MILLIONS INVESTED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 274, 18 November 1937, Page 3

MILLIONS INVESTED

MONEY IN FILMS. HOLLYWOOD'S PAY ROLL. It is estimated by the American Department of Commerce that £530,000,000 is invested throughout the world in the film industry. Hollywood’s yearly pay-roll is put at £20,000,000. The total capital invested in the United States, it is stated, is £400,000,000, of which £360,000,000 is in theatres, £20,000,000 in studios, and £4,000,000 in distribution. Annua! expenditure on insurance is nearly £6,000,000, and about £20,000,000 is paid in tax. The approximate weekly attendance at cinemas throughout, the world is estimated at 220,000,000. In 1934, £140,000,000 was paid into American box offices. The average seating capacity of theatres in the United States is 610, and the average rental each day for films is £5. New theatres are being built at the rate of over 260 a year. It is claimed that there is one seat for every 11 inhabitants of the United States, and one theatre for every 6742. In Europe there is one theatre for every 9270 people, and in the world one theatre for every 20,716 people.

, Charles Foy, one of the famous theatrical family of Foys and a sterling comedian in his own right, has been added to the cast of "Ever Since Eve” the new Warner Cosmopolitan picture of which Marion Davies and Robert Montgomery are the stars. The Theadores, well known dancing team of stage fame are also in the big cast. With a view to assigning her to the leading feminine role in their screen version of "The Desert Song” (in technicolour), Warner Bros, have awarded a long-term contract to Ava Jordan, 22-year-old singer. Miss Jordan was discovered by the Warner casting directors Max Arrow, while singing at a Hollywood social function and was immediately tested for tne screen. She is said to have an extraordinarily warm and flexible soprano voice. At the Venice Cinema Exposition In Italy held recently, the annual award for the best performance of the year, the Volpi Cup, was given to Bette Davis for her role in "Marked Woman.” Paul Muni won the Volpi Cup last year for "Pasteur.” In its appraisal of current box office stars, the National Box Office Digest, which is the stock market of the motion picture industry, lists Fredric March as No. 5 among, the male start i and Janet Gaynor as No. 7 among the feminine stars.