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separation of theater holdings from production and distribution. Without control over block booking, studios feared that they could no longer force theaters to buy up to 400 movies each year. In anticipation of mass profit-loss, studios cut production schedules and terminated contracts with actors, producers, directors and other staff. Newly unemployed artists began pursuing careers in television, following earlier predecessors. As popular movie actors transitioned from the silver screen to the television screen, viewers followed their favorite artists to the new medium. In 1951, almost all cities with television stations saw a significant increase in movie theater closures corresponding with a simultaneous increase in television viewership.
27:
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forged after the
September 1 beginning of the 1940–41 exhibition season, the new blocks-of-five arrangement did not go into effect until the 1941–42 season. When the consent decree lapsed in 1942, most of the majors continued with blocks of five, though MGM went with blocks of twelve for two years. In contrast, Warner Bros. abandoned blocks altogether in 1943. The practice was entirely outlawed by the Supreme Court's 1948 decision,
222:—did not have the big pictures with A-list stars that would have allowed them to compel theater owners to directly block book. Instead, they mostly sold exclusive regional distribution rights to so-called states' rights firms. These distributors in turn marketed blocks of movies to exhibitors, typically six or more pictures featuring the same star (given that the films' source was Poverty Row, a relatively minor star).
760:
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Justice filed suit against the distribution arms of
Hollywood studios in the Famous Players–Lasky antitrust case of 1928. The Department of Justice charged the ten entities that controlled 98% of the domestic theatrical distribution. Appeals were filed and the studios were able to prevent charges from being followed through until 1929, due to the collapse of the
123:
Using this leverage, Paramount was able to insist that prospective exhibitors interested in, say, the
Pickford films, acquire them in large blocks along with a quantity of less attractive titles. These block-booking arrangements typically included groups of from 13 to 52 or even 104 titles. Paramount
251:
The
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 controlled the interstate commerce with different trust-busting provisions and were brought to bear against studio system monopolistic activities. Block booking and blind bidding were at the heart of the practices charged as illegally monopolistic. The Department of
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productions. With a whole season's worth of films offered up on an all-or-nothing basis, theaters were not just bidding on movies they had not seen, but on many movies not yet even made. This was also called "blind bidding" because, other than knowing the genre, the actors and actresses, and a brief
300:
In concurrence with decisions held by the lower courts, the
Supreme Court ruled that all of the major movie studios had prevented domestic and foreign competition through their control over theaters. In its 1948 decision, the Supreme Court ordered the elimination of block booking and demanded a
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in an attempt to settle the case. It provided, among other things, that "block booking would continue, but in blocks no larger than five films; trade shows would be held regularly to provide exhibitors with advance screenings; forcing of shorts and newsreels was banned." Because the decree was
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Knowing that even the poorest picture would find an outlet, the studios could operate at full capacity. In the process, the majors shifted the risks of production financing to the independent exhibitor. The long-term effects of the policy also stifled competition by foreclosing the market to
187:—rented at a flat fee (rather than the box office percentage basis of A films), rates could be set that essentially guaranteed the profitability of every B movie. Block booking and blind bidding meant that the majors did not have to worry over much about the quality of these B pictures:
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overview of the plot, the exhibitors knew nothing about the films they were acquiring. In one case, Zukor pressured theater operators to buy a block of 104 films each year and forced them to show two films per week for 52 consecutive weeks. With the
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President Adolph Zukor obtained the
Paramount-Publix chains of theaters that totaled in 1,200 screens, and insisted that the exhibitors and independent theaters sign a contract with their company if they wanted the exclusive, top-of-the-line
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happening at the same time, making this issue moot. The major studios controlled the programming of their theaters and also negotiated wide-ranging distribution deals that constricted the financial state of independent theaters.
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in the late 1920s, block booking increasingly became standard practice: in order to get access to a studio's attractive A pictures, many theaters were obliged to rent the company's entire output for a season.
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It wasn't good entertainment and it wasn't art, and most of the movies produced had a uniform mediocrity, but they were also uniformly profitable ... The million-dollar mediocrity was the very backbone of
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At a time when star prominence was the single most important factor determining a film's box-office success, Zukor had cornered the market. In a 1918 popularity poll ... the six top stars on the list—
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along with A-class features and star vehicles, which made both production and distribution operations more economical." The element of the system involving the purchase of unseen pictures is known as
65:(1948). Under block booking, "independent ('unaffiliated') theater owners were forced to take large numbers of a studio's pictures without knowing much about them. Those studios could then parcel out
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salesmen offered a variety of different product lines, from the top-quality
Artcraft releases of Pickford, Fairbanks, and Hart to the more modest Realart productions, in which stars such as
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were being developed. Because these films had not yet been produced, exhibitors were required to "buy blind" from a sketchy prospectus or campaign book.
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independent producers and distributors. In short, block booking allowed the majors to wrest the greatest amount of profits from the marketplace.
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magazine, in a 1957 retrospective on the studio system, described the less-attractive films as "million-dollar mediocrities":
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before a Senate committee in
Washington, D.C., on April 3, 1939 to oppose a bill designed to prohibit block booking
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Torre, Paul J. (2009). "Block
Booking Migrates to Television: The Rise and Fall of the International Output Deal".
88:'s leadership, was largely responsible for introducing the practice of block booking to Hollywood. General manager
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suggested to Zukor that the studio produce 52 films a year and that they sell their yearly program in advance:
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693:. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press (published 1995). pp. 313–350.
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launched an investigation of the studios' booking practices that would last for 11 years. A 1927
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Taves, Brian (1993). "Chapter 8: The B Film: Hollywood's Other Half". In Balio, Tino (ed.).
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674:. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press (published 1999).
636:. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press (published 1994).
573:. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press (published 1995).
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that attempted to retain open booking were eventually driven to accept the practice.
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Along with the blocks of features, exhibitors were required to take the major's
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An
Evening's Entertainment: The Age of the Silent Feature Picture, 1915-1928
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It's the Pictures That Got Small: Hollywood Film Stars on 1950s Television
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333:"2 Film Vets Die Within One Week; Al Lichtman at 70, Louis K. Sidney 63"
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183:—less expensively produced films intended to run as the lower half of
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Historical practice of selling multiple films to a theater as a unit
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Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930-1939
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Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930-1939
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order was disregarded by the majors. Smaller distributors such as
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The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era
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as a unit. Block booking was the prevailing practice in the
596:(2nd Revised ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
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from the turn of the 1930s until it was outlawed by the
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284:—the majors that owned large theater chains) signed a
218:. The smaller Hollywood studios—known collectively as
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When the Cock Crows: A History of the Pathé Exchange
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Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television
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442:"Amid Ruins of an Empire a New Hollywood Arises"
241:United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. et al.
655:. London: Faber & Faber (published 1998).
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617:. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
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672:Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s
264:On October 29, 1940, the Big Five studios (
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164:With Hollywood's conversion to
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440:Hodgins, Eric (1957-06-10).
214:as well—a practice known as
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786:United States antitrust law
632:Koszarski, Richard (1990).
529:, pp. 45, 72, 160–161.
278:Warner Bros.–First National
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791:Cinemas and movie theaters
710:Television & New Media
611:Becker, Christine (2009).
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291:United States v. Paramount
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77:Origins in the silent era
722:10.1177/1527476409343797
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146:Federal Trade Commission
136:, with the exception of
19:Not to be confused with
670:Schatz, Thomas (1997).
651:Schatz, Thomas (1988).
238:division filed a suit,
588:Barnouw, Erik (1990).
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744:Ward, Richard Lewis.
246:Sherman Antitrust Act
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154:Associated Exhibitors
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767:at Wikimedia Commons
569:Balio, Tino (1993).
481:, pp. 326–327.
160:The system's growth
748:. SIU Press, 2016.
232:Justice Department
230:In July 1938, the
171:Paramount Pictures
82:Paramount Pictures
57:U.S. Supreme Court
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763:Media related to
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399:, pp. 74–75.
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554:Becker 2009
527:Schatz 1997
515:Schatz 1997
503:Schatz 1997
491:Schatz 1997
397:Schatz 1988
351:Archive.org
320:Schatz 1988
220:Poverty Row
90:Al Lichtman
775:Categories
479:Taves 1993
467:Balio 1993
428:Balio 1993
416:Torre 2009
206:Hollywood.
166:sound film
21:Block book
738:154355283
730:1527-4764
452:April 22,
387:Ward p.86
295:Paramount
236:antitrust
176:Paramount
50:Hollywood
256:and the
181:B movies
84:, under
67:B movies
563:Sources
338:Variety
46:theater
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280:, and
212:shorts
116:, and
734:S2CID
305:Notes
266:Loews
44:to a
42:films
726:ISSN
695:ISBN
676:ISBN
657:ISBN
638:ISBN
619:ISBN
598:ISBN
575:ISBN
454:2012
446:Life
347:2021
198:Life
718:doi
282:RKO
270:MGM
234:'s
226:End
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