LURE OF THE “MOVIES.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17170, 13 October 1923, Page 1 (Supplement)

LURE OF THE “MOVIES.”

CONDITIONS IN AMERICA.

English country homes and feudal castles have succumbed to the “movies” ; so. in process of dissolution, has New York club life. The former statement rests on the authority of the English novelist, W. lb Maxwell, who declares that “many country homes >n England have been abandoned because it is impossible to get servants to live in isolated places where there are no motion picture houses.” This is perhaps not so tragic a situation as that contained in the other assertion that English homes are given up because their owners have nothing left to pay the servants after paying the taxes. But it also covers the case of the profiteer as well as the old squire. That the insidious “movies” are making assaults upon exclusive club life in New York is the discovery of Mr R. T. Tucker, who tells the read--ers of the New York “Evening Post’’ : “ Within the last year several old clubs have considered going oqt of business. Others are facing consolidations with similar organisations because they can’t go it alone. The competition from the ‘movies.’ country clubs, and the radio, as well as the coming of prohibition, is too much for them. Still others have moved to less costly quarters in out-of-the-way places. “ The ‘movies’ have taken up the slack. There are a dozen motion-picture houses for one club nowaadys. The husband qr father who used to stay at the club now rushes home for an early dinner and takes the family to the ‘movies’ or a similar form of entertainment. The ‘movies’ are the most popular and accessible medium of escape from the commonplace and the fretful round of routine duties. Observation of motion-picture audiences, whether on Broadway or in the smaller community theatres scattered throughout the city, will reveal many who were formerly known as ‘clubmen.’ accompanied by their families or the men they used to meet at the club.” Clubmen, of course, are only a small proportion of the population whose habits are invaded and likely changed by the “movies.” Air Edison has recently said that “whoever controls the motion-picture industry controls the most powerful medium of influence over the people.” Air Thomas H. Dickerson. in the “New York Times.” asserts that Mr Edison’s statement “embodies , a direct challenge to the influence exerted hv the press.” And he tries

to discover how far the facts support this challenge:

“There are in round numbers in the United States about 18.000 theatres given over to motion pictures. As a mass agency of popular appeal this number is to be compared with about 2500 daily papers and 4000 public libraries. The number of newspapers of all types, daily, tri-weekly, semiweekly and weekly, is still something more than a thousand less than the

number of motion-picture theatres. Total publication of all types run to only 3000 more than the number of motion-picture theatres.

“When it comes to circulation, that is. to daily contact with large numbers of people, the daily newspaper has the advantage, leading with more than 40,000.000 circulation for the country as a whole. The daily attendance at motion-picture theatres is largely a matter of conjecture.

“Theatres listed by the Motion-Pic-ture Company of New York for the country as a whole fall into four classes in order of seating capacity. the first running from one to 249 seats; the second from 250 to 499 ; the third from 500 to 799; the fourth, 800 ana up. Of all the motion-picture theatres in the country, about 35 per cent., or something less than 7000. fall into the second class, seating between 250 and 499. About 30 per cent, are made up of theatres seating less than 250. It follows, then, that the majority of theatres seat less than 500. The remainder, about 5600. are theatres seating from 500 up to several thousand. “Averaging up the seating of these four classes and multiplying by the number of theatres, it would appear that there are from eight to ten million seats. “Daily attendance at the motionpicture theatre, of course, is not limited to the seating capacity. Most theatres give more than one performance a day. and some give as many as five or more. The average figure usually accepted for the daily performances in the motion-pictnre theatre is three giving available seating of about 25,000.000 a day. Naturally, by no means all of these seats are occupied at every performance. Estimates of attendance the country over run from a minimum of 50.000.000 a week to a maximum of 15.000.000 a day. The first figure is probablv too low; the second probably too high.’*