Appendix 2.2: Picturegoerz Kinematograph Weekly
Picture Herald - Annual assessments of the UK box
1945-1960.
and Motion
office from
Methodological problems.
An important issue in all the polls, assessments and top ten
listings published during this period was the state of British
production, thus the categories employed for assessment purposes
often assume particular attention to this. My interest, however,
cuts across this preoccupation since I am concerned with the
British audience rather than with the production histories or
origins of the films. This evident concern with UK production was
symptomatic of more general worries about the economic health of
the British industry in general during two crucial phases: these
were the immediate post war period of economic reconstruction and
the mid fifties expansion of broadcast television. These worries
are most evident in the Kinematograph Weekly categories which
vary markedly, hindering a consistent evaluation of the period
as a whole. In the interests of such an evaluation I have ignored
all but the most consistently used categories for the purposes
of generating my sample of films for analysis. I have, however,
been obliged to take account of assessments of popularity
expressed in terms of particular stars, as well as film titles,
since to ignore these categories would be to ignore one of the
most consistently used listings across all sources. Wherever
possible I have recorded the particular film for which an
actor∕star's performance was cited.
Motion Picture Almanac
This was an annual American publication covering all possible
data on every aspect of the American industry, including its
foreign markets. Hence there was a small section (not more than
one page in a publication of about IOOO pages) on the UK.
Little information is given about the methods used for the
assessments, nor is there any regular discussion of the
inferences to be drawn, as is typically the case with the annual
surveys in Kinematograph Weekly. Different methods were used for
different categories: a poll or ballot was taken amongst British
exhibitors to determine the most successful stars in various
categories of star - the criterion for success being the money
making abilities of the stars as experienced by exhibitors at the
box office. It seems from the following comment accompanying the
1948 lists that a similar method was used to determine the ,Top
Ten1 film titles.
In the Motion Picture Herald's annual survey of Britain's
box office the following British made pictures were
revealed - in the order shown - as Britain's Top Grossers
for 1948. Their respective producers and directors - their
names shown in parantheses - thereby become the country's
champions.
MPA 1948 p770.
92