Cinema: How Not to Go Broke

What kind of pictures do U.S. moviegoers really like to see? Writing in the current Harper's, Publicist Arthur L. Mayer, executive vice president of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations (COMPO), frankly discusses some facts of movie life that most pressagents prefer to whisper about behind closed doors. Mayer's main point: most moviegoers prefer bad movies to good ones.

"In my experience of over 30 years in the motion-picture industry," writes Mayer, "the American people have had plenty of opportunities to support [good] pictures and almost invariably have failed to do so. Although I have helped to import many of the finest...

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