The Wilmington morning star., 1940-07-09
In Hollywood
July 5-After all

HOLLYWOOD, July 5-After all
these years of laundering and
waste, bankruptcy and borrowing,
wailing and confusion, the flicker
business is getting around to the
pointer at least to the adoption
of an attitude-where it may take
the trouble to find out what the
buying public wants in pictures.
You'd think that with all sorts
of commercial and political sur
veys having been made for years,
with the soundly conducted one
~forecasting opinion and buying ha-
bits to maybe one-tenth of l per
cent Of accuracy, that the movie
makers might have spent the cost
of one of their flop epics in analyz-
ing the moods and preferences of
you and me.
But they didn't. There are pro-
ducers who consult astrologers
and there are producers who are
sensitive to the whims of their
wives, secretaries, or japanese
gardeners. However, the first pro-
Queer to ask a question of the
average people who push the
money through the wicket is Sam
Goldwyn, who is still thought of
around here as an "old school,
executive with a semi-psychic
sense of showmanship.
Goldwyn has been conducting a
single-handed crusade against dou-
BILE features, and he talked George
Gallup, the big QUESTIONABLE and
poll man, into doing a free survey
on the subject. incidentally, an
other survey organization recently
completed a poll indicating that
66.9 per cent of American women
are opposed to double bills.)
Such inquiries are at best insti-
tutional, and the answers will not
be much help to Goldwyn in fgur-
ing what sort of stories to film
and which players to hire. A more
significant move has been made
by George Schaefer, head of RKO,
who has hired George Gallup's ex-
elusive services in the motion pic
ture field. Gallup, in turn, has Or
ganized the Audience Research In
stitute of Public Opinion) to take
care of the curiosities of Mr..
Schaefer.
Okay. Now let's assume that we
are Mr.. Schaefer and are worrying
about a future production. Shall
we try to hire Cary Grant, for a
lot of dough, or is there some less
expensive leading man whom the
majority of customers would liks
to see in a top role? Is the sub
stance of the story attractive to
the public in its present mood?
Shall we delete or build up the
war angle? Which of these six
titles 80. is the catchiest? Shall
we raise the budget $50, 900 for a
big-name director, or do the pa
irons give a whoop who makes a
picture? Well, We'll call up Gallup,
who'll send his emissaries scurry-
ing from house to house, and we'll
find out.
You think we won't? Well, con-
slider this unpublished accomplish
ment: In 1887, when Gallup. first
began angling for some Hollywood
business, he undertook a free fore
cast on ''Vogues of 1885," With a
copy Of the script, a cast sheet, and
some production-cost estimates, he
made a survey. From the answers,
he predicted that the picture would
flop. 1t did. He also prophesied
with disturbing accuracy the box
office totals in some of the big
cities.
George Gallup has no monopoly
on methods Of gathering and the
scientific bracketing and correla-
ton Of information. Any major stu
dio could have it's own organiza-
ton. The movie industry, with an
annual total production expenditure
of about S ,450, 00O, 900 a year, could
sound out the interests and tastes.
unless the leadership agrees to ex-
tend the session indefinite. Y. Thew
feel deen1v enough obo,,+ -