphia, and was close to the 200
per cent mark in San Francisco.
On the basis of 186 featm-es released this
season, on which there have been sufficient
120 130 140 150 175 200 210
playdates to determine boxoffice strength,
films have not done as weU this year as last.
A greater percentage of pictures have failed
to do average or better than in anytime in
the last several years. By coincident, the
quarterly analysis at this time a year ago also
showed 186 releases for the nine-month period.
But last year. 134 or 72.8 per cent of
the season's product had done average or
better business. ITiis year, only 110 features
were able to reach the average business class,
or 62 per cent of the total releases.
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BOXOFFICE
:
: June 5, 1948