Cinema: Ups & Downs

• Share

The U.S. box office seemed to be climbing steadily out of its long postwar slump. Last week the Bureau of Internal Revenue announced that August was the fourth month this year to run ahead of 1948's corresponding month in admissions tax returns. To make things even brighter, Dr. George Gallup's Audience Research, Inc. reported a steady fall in the average price of admission paid by U.S. moviegoers. With total receipts on the rise, that spelled growing attendance. The average spent for a ticket in August was 45¢, compared to a postwar peak of 48.8¢ early in the year.

But Hollywood still had something to worry about. Income from foreign box offices would suffer from devaluation of the pound. MGM's Louis B. Mayer estimated dourly that his studio's overall receipts would be cut by nearly 10%. He ordered a new economy drive, but, for the time being at least, M-G-M and the other major studios hoped to get along without any layoffs.