Fox's Charlie Chan Films

Re: Fox's Charlie Chan Films

I know for certain that the early Warner Oland CHANS had "A" bookings. Even as late as CHARLIE CHAN IN EGYPT they were being launched with premiere showings at the ROXY, Fox's Manhattan showplace.

I'm pretty sure that the films in the series were considered "programmers."

Programmers were films that could play either the top OR bottom of a double bill depending on the market, popularity, competition, etc. A programmer might play the bottom of a double bill in the New York City market and the top half in Westchester County, or vice versa.

Re: Fox's Charlie Chan Films

I don't remember where I saw this but a website somewhere reproduced the movie schedule of a particular theater for a great period of time (multiple years) and what struck me is how quickly films turned over in the 30s/40s.

We are used to films getting multiple week runs now but programmers back in the day would run on a Wed - Sun schedule (5 days) and then disappear. Or sometimes just run during the middle of the week for 3 or 4 days. Of course when they went away they were gone until they showed up on the revival circuit or on TV many years later.

I'd like to see how these were scheduled in the midwest or at least in non-CA and non - NY locales. My speculation is that these B pictures (not just Chans but Autry/Rogers, Bowery Boys etc.) were getting a lot more play among the masses. Early TV certainly helped their popularity also since it was cheap programming to rely on oaters and detectives. Either way, these "B" pictures have had much enduring popularity.

Re: Fox's Charlie Chan Films

Just wanted to say that this short run of 2 to 5 days seems to be the general status for most studio movies made during the 1930's to 1950's. Today one wonders how they would make their money back on a particular film, but the logistics and economics for the industry have drastically changed since the studio system's heyday. Back then a studio looked mostly at the bottom line by counting the number of tickets sold on an annual basis and the entertainment package they were providing nightly to theatre patrons to keep selling those tickets. Therefore the emphasis was on quantity and not film quality. To the big film studios, the total theatre going experience was paramount. Keep audiences coming with a constantly changing playbill. With no television to compete with, a night out at the movies was like today's tv night at home; a lengthy 3 hours or more watching the whole show. Remember at one point the studios owned the theatre chains and a night out at the movies was set up to feature a news reel, cartoon(s), short subject(s) and main feature (with or without a programmer/second bill). These lineups were put on a loop and from 1 pm until the last show at 9 or 10 pm the line up would play over and over. Some theatres even ran 24 hours non-stop! Patrons could come in or go out at any time. One could stay and watch the same lineup all day and it was not a problem - you only paid for admission once. The movie theatre experience was completely different in principle then as opposed to now. This accounts for the studios making 70 to 80 pictures a year - most as programmers to fill that playbill. Only big block busters like "Gone with the Wind" got exclusive treatment and long engagements of weeks, if not a month at one theatre. Today most films are independently made by producers and then released through a studio. Warner's or Fox may have their brand on 5 to 8 movies for the whole year. So maximum exposure and money made back for each 100 million picture is important. Of course if the movie is a bust - there is always sales of DVD's to recoup lost revenue.