Appendix 2.2: PG, KW, MPH; Annual assessments of UK box office
makes a useful point of comparison for the top ten listings of
actors and actresses given in Picturegoer. It is important to
note, however, that this was an American publication addressed
primarily to American producers, distributors and exhibitors,
though doubtless also used for reference by their counterparts
in the UK.
Pictureqoer
Whereas Motion Picture Herald and Kinematograph Weekly are best
described as trade journals, Picturegoer was a fan magazine. It
carried features on stars; quizzes, competitions and letters
pages in which readers opinions were solicited and commented
upon. In every issue there was a guide to the current releases
which included a cast list, synopses and ’stellar rating1 (one
to four stars accompanied the film's title on the double page
feature dealing with current releases). Frequently a story based
on a currently released film was included. The prose tone was
familiar, chatty - a bit like the Radio or TV Times today - and
there were lots of pictures including sometimes a pin-up and
always a colour cover portrait of a particular star, sometimes
a pair - male and female.
The magazine was thus clearly addressed to the consumers of
films, the actual and potential audience. It is ,their' forum:
but also an avenue through which the producers' publicity
departments might attempt to address the cinema audience
directly. The format remained remarkably consistent from the
beginning of the period I am concerned with until May 1959 when
Picturegoer folded - or at least it disappeared without trace
into a new magazine called Date which catered specifically to the
relatively new teenage market. At this point the emphasis shifted
from popular cinema to popular music, a shift heralded in
Picturegoer's introduction, in 1957, of a new award category 'Top
Singer'. There are some interesting observations to be made
concerning this shift and its implications for popular culture,
but these are outside the scope of my enquiry.
The method by which the 'Best Actor' and 'Best Actress' awards
were arrived at was extremely straightforward and remained the
same throughout the period. A coupon was printed in the magazine
at some point in the first half of the year, and readers were
invited to return it with their choice of one 'Best' actor and
one 'Best' actress, citing performance in a specific film. There
then seems to have been, as far as I can deduce from the comments
accompanying the results, a simple numerical collation which
produced a series of percentages, the top ten of which were
published for the years 1945-1950, after which a simple list from
1-10 was given. The preamble to the announcement of the awards
asserted, in the familiar and chatty house style, a two way
relation between the fans and the stars:
..by voting you helped us and you helped the stars. You
were expressing gratitude to the people who gave you so
much entertainment over the past year.
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