Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Film Daily Yearbooks

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Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 02-16-2003, 08:46 PM:

I have recently acquired 6 Film Daily Yearbooks from the years 1949, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, and 1963. These are extremely interesting.

All of them except the 1953 and 1963 editions have a listing of all the movie theatres in the country. I was disappointed that the 1963 one did not have that listing, since if it had, it would have given me 6 more years of coverage. At least I have a good snapshot of 1949-1957.

It would be good to know which editions of the Film Daily yearbooks had the listing of all theatres and which ones didn't (some list only drive-ins, art theatres, and Negro theatres). How long did Film Daily put such a listing in their yearbooks? I would love to find similar listings of all the theatres in the nation for years in the 60s and 70s and on.

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 02-17-2003, 10:19 AM:

Another possibility is Quigley Publishing's "International Motion Picture Almanac," ISSN 0074-7084. The 2002 volume, ISBN 0-900610-69-7, lists Theatre Circuits, Circuit Theatres by State, Circuit Theatres in the Top 50 U.S. Markets, Independent Theaters, and Specialty & Large Format Exhibitors.

The 1959 volume lists Theatre Circuits and Drive-In Theatres. The 1949-50, 1944-45, 1943-44, and 1938-39 volumes list Theatre Circuits.

Some of the listings are detailed, most are not.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 02-18-2003, 09:14 AM:

I have the Film Daily Yearbooks from 1930-1955 and misc years
after that till 1969. These came from MGM's Head of Publicity.
They are great for reseach on Theatre locations and name changes.

Posted by Roger Katz (Member # 1625) on 02-18-2003, 01:16 PM:

I have Film Daily Yearbooks from 1947 and 1970. The 1947 one has the complete listing of all movie theatres in the country. i recently acquired the 1970 FDY and like you was very disappointed that it did not list all the theatres. It only lists drive-ins and it also lists theatre circuits with 3 more more cinemas.

Oh geez...that photo of me is awful, isn't it? I'll have to find someone to take a better shot of me.

Posted by Randy Loy (Member # 112) on 02-18-2003, 01:51 PM:

One thing that amazes me when looking at old state-by-state listings of movie theatres is that many small towns that don't have theatres today had them years ago.

I guess that was in the pre-television days when everybody went to the movies both for entertainment and the latest news reels. Now people in many of these towns either have to drive a fair distance to go to a movie theatre or just stay at home and rent videos or watch cable TV.

I realize that the economic realities of the exhibition industry don't support a lot of little single screen theatres these days but it is sad to think that a lot of movie theatres, probably some very ornate little houses, only lasted a few decades.