THE PUBLIC'S TASTE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21912, 22 September 1934, Page 12 (Supplement)

THE PUBLIC'S TASTE

DIVERSITY OF SUCCESSES QUESTION OF CENSORSHIP With film manners and morals a subject of conversation among the citizens, and of frantic concern in the picture studios, it becomes ]>ertinent to inquire just what the public does like in pictures, remarks Katherine Hill in the San Francisco Chronicle. She analyses a list of the 73 films that have made the biggest box office returns in the past 20 years and remarks that in the list of films, favourities over a period of years:, a system of automatic censorship can be observed in operation, a process of selection and of disapproval, distinct from but infinitely more effective than the artificial censorship of State or studio. The list of film best sellers is not without its possibilities of sparkling amusement, if only in its revelation that "I'm No Angel" and "Little Women " have both up to date ab- ! sorbed the identical and not inconsiderable sum of £500,000 of the public's money. In addition to being amusing, the "list should be hugely informative. As a matter of fact, it is not. The greatest money maker in the history of pictures was A 1 Jolson's " The Singing Fool." Into the Warner coffers from all over the world poured a total in rentals of approximately £1,000,000 for the first complete and authentic specimen of the diverting talking picture. " The Four Horsemen " and " The Birth of a Nation " are runners-up to " The Singing Fool " in earning capacity, the former earning approximately £900,000, the latter in the neighbourhood of £700,000. It is not proposed to quote figures of any other of the 70 or so film best sellers that may be mentioned here,, for this inquiry is directed into the nature of the pic-

tures that have demonstrated their immense appeal rather than into their individual commercial prowess. It is enough to say that each of the 70 has earned an entrance fee into the Jist of at least £200,000.

The success of " The Singing Fool " may be more sensibly attributed to its novelty than to any overpowering artistic significance it may have possessed. The presence on the best-seller list of all of Charlie Chaplin's comedies; of " I'm No Angel " and "She Done Him Wrong," which people vent to see admittedly for no other reason than to watch Mae West; of Miss Gaynor and Mr. Farrell's "Sunny Side Up," and Miss Garbo's "Anna Christie," and many others, indicate further that some pictures are made by their 7 principals alone.

It is a little harder to discover from the list what, specifically, the public -considers a good story. Wholesome, light-hearted romance is in demand, exemplified by " Daddy Long Legs," s " Sunny Side Up," " Rolling Down to .Rio " and " Street Angel." So is • wholesome, tearful romance, for among the most popular pictures of all time are " Smilin' Through," " East " Lvnne," "Seventh Heaven" and " Little Women."

Judging from the statistics, austerity is a popular note in film romance. "Arrowsmith," " The King of Kings " and "All Quiet on_ the Western Front," each with its million dollars or more in profits, witness the fact. On the other hand, rampant emotionalism with a strong undercurrent of sex is good, too. " Grand Hotel," " The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," " Passion " and " Common Clay " are on the list to prove it.

Stories of to-day and the life around us are in demand; it is shown by the presence in the catalogue of " 42nd Street," " Bad Girl " and " State Fail - ." The public is eager to escape through its films to a faraway land exotically divorced from everyday cares, or so it would appear from the numbers in which the public attended "Beau Geste;" "The Sea Hawk," "The .Thief of Bagdad" and "The lost World." 2rk M-.v. 7 .i » *