Hollywood Meets Backlog

For three months Hollywood's film factories have had not less than 40 feature pictures shooting, 60 in the process of editing every week. Their backlog of completed films has mounted to more than 85 pictures. This is a new high for sustained production in Hollywood. Big reason: on Sept. 1, five of the cinema industry's major studios (Warner Bros., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20th Century-Fox, Paramount, RKO-Radio) will begin distributing their product according to the terms of the Government's Consent Decree, which they signed last October (TIME, Nov. 11).

Those terms say that studios cannot book an exhibitor with a year's supply of pictures in advance. They can sell him as many as five in a single block, no more. But all five have to be ready to show to the exhibitor before the sale. After seeing the block, he can refuse to accept it. This privilege also applies to pictures sold singly.

Not entirely responsible for Hollywood's production boom was this new merchandising situation. Since the U.S. Army snatched Actor James Stewart, cinemakers have become acutely aware of the draft. Anticipating a further reduction in their inventory of male box-office properties, they have put most of them to work.

A headache to studio executives, the boom has created many a new job. Scorching ahead on three shifts a day, Warners reported a 155% increase in craft employes (painters, electricians, etc.). Planning to have two blocks of five pictures in the bank by mid-July, 20th Century-Fox had 52 writers hard at work on 41 scripts.

Although Hollywood knew that it had o have a full stock of samples on hand for fall delivery, it could not foresee what he revolution might do to the cinema industry. Accustomed to selling a year's product sight unseen on the strength of a few high-powered productions, extravagant promises, big names, and a barrage of adjectives, it was faced with the vagaries of competitive sales. Now pictures vill largely have to be sold on merit. A studio with the capacity for making good pictures may clean up if its competitors try to peddle poor ones. In any case, audiences should be due for a better break.

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