Cinema: A. P. & Want-to-See

Some 56 million U.S. people, week in & week out, go to the movies. The nation's 1946 film audience is the biggest in box-office history.*For optimists who wistfully hope that the movies may some day grow up to be Art—i.e., from mediocre to first-rate entertainment—this is bad news.

The thousands of talented artists employed in moviemaking are rarely permitted to fool around with art. Hollywood is a hard-pressed manufacturing center; it must turn out a reliable product that can be peddled to an exacting mass market. The 56 million customers know—or are told that...