Motion Picture Daily (09/Dec/1960) - Hitchcock Blames Exhibitors for 75% of What is Wrong with Industry Today
Details
- article: Hitchcock Blames Exhibitors for 75% of What is Wrong with Industry Today
- journal: Motion Picture Daily (09/Dec/1960)
- issue: volume 88, number 110, page 3
- journal ISSN:
- publisher: Quigley Publishing Co.
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho (1960)
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Article
Hitchcock Blames Exhibitors for 75% Of What Is Wrong with Industry Today
Special to THE DAILY
DETROIT, Dec. 8. — The exhibitor can shoulder 75 per cent of the blame for what is wrong with the motion picture business today, producer-director Alfred Hitchcock is quoted as saying in an interview in the "Detroit News" this week. The article was written by Harold Hefferman, of the paper's Hollywood bureau.
The Hitchcock quotes are as follows:
"The men who run theatres haven't done a thing to sell a picture since the days of the silents. At least before talkies they had to hire a pianist or an orchestra to get their patrons in the proper mood. Since those days they've been getting a package deal done up in pink ribbons. All they do now is hire a man to put the film through the projector and sit back twiddling their thumbs.
"Theatre men won't get out and hustle and apply ingenuity. They use the same tired, trite come-ons such as 'terrifying,' 'thrilling,' and 'will stand your hair on end.' The marquees, the lobbies, the newspaper ads are cluttered with them."
Hitchcock is also quoted on his policy for "Psycho," in which he insisted that theatres refuse to seat anyone after the start of the picture. He said that if he had his way no one would be seated for any picture once it had begun.
"You don't start reading a book in the middle, do you?" he asked. "You're familiar with that cliché, 'This is where I came in'? Well, that came from the bad habit of getting to movies smack in the middle. It's just bad timing. After all, those home watching tv don't turn the dial 10 minutes late if they've been looking forward to a particular show."
