Cinema: Bank Night Bans

According to figures released last week, gross box-office receipts for the cinema industry in 1936 were a billion dollars, $250,000,000 more than last year. Weekly theatre attendance was 81,000,000—compared to 71,000,000 in 1935, 54,000,000 in 1933. Main reasons for the industry's gain were undoubtedly increased prosperity and better pictures. A contributing reason was undoubtedly "Bank Night"—currently a weekly fiesta at 5,000 of the 15,000 active U. S. cinema theatres.

Bank Night is a copyright scheme invented by a onetime Fox booking agent named Charles U. Yaeger, who leases it to theatres for...